Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1919-01-16

"She says mott" cried Pauline;
but I'm sure she did! She says
she saw Miss Lucy at the mirror
and, thinking her engrossed,
merely left the tray on the tab
ouret and went away"
"Ridiculous!' exclaimed Havi-
land. What does Estelle mean
by such lies? OF course she saw
Miss Carrington's strange APP
pearance. of course she was
frightened cut Of her wits, and of
course she dropped the tray and
ran. But why not say so? And
why not give an immediate alarm?
She took that tray, probably,
about s. Pauline went up at g.
What was Estellc doing all that
time? Why didn't she go in to
dress Miss Darlington? l tell you,
Mr.. Inspector, there's a lot of
queer work to be explained and,
with ali due respect to the force,
I'm pretty sure you'll need ex-
pert service if you re going to get
anywhere. And I'm sure, too,
that if we "a get word to Car
rington Loria and back, he'll say
spare no trouble or expense to
avenge his aunt's murder. He is
equally heir with you, Pauline,
and he ought to be consulted"
"Thc viii hasn't been read
yet" said Miss Stuart "we can't
assume anything until that is
DONE"
"Pshaw! you know perfectly
we'll half Of the bulk of the estate
is yours and half Carr's. | have
a small slice and Miss Frayne a
bit. The older servants have small
Ilegacies, and there are a few char
tiles. That, Mr.. Brunt, is the gist
OF the will. Do you not agree
with me that, as l was the man
of business for the late Miss Car
rington, | am Justified, in the alb
sence of Mr.. Loria, in continuing
my services at least until we can
get definite directions from him?'
"Those matters are outside my
province, MI. Haviland. Miss Car
rington's legal advisers will
doubtless come here soon, and
such things will be decided by
them. Now, here s another point {:
| noted in the course of our in
vestigation in the boudoir a guam
tity Of powder fallen on the floor
near the dressing table, in such
relation to it that it would seem
Miss Darlington was using the
face powder as she sat there. Was
this her habit"
"Her habit Yes" said Anita !;
"Miss Darlington was in the habit
of using face powder-even cos
metics. 1t is not strange then that
such a proceeding was part of her
might toilet"
Ono, not at ALL" agreed Mr..
Brunt. "But where the powder
was thickest, on the hard floor
near the rug, was a muddled spot,
as if some one had wiped out or
swept up a mark or print. Can
any Of you explain this?"
No one spoke, and the stern
voice went on: remember, Miss
Stuart, that you began to say
something bearing on this while
we were in that room, and you
suddenly stopped, appearing con-
fused. | ask you why?"
Pauline hesitated, bit her lip,
looked at Gray and then at Anita,
and finally said. II may as we'll
tell. It is nothing. When I went
to my aunt s room and found what
l did find | was so excited and
nervous ] scarce knew what l did.
But l remember seeing q foot
print in that powder, and in ODE
dience to an impulsive instinct ]
Il obliterated it."
with WHAT"
with my handkerchief. i
merely slapped at it, and the light
powder flew about it."
Why did you do this2"
81 don't know. I had no real
reason. I Yves not thinking Of
what | was doing"
"Then you did not have a de-
sire to shield some one from pos
sible suspicion?" The words were
shot at her so swiftly that Pauline