The Washington herald., 1915-08-01

n for you. Can You help ME out
1t was our old friend Andrews. head
of the Great Eastern Life Insurance
Company's secret service.
AS he sat down heavily. he pulled from
his immense black wallet some scraps of
paper and newspaper cuttings.
You recall, I suppose" he went on.
unfolding the papers without waiting for
an answer the recent death Of young
Montague Phelps. at Woodbine. just out
side the city,"
Kennedy nodded. The death of Phelps.
about ten days before. had attracted
nationwide attention because of the
heroic fight for life he had made against
what the doctors admitted had puzzled
them-a new and battling manifestation
OF coma They had labored hard to
keep him awake. but had not succeeded
and after several days of lying in a COM
atose state he had finally succumbed.
The interest in Phelps lay. a great
deal, in the fact that the young man had
married the popular dancer. AnSnette
Petrovska. 2 few months previously. His
honeymoon trip around the world had
suddenly been interrupted. while the
couple were crossing Siberia. by rews
of the failure of the Phelps banking
house in Wall street and the practical
Hiping out of his fortune. He had re-
turned. only to fal! 2 victim TO a greater
misfortune.
"A few days before his death. con-
tinued Andrews. measuring his words
carefully. Il. or rather the Great East
ern. which mad been secretly investisat-
ing the case. received this letter What
do you think of it 80
He spread out on the ia bic a crumpled
note in a ralpahlv disguised handwrit-
ing.
ITO Whom It May Concern: You
would do we'll TO look into the death of
Monta que Phelps. jr I accuse no one.
assert nothing. But when young man.
apparently in the best Of health, DROPS
off so mysteriously and even the physi-
clan in the case can give no Very con-
vinCing information. that case warrants
attention l know what | know.
IAN OUTSIDER"
HIM" unused Kennedy, weighing the
contents of the note carefully. one of
the family I'll be bound-unless the
whole thing is a hoax. BY the way. who
else is there in the immediate family
Only a brother. Dana Phelps. young
er and somewhat inclined to wildness.
/ believe. At least his father did not
trust him with a large inheritance. but
left most of his money in trust But be-
fore we 20 any further. read that
Andrews pulled from the papers a
newspaper cutting on which he had
drawn a circle about the following item.
As we read. he eyed us sharply
PHELPS TOMB DESIGNATED.
Last night. John Shaughnessy. a
night Waterman employed by the town
Of Woudbine. while on his rounds. was
attracted by noises as OF a violent strug
gle near the hack road IN the Noodhine
Cemetery, on the outskirts of the town
AS he hurried toward the large maui
soleum of the Phelps family. he saw two
figures stink away in opnoSit" directions
in the darkness. 'One of them. he asserts
positively. seemed to be woman IN
black. the other man whom he could
not see clearly. The readily eluded
Tlrsuit in the shadows. and A moment
later he heard the whir of high-pow-
cred car. apparently bearing them away
At the tomb there was every evidence
Of A struggle. Things had been thrown
about. the casket had been broken open,
hut the body of Montague Phelps. IT.
which had been inferred there about ten
DAYS ago. was not touched or mutilated.
The vault is of peculiar construction:
costly tomb in which repose the booles
of the late Montague Phelps. sr.. OF ms
wife, and now of his eldest SON. Mrs
Phelrs when informed of the vandalism
vas shocked. and has been in very
nervous state since the tomb was forced
open"
Are YOU aware of any scandal. any
skeleton in the closet in the family:
asked Craig looking W.
Monet vet considered Andrews
As soon as I heard of the vandalism.
began to wonder what could have hap
pened in the Phelps tomb, as far as our
company's interests were concerned. You
see. that was yesterday. To-day this let
ter came along" he added. layinS down
4 second very dirty and wrinkled note
beside the first. 1t was quite patiently
written by a different person from the
first: its purport was different. indeed
quite the opposite of the other. 1T was
sent to Mrs Phelps" explained An
dfews. land she gave it out herself to
the police
DO not show this to the police In
less you leave 5000 in gold in the old
stump in the swamp across from the
:, enleterv. YOU will have reason to regret
it If you respect the memory of the
BLACK HAND"
Here's the situation" resumed An
drews. putting violently on his inevitable
cigar and toying with the letters and
clippings We have already held UP
ravrnent of the half-million dollars of
insurance to the widow a long as we
can consistently do so. But we must
ray soon. scandal or not, unless we can |
get something more than mere conjeC- !
ture Just after his retrun home. young /
Phelps. who carried $4,000 already. ap- |
Piled for and was granted one of the
largest policies we have ever written
half a million
II know" ! cut in, for l recalled hav-
ing been rather interested in the Phelps |
case at the time. but l thought the doc
tors said finally that death was due to
heart failure"
DIR. Forden. who signed the papers.
said So" corrected Andrews. Heart
does that mean? AS we'll
say breath failure or nerve failure. I'll
tell YOU what kind Of failure l think it
was 1t was money failure. Hard times
and poor investments struck Phelps be-
fore he really knew how 10 handle his
small fortune. 1t called him home and
-pouf!-he is off-to leave TO his family
a cool half million by his death. But
did he do IT himself or did some one else
10 It? That's the question
The body is really there" asked
Kennedy. You saw it,
1t was there no later than this after
noon. and in an almost perfect state of