The Washington times., 1918-05-14

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"of course there was terrible fuss
WHEN Goldsmith discovered the mis-
take that hard been made. He refused
to pay the money which had been
agreed upon. and the last cipher mes
sage was an angry summons from the
money lender 10 Pietro appointing the
afternoon upon which the murder oc-
CURED for a conference. Luckily for
Us, the money lender kept copies OF al
these letters. He had a peculiarly
clever cipher. and suppose be thought
Il untranslatable but ! have always
had rathet an aptitude for that sort
Of thing.
AS it happened. was tracking
a man that afternoon who was
wanted BY the police. and who was
likely TO be calling at Goldsmith's.
Morris had given. me the tip. 50
take II that the money-lender
wanted him out OF the way. too. II
Il was not for those cipher istters
! should have arrested that fellow
on suspicion, for he must Certainly
have been hanging around some lit
tie while before Goldsmith was
murdeted. However. I met you. ~
you remember. and together we dis
covered the dead man.
you can understand that there
must haze been an angry scene be-
tween the shark and the Italian.
the former seated at his desk. the
latter standing BY his side Pietro
probably demanded money. the
shark refused to pay Il. Then. in
an excess OF rage, Pietro threw
himself upon the old man and
throttled the life out OF him Il
can't have been a very difficult
task"
But the strange marks on the
neck PIT in Guy.
The Three Nurders.
II am coming to that was very
certain in my mind that Pietro
Renni was the murderer Of the gfri
Smith and Of Isaaeson: I was sure
OF this as 500 mas had deciphered
the discriminating correspondence OF
which have told you II was then
that my knowledge OF the strange
condition OF Affairs at Adderiey
came In useful The murderer Of
Goldsmith was probably the same
who had killed the strange man at
Adderley Wood. ard the fellow they
call Twsedledee The marks on the
neck were the same in all three
cases The hrst Of these murders
was committed at Adderley itself.
and during the time that Pietro was
in employment there; the second
was the murder of a man who had
juss failed 10 abduet your cousin to
Adderley.
Those mshks on the neck: yes,
they puzzled me. But remem-
bered--though kept It TO myself
that Pts:ro knew all about the Bor-
radale curse, and that the creature,
so called, possesses horrible talons-
and is supposed by those who have
charge Of him to- be addicted 70
strangling. II struck me that Sig
nor Pietro had somehow taken the
tip. but I did not know how he
worked Il until Hound these"
From his pocket Edgar Swan
drew the pair Of horrible gloves
which Lillian had discovered during
her first imprisonment in Mulberry
street. Guy took them and exam
ined them With evident DISGUST.
"Phew. What horrible things
he cried. where did you ma
them?"
HThey were found by the police
at Mrs. wiIloughbv's house after
her supposed murder"
svhy W sat PietrO ArrestedF-
"oh. I see-I understand" the
puzzled expression which had come
over Guys-face suddenly dissipated.
she told me that she had found
something in that beastly slum
which had convinced her that
Pietro was the author OF all those
murders. It's there she must have
come upon these claws
ITS a good thing for Mrs. Will
Ioughby that the police attached no
Importance to them" said Swan.
took them merely for some cuTi--
osity picked up abroad. I managed
to retain them" he added. with a
smile, "for they meant a good deal
to me. I don't suppose Mrs. Will
loughy will want them back"
''No." Guy shuddered. Take the
beastiy things. hate to0ching
them. Three lives 70 those claws"
The detective replaced them IN
his pocket. More. for all we knew"
he said with a smile.
Guy drained his glass and rose TO
go. "I'm glad we've had this talk.
Swan. he said. "and. as I told you,
you've made many things clear 10
me. All the same don't quite
understand why, with all that evi-
dence. you failed to arrest Pietro
Renni."
I'VE did our best" Swan rose also.
But you must remember that Il
took some time to amass our evil
dence. Pietro eluded US. too. He
did not habitually live in Mulber-
~ street, you know He must have
got some inkling that we were on
his track can understand that no
was anxious TO get what money he
could from Mrs. willouEhy, and
make a bolt OF it for ItalS We must
have been hunting for him while
he was holding Mrs. Willoughby
prisoner. 4 little later we got on
the scent. we made a descent on his
place-but the bird had flown. From
that day to this he has never been
traced"
Have you any suspicion?' asked
Guv. anxtousty.
IT have something which I kept
to myself,"' said Swan. II had my
eyes omen. and II Pietrol had reap
peared he would have been arrest
ed at once. But he did not rean-
pear. What had happened TO him
was very immaterial to me, as long
as he was out OF the way. I'm rot
a regular policeman. YOU know"
What did you ind OUT
TO Be Continued Tomorrow