Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-10-01
"If 1 had Only known

A KEY had ratified In the grea
\ entrance door which opened ant
closed with slam and footsteps
sounded down the hall.
Father, will you come in here
please?" Miss Lcdyard's voice was
high pitched and strained. There i.
a man from police headquarters"
What's this?" Colonel Ledyard'.
bald head appeared in the doorway
BLESS my soul, we're not going to get
mixed up in that Hartshorne affair
are we? Why didn't you call at my
Office, young man, if you want any
information about Mrs. Hartshorne' S
stocks?"
THAT is not what I am here for,
Colonel Ledyard," Paul turned to him.
MY name is Harvey; l am a special
the chief of police"
well, Mr.. Harvey, this is a most
shocking tragedy, of course, but | can =
not see what information you hope to
gain here" The colonel handed his
hat and stick to Hickson and dismissed
bin with a nod
AS far as we have been able to dis
cover, Mrs. Hartshorne was last seen
alive in your house." Paul explained
patiently. II have just learned ap-
proximately what time she left, but
not the manner of her going nor if
she were accompanied by any one or
alone"
Ia Ha Ip, e.
arrest" broke in Miss Ledyard half
Historically.
''Bosh :" The colone's stout figure
bridled like that of an angry game cock.
This is prepostcrous On what
trumpeG-up charge have you come here
to try to bluff u.s."
Here is the warrant, Colonel Led
yard ~ Paul extended the document.
II have no intention of serving it
unless l meet with opposition to my
necessary investigation here"
HIM" The colonel unfolded the
paper, and after glacing hastily over it,
handed it back as if it burned his fin
gers. He turned to his daughter.
"Trix, ! think you had better leave us.
L will attend to this gentleman"
''Yes. father" Her tone was sub
missive, but she moved slowly and with
obvious reluctance to the door.
Now, Mr.. Harvey" the colonel be-
gan, as soon as they were alone: ''What
can I do for you? l have no desire to
impede the course of justice, but you
are barking up the wrong tree if you
look to get evidence here
Nevertheless, l should like to ex-
anime the arrangement of such of your
rooms as were used during the dance
on Thursday night" responded Paul.
81 wonder if you would be good enough
to conduct me yourself? Could Mrs.
Hartshorne have departed by any other
door than the front entrance, in the
event that she had wanted to slip away
unnOticed?'
II never considered that. My wife
did think it odd, when we were talk
ing the affair over last night, that no
one seemed to know when Mrs. Hart
shOrne left. There is n door leading
from the conservatory down some steps
into the strip of garden between the
ballroom extension and the next house,
Dul IL uuS DSCh lONhNi anu bOltSN SiiSN
last autumn, and sealed with weather
stripping to prevent the cold from get
ting in ON my orchid collection" He
turned to the hallway. Come along,
Mr.. Harvey. I'll be glad to have
you see for yourself.
Paul followed him through the sue
cession of long stately apartments,
noting the position of each. The win
dows were all on level about ten feet
from the ground outside and nowhere
did balcony, ledge or trcllised vine offer
foothold for a possible intruder.
''This is the ballroom" Colonel
Ledyard threw open the wide double
doors and pressing a switch flooded the
great, high ceilinged room with
myriad clusters of light which were re-
fiected in the CLASSIFY polished floor.
''The stage has been set up again, you
see, at the farther end. We usually
place the orchestra there, but for this
big semipublic affair when every extra
inch of dancing space was desirable,
Mrs. Ledyard had the stage taken down,
and stationed the music there in that
alcove; there was no need to worry
about the acoustics for a jazz band"
"And this-?" Paul motioned to-
ward doorway in the wall at right
angle from the alcove.
The door to the conservatory" The
colonel waddled toward it as he spoke
over his shoulder.
''Do you happen to know whether it
was locked during a part of Thursday
evening or not?" Paul asked as he
followed.
His host turned with some heat.
81 wish to heavens it had been ~ he
exclaimed. "My orchids have cost me
thousands of dollars and were the pride
of my life. And the best of them are
ruined Some vandal trOd them down.
Look here!"
DDRnTHY D1QNIT H.