The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1915-07-09
CHAPTER Vl.-Continued.


at once gladly accepted her invi-
tation to investigate the curious dis
appearance Of the body Of poor Olin-
tos fellow-victim, determined to OBJ
tain the secret knowledge possessed
py that smart, handsome girl before
me. That her suspicious were in the
right direction / felt confident, yet If
the dead woman had been removed
and hidden by the assassin it must have
peen after the discovery made by me-
The fellow must have actually dared
to return to the spot and carry off the
victim. Yet If he had done that, why
did he allow the corpse of the Italian
TO remain and await discovery? He
might perhaps have been disturbed
and compelled to make good his
escape.
You tell me, Miss Muriel, that you
suspect the truth, and yet you deny
all knowledge Of the murdered mani"
l exclaimed In tone Of slight re-
proach
Until we have cleared up the mys-
terry OF the woman I can say nothing"
was her answer 81 can only tell you,
Mr.. Gregg, that If what / suspect is
true, then the affair will be found to
be one of the strangest, most startling
and most ingenious plots ever devised
by one man against the life of an
other"
Then a man is the assassin, you
think?" exclaimed quickly.
Il believe so. But even Of that
am not at all sure. We must first find
the woman"
Rannoch wood was already In its
gold-brown glory of autumn, and as
stood with Muriel Leithcourt on the
edge Of it, near the spot where Olinto
Santini had fallen, the morning sun
was shining in cloudless sky.
asked her opinion which was the most
likely corner, but she replied:
Il know so little of this place, Mr..
Gregg. You have known it for years,
while this is only my first season
here"
Very WELL" l answered. Let us
start here, and first take small circle,
examining every bush carefully. The
body may have easily been pushed in
beneath thicket and well escape OBJ
servation."
And so together, after taking our
bearings, we started off, working our
way into the thick underground, beat
Ing with our sticks, and making mi.
mute examination of every bush or
heap OF dead leaves. All through the
morning we walked on, our hands
badly torn by brambles. My own coat
was badly torn, and more than once l
was compelled to scramble through
almost impossible thickets; yet we
found no trace of any previous in
truder, and having completed our
circle were compelled to admit that
the gruesome evidence of the second
crime did not exist at that spot.
Muriel was untiring in her activity.
Hither and thither she went, beating
down the high bracken and tangles of
weeds, poking with her stick into ev-
cry hole and corner, and going far
Their and farther into the wood In the
certainty that the body was therein
concealed.
Soon we came to deep wooded ra-
vine of the existence Of which l was
in ignorance. 1t was kind Of small
glen through which a rivulet flowed,
but the banks we're covered with a
thick, impenetrable underground.
"This is a most likely place." de-
clared my dainty little companion as
we approached 1t. Anything could
easily be concealed In that high
bracken down there. Let as search
the whole glen from end to end" she
cried with enthusiasm.
Acting upon her suggestion and
without thought OF luncheon, we made
q descent of the steep bank until
we reached the rocky bed Of the
stream. Undaunted, she went on.
springing from stone to stone and
steadying Aerself with her stick. II
we could only discover the body of the
dead woman, then the rest would be
clear, she declared. She would openly
denounce the assassin.
The sun had set, and the sky above
showed the crimson Of the distant
afterglow, warning us that II was time
we began to think of how to make our
exit We were passing around q sharp
bend IL the glen where the powders
we're SO thickiy moss grown that our