The Glasgow courier., 1916-03-24
HER MOTHERS
STORY
ME District Attorney stood at
the window of his private Office
adjoining the court and stared

uOWn Ut the uuFrylnS lulOukS
while one nervous hand beat devils
tattoo again the somewhat grimy
pane.
1t had been raining, and the identity.
even the sex Of the crowd was sub
merged beneath sea Of bobbing black
umbrellas between which the wet and
shining tops Of the motor cars darted
like huge black beetles. But the prose
cutOr saw neither the crowd nor the
trattic-he saw only Mary Page! She
had become almost an ObsessiOn with
him now, and though it was not yet
time for court and there were other
clients besides the State whose bust
ness claimed hisyattention in his other
office. he had drifted here. as he had
drifted unwittingly each morning to
mentally test the links in the chain of
his evidence against her
1t SHOULD be strong enough to
bind her upon the merciless wheel of
the law. and yet he was conscious
that more than one of its links was
weal-so weak, in fact, that not even
his mastery summing up for the jury
had been entirely able to gloss it over.
He did not doubt for a moment that
Mary Page was guilty Of the murder
of James Pollock. but he had not
PROVED her so to his own satisfac-
ton.
He had shown that Pollock was in
her eyes an enemy; lie had proved that
the dead man was woOer whose pur-
suit was unwecome; he had shown
that twice during the recent years Pol
lock had forced Mary to promise to be
his wife. but that once the necessity
for that step was removed she had
claimed her freedom again. She had
everyth hing to gain by his death. which
was surely motive enough: added to
which. if she were not guilty he felt
she would not have fled that night
after the murder.
Time after time as he went back to
the testimOny-to the fact that Mary
had had the revolver in her bag. HAD
gone into the room and HAD been
found beside PollOck's body. he strOve
| to glimpse some faint clue that would
give chance for "fresh evidence" In
the meantime. it was I.angdon's turn.
and the keen-eyed District Attorney
wondered curiously just what defense
he would bring. I.angdon's continual
refusal to cross examine the witnesses
for the State had naturally kept his
defense wonderfully we'll hidden.
The newspapers were. however. full
Of theories as to what the defence
would be. Several claimed that 1t
would lie the "unwritten law" the
guarding Of Mary Pages honor: anoth-
er that 1t would be proved that Pol
lock shot himself when he found that
not even his support Of her stardom
could make Mary marry him: while
still third said that the real criminal
would CONFESS" when put upon the
stand. Absurd, all OF them. and vet
the third theory brought frown to
the lawyers face. Suppose Langdon
himself confessed to the murder.
Hello. Chief" A voice from the
door interrupted his revery and he
turned quickly.
Hello, Sheenan Have you got any
thng:"
no. he said. mot thing along the
lines you spoke of. Slade doesn't know
anything except what he told. and I've
traced Lan"dons movements for three
days before the murder. down to each
minute. and there's nothing to hang q
dogs hair to-"
Did you find out about the automo
bilcs parked on that night"
Yep; but Casey was on the job a,
that corner, and there wasn't as much
as a ghost of motor went into the
street back of the hotel The back
gates Of the houses were locked-ha(
been tried by the watchman just few
minutes earlier, and the police We're or
the job anyway. on account Of the clut
there. The Page woman must have
gone down the tire-escape and climbed
into the hotel at another floor-that'.
the only answer"
The prosecutor turned again to tn.
window. "All right" he said curtly
But the detective fingered.
Say. Chief" he suggested hesitat
ingly. have you talked to Daniels
Little fat guy that runs the CovingtOn
l saw him yesterday and he looks
u-oll Siol-