The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1916-04-24
Next Week:
Sunshine Jane"
by Anne Warner


the towels on the rack. "Yol
say this fellow Haussman wal
an invalid" he remarked.
YES" Lamotte answered, al
though the question had been in
tended for him. ''He stayed in
his room nearly all the time"
'Is his steward still on board?
81 think So" He looked out in
to the hau. "Here's our man
now" he said, and beckoned to
some one without.
Duvall addressed the man in
French. From his long residence
in Paris he spoke 1t perfectly
1.-THE old man who occupied this
room was a cripple, l am told"
he said.
Eyes, monsieur. He could
scarcely walk from rheumatism"
Did he have the doctor?"
No, monsieur"
"Why not?"
Il could not say. His attendant,
Mr.. Gunther, rubbed his legs with
a liniment, he said"
Duvall pointed to several yell
low spots on the bed sheets and
on a towel. Here's some of II
now" he said, puzzled. Looks
as though he really had it,"
did you doubt it, them" asked
the project, astonished. "He was
no fake, as you call it,"
Perhaps not" said Duvall,
who was gazing at bit of tissue
paper covered with lather which
lay on the side of the washstand.
He picked it up and glanced at il
through small magnifying glass
he drew from his waistcoat pock-
ct.
Shaving paper" he remarked
meditatively.
Evidently" laughed the pre-
feet.
But whose?"
Lefevre became suddenly in
terested. What do you mean?"
he asked.
"Gunther is blond. The hairs on
this paper are black. Old nan
Haussman didn't shave, sup
pose, since he wore a full beard"
Duvall suddenly darted toward
the white wood of the door and
began to examine it eagerly
through his glass. His face be-
came grave. Then he bent over
and began to examine the dark
red carpet directly beneath where
he stood. AS he did so, a gleam-
ing object beneath the berth
caught his eye. He darted his
hand toward it, then extended it
to Lamotte. Do you recognize
this?" he asked.
, The young man turned pale. 1t
it belonged to poor old Ver-
non," he gasped.
"But-how did 1t come here?"
cried the project.
Gentlemen" 'said Duvall, in a
solemn voice, 1.-The purser, Mr..
Vernon, was murdered in this
room. No doubt he was decoyed
here by some message from Hauss-
mann. This is his pin. The face
of the door, although 1t has been
carefully washed, shows unmis-
takably the presence of blood
stains. They have been washed
from the surface of the paint, but
not from the tiny hair-cracks.
There are also traces on the car
pet. No doubt he was seized and
stabbed as soon as he entered the
room and before he could make
any Outcry. The windows of the
staterooms on this deck, instead
of being round portfolios like
those on the lower decks, are
square, and quite large enough
to admit the passage of a body.
This fellow Haussman is nc
cripple, believe me. He passed the
body through to his confederate
Gunther, who stood outside, and
tumbled 1t over the rail. Then
having secured the keys to both
the purser's office and the safe
from his pockets, one of them
descended to the deck below, took
the package from the safe and
came back without being detect.
ed"
And the key found on the
purser's desk when the room
was unlocked in the morning?'
asked Lefevre.
WAS tossed onto the desk
through the brass-grated window
from outside after the door hat
been locked"
The project looked at his friend
in admiration.
Wonderful, mon ami" hi
said. You are the best detect
i've in the world"
AS he spoke Captain Bonnot
entered the room.
Duvall went up to him at once
II think have solved the mys
terry, Captain Bonnot," he said
Vernon was murdered in THU
room by Haussman and his com
panion, and his body thrown
overheard"
Captain Bonnet regarded thu
young man with a grave face.
"You are quite wrong, my
friend" he said. Poor Vernon'l
body has just been found, terri
bly, mangled, in the forward hold
He must have failed, by accident
through the hatchway."
CHAPTER III.
Green Sealing Wax.
Captain ROnnof had haan no&;