The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1914-04-04
Mary Roberts
Rinehart
Copyright, 1913, the Bobbs-Mer-
rilI Company.

whole story" he began. "Tomor-
row | shall go to the district at
torney and confess, butt want
you all to have 1t first. can't
sleep again until | get It off my
chest. Mrs. Pitman has suffered
through me, and Mr.. Holcombe
here has spent money and time"
Ida did not speak, but she
drew her chair closer. and put her
other hand over his.
81 want TO get 1t straight, II
can. Let me see. II was on Sun
day, the fourth, that the river
came up. wasn't it? Yes. Well,
on the Thursday before that l met
you, Mr.. Holcombe, in a restau-
rant in Pittsburgh. Do you rer
member"
Mr.. Holcombe nodded.
I'VE were talking of crime, and
| said no man should be hanged
on purely circumstantial evidence.
You affirmed that a well-linked
chain of circumstantial evidence
could properly hang a man. We
had a long argument, in which ]
was worsted. There was a third
man at the table-Bronson, the
business manager of the Liberty
theater."
who sided with you," put in
Mr.. Holcombe, land whose views
| refused to entertain because, as
publicity man for theater, he
dealt in fiction rather than in
fact"
Precisely. You may recall.
Mr.. Holcombe, that you offered
to hang any man we would name,
given a proper chain of circum-
stantial evidence against him?"
Yes"
After you left. Bronsin spoke
to me. He said business at the
theater was bad, and com plained
of the way the papers used, or
would not use, his stuff. He said
the Liberty theater had not had
proper deal, and that he was
tempted to go over and bank one
of the company on the head, and
so get a little free advertising.
Il said he ought to be able to
fake a good story; but he main
tanned that newspaper could
smell a faxed story a mile away,
and that, anyhow, all the good
stunts had been pulled off. I
agreed with him. l remember
saying that nothing but railroad
wreck or murder hit the public
very hard these days, and that
didn't feel like wrecking the
Pennsylvania Limited.
HE leaned over the table and
looked at me. Well, how about
a murder, them he said. You
get the story for your paper, and
get some advertising for the
theater. We need 1t, that's
sure
81 laughed 1t off, and we separ-
ated. But at two o'clock Bronson
called me up again. | met him In
his office at the theater, and he
told me that Jennie Brice, who
was out of the cast that week, had
asked for a weeks vacation. She
had heard of a farm at a town
called Horner, and she wanted to
go there to rest.
" Now the idea is this, he said.
She's living with her husband,
and he has threatened her life
more than once. 1t would be easy
enough to frame up something to
look as II he'd made away with
her. We'd get week of excite
ment, more advertising than we'd
ordinarily get in a year; you get
a corking news story, and fine
Jennie Brice at the end, getting
the credit for that. Jennie gets a
hundred dollars and a rest, and
Ladley, her husband, gets, say,
two hundred
"Mr. Bronson offered to put up
the money, and / agreed. The
flood came just them, and was
considerable help. 1t made a
good setting. l went to my city
editor, and got an assignment to
interview Ladley about this play
of his. Then Bronson and I went
together to see the Ladleys on
Sunday morning, and as they
needed money, they agreed. But
Ladley insisted on fifty dollars a
week extra If he had to go to Jail.
We promised 1t, but we did not
intend to let things 60 so far as
that.
"In the Ladley's room that
Sunday morning, we worked 1t all
out. The hardest thing was to
get Jennie Brice's consent; but
she agreed, finally. We arranged
a list of clues, to be left around,
and Ladley was to go out In the
night and to be heard coming
back. told him to quarrel with
his wife that afternoon-al-
though I don't believe they nee