Omaha daily bee., 1919-01-03
The AbandonedRoonn
By Wadsworth Camp

9has been evidence enough for you
all TO know he was here"
He stretched himself in an easy
chair. He lighted a cigarette and
blew the smoke toward the ceiling.
Il shall tell you the simple facts.
Is only to save my skin from this
b!oodthirsty district attorney"
Rub it in," Robinson grinned.
"I'll take my medicine"
They gathered closer about the
Panamanian. jenkins sided to the
back of the chair
Il don't see how you found it
out" he muttered.
Il had emily one advantage over
you or the police. Graham" Par
edes began, "and you were in posi-
ton to overcome that. Maria did
telephone me the afternoon of that
chastity dinner. She asked me to
get hold of Bobby. She was plainly
anxious to keep him in New York
that night, and, to be frank, | was
glad enough to help her when you
turned up, trying to impress US with
your puritan watchfulness. Even
you guessed that she had drugged
Bobby. | suspected it when | saw
him go to pieces in the cafe. He
gave me the slip, as l told you, in
the coat room when was trying to
get him home, so | went back and
asked Maria what her idea was. She
laughed in my face, denying every
thing. |, too, suspected the stranger,
but I've convinced myself that he
simply happened along by chance.
Now here's the first significant
point: Maria by dragging Bobby de-
teated her own purpose. He had
been drinking more than the Band of
Hope would approve of, and on
top of that he got an overdose OF
powerful drug. The doctor can
tell you. better than | of the likely
effect of such a combination" =
What told you in the court,
Bobby" the doctor answered. much
the same symptoms as genuine
aphasia. Your brain was unquestion-
ably dulled by an. overdose on top
of all the alchol, while youH-mechani-
cal reflexes were stimulated. Auto
natically you followed your ruling
impulse. Automatically at the last
minute you revolted from exposing
yourself in such a condition to~your
cousin and your grandfather. Your
lucid period in the woods just be-
fore you reached the deserted house
and went to sleep showed your ex-
ercise was overcoming the eject of
the drug. That moment, you'll re-
member, was colored by the fanci-
ful ideas such as drug will INDUCE"
$50, Bobby" Paroles said. al
though you were asleep when the
body moved and when Howells was
murdered, you can be sure you were
Mt anywhere near the old room"
"But | walked in my, sleep last
night" Bobby reminded him.
The doctor slapped his knee.
II understand. twas only when
we thought that was your habit that
it frightened US. It's plain. This
sleep walking had been suggested to
you and you had brooded upon the
suggestion until. you were bound
to respond. Graham's presence
in your room, watching for just
that reaction. was a perpetual,
an unacceptable stimulation. 1t
would have been a miracle in
itself if your brain had failed to
carry it out"
Bobby made swift gesture of
d;staste.
IF you hadn't come, Carlos. where
would l have been?"
why did you Gomez" Graham
asked. !
Bobby was my friend" the Pam
amanian answered ale had been
very good to me. When l read of
his grandfather's death | wondered
why Maria had drugged him to keep
fim in New York. In the coinci-
dence lurked an element of trouble
for him. At first | suspected some
kind of an understanding between
her and old Neutrality-suspicious. she
had engaged to keep Bobby awav
from the Cedars until the new will
had been made. But here was
Blackburn murdered, and it was
manifest she hadn't tried to
throw suspicion on Bobby, and
the points that made Howell's
case incomplete y assured me
of his innocence. Who, then had
killed his grandfather? Not Maria,
for had dropped her at her apart
ment that night too late for her to
get out here by the hour of the MUIR
der. Still, as you suspected, Maria
was the key, and l began to specu-
late about her.
"She had told me something of her
history. You might have had as
much from her press agent. Al
though she had lived in Spain since
she was child, she was born in
Panama, my own country, of a Span
| isf mother and all American father.
Right away | wondered if Blackburn
had ever been in Panama or Spain.
began to seek the inception of the
possible understanding between
them. Since | found no Illuminating
documents about B!ackburn's past in
the library, l concluded, if such
papers existed, they would be locked