The Washington herald., 1919-01-20
Whispering Wires szs.T S = LEVERAGE " e
Who Killed Montgomery Stockbridgei
Copyright. 1918 BY Moffst Company New York;

strange Coincidence.
Delaney rubbed his chin. He watch
ed Drew rapidly thumb over the data.
Say. chiefS' he yawned Il see an
other light"
'What7" shot Drew over his shoul-
DER. ''so-o7 Wait moment before
you give IL 20 me-you reminded me
OF something. W6ere was the spot <
OF powder on my facet The rubber 7.
IN the Turkish bath said Il was night T
mere. The detective turnedN and
touched his forehnger below the lobe \
OF mis- left ear Right there" he
added.
That's where IL was. chiei Just
"here You got your finger u was
on the cord. Seems 70 me that Il
was circular In shape. Like q half
moon"
Drew raised his black brows in re
flecuNe thought He opened a small |
drawer with a sudden dart Of a. |
arm lie poised a mirror 50 ths
the light from a window brought out
MS left ear and neck. He dropped
the mirror TO the desk. "Delaney"
be said, that's exactly the spot
where Stockbridge was shotl"
The operative felt a cold chill dart
up and down his tired spine. He cam
10 life with an oath. and q slap OF
his huge palm upon his knee
Chief, you're right" he exclaimed
leaning forward You're right, That
I spot Of black was just where the
old man was hit. Now. what dive
{ make Of thstT''
Drew drUmmed his fingers on the
edge OF the polished desk He tapped
MS toes on the floor. He coughed and
picked up the mirror for a second and
! longer glance al his face and neck
lie tossed the mirror TO the desk and
swiveled slowly.
What do ] think Of tg" he re-
peated. with flashing eye. II think
! there are features TO this case don't
! like.'
Gould it have been an ACCIDENT
chief? You might OF got a bit ofSoot
from the gun and then scratched vou-
neck Maybe that Harry Nichols put
one over on u.s. The gun might have
been fired, reloaded, and We never
noticed il Looks bad for Nichols ana
! the girl"
Drew closed his eyeIids tightly. HI.
brow furrOwed in deep thought No
4 he said finally Il don't think rEe
/ SCOT or powder came from the pearl
= handled revolver. I don't think 50,
1t would seem TO me. DELANEY. thai
l intuition is stronger than evidence
/ That girl and that boy rang true
/ That valet is above suspicion. The
3 servants are to be trusted. Stock
: bridge trusted them and hc was ,
noted for his shrewdness in picking
1 men. The only mistake he ever made 1
was Morphy. That individual was
out to do the old man. He was a
bitter, bitten, ! think we'll eliminate.
for the time, Loris. Harry. the sery-
I ants and German influences in the
matter at hand What was your
idea?" Drew rubbed his neck bc-
! meath his ear, as he turned 10 his
papers.
Another Analysis Planned.
Tive forgotten IL. chief. That spot
drove il all out No, wait-say, I've
been thinkinE-this morning LAYING
there and listening TO the kids Eei-
ting ready for school-that the pow
der We smelled in the library wasn't
I ordinary powder ] know a fire
cracker, or a regular Chinese smell
when ! set near one. That wasn't
/ the kind / got II Was like some
I thing else. II Was powdvr-all right
! but
Drew lifted a sheet OF paper. -
| covered that" he ssid- ''Anslysi-
made by Higgeus. this morning. show
traces Of smokeless powder in Stock
bridges hair and about the buue,
hole There's difference. Nov. I'm
going further than that I'm goin. 10
have those scrapings I got from my
neck looked at II they are the same
as the powder that was used to slay
Stockbridge, We are getting on.
''7''"rs's lots OF smokeless, chief.-
That's the trouble-that's what We
are right up against. Let's leave tho
footprints and the powder for a few
minutes Both are important They'll
wait. See here
Drew raised a sheath OF papers from
his desk. turned with the chair. and
started thumbinE over the data be
had accumulated
See here" he repeated abseutry
First branch OF the tree OF Truth In
this case is q stubborn one. Il re
qUires considerable work on our part
TO get to the end of it I've sent
out six operatives to scout the tele-
phone calls and get me some Light on
them I've kept some notes on what
they have 'phoned in to me The
telephone company. the wire chief at
GramerCy Hill. and an Official
know, have been enlisted in getting
TO the bottom Of these calls They
? nave iIiAaS HTNSTtSS- but delaney. OF
/ all the deNilish inventions of man a
telephone is the most subtle. II, .
wonder to ne We have found snv-
thing. It's the crooks one best too
With it he can play safe, and we
can't catch him.
What have you found, chief
Drew held up a paper. The f--t
Calk Delaney" he said, s-wss the
one 70 the cemetery compsny's sup.rr-
intendent notifying him TO erczy,te
grave in the Stockbridrrs' family
plot. Subtle suggestion. that IN tb.
light OF what followed"
1T was" said Delaney.
; This call has received all Of cS~
attention It deserved. Its the r>r-f
Of the series and was perhapr rn.1.
before the crook had time % cove-
, himself completely. II has been trncrd
: to a slot booth in the Penn,@tvx,,g
Railroad station in the woman, WIT
. ing ROOM
A ny,ter1o.s 'Phsns Can.
'"woman's7"
Yes, Delaney. That Is no crite3,n
that a woman did the csIlinr-up. Tbc
girl there in charge Of the nav booshs
states that more men than von~,
use the phones in that part Of the
station"
Just our luck!"
The toll collected on this call must
have been IS cents, including the vEsr
tax The superintendent ssys tb,t
the voice over the wire was thin a.
/ fired he