The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1920-11-13
By
WILLIAM
JOHNSTON
Copyright BY Little, Brown l. Co.
CHAPTER XiV-Continued.
Illustrations BY
IRWIN MYERS

was II bCIduSt SUS ItdItu Tie COlISc-
quenCeS of the revelation as to her
identity, or was it that she feared she
might be trapped by his questions?
Now tell me, Mrs. Moore" he shot
at her exploSively, who really muir
dered Daisy Lutan"
Henry Kent" she answered quick
ly, before the district attorney had
time to stop her.
What's this?" exclaimed the judge.
"What did you say?"
"Obiect! object" vOciferated the
district attorney, striving in vain to
catch the attention Of the Judge pre-
siding. McGregor. apparently well
satisfied with the results of his Ques-
ton, stood there, smiling assurance
at me-
Young woman" directed the Judge,
twill you kindly repeat your last
Observation-Disclosures. Who did you say
killed Daisy Lutan?"
The girl turned to face the Judge.
Her lips were set rs if she had deter
mined to carry out some fixed plan.
cost what it might
Daisy Lutan," she repeated, twas
murdered by Henry Kent, who owns
the Granddeck. He's really OrvilI,.
Granders, the bank president who got
away with eight hundred thousand
dollars and was sent up for seventeen
years"
There was cOmmOtion in the rea'.
of the courtroom. A dapper little ole
gentleman with neatly trimmed white
whiSkers rose hastily and made -
dash for the door. German, who had
been sitting behind him, sprang after
him and pinioned him by the arms:
Nothing doing, Granders. I've got
you"
Wick, sitting up near the cOunsel
table, at the same time showed ev..
dence that he, too, was contemplation
L~S.% flight, but husky chap whom
I suspected of being one of German ;
aides, seized him, too.
Your honor" cried my counsel. 81
demand the issuance of warrants ut
once for OrviIle Granders, alias Henry
Kent, and his confederate, James VIII
son, alias James Wick and 'Stufy
jim on the charge of having muir
dered Daisy Lutan and Rufus CASTOR.
L further urge the immediate release
Of my client, Mr.. Spalding Nelson, in
my custody. Testimony that we al
ready have obtained will establish
that he was an innocent victim of the
dastardly plots of these two ex-con-
victS."
The reaction that came from this
sudden clearing of my name left me
In puzzled daZe from which | hard
iy recovered until late that evening
when. once more free, / found myself
In the CASTOR apartment. Grandprs,
his tool, Wick, and practically every
employee of the Granddeck were Nh
der arrest, and warrants wereeout for
other members of the band whose
identity had been revealed by the for
mer telephone girl.
And there in the apartment with me
were my mother, German, McGregor-
and to my surprise and delight, Bar.
Dara Bradford After her sisters
wedding, 1t appeared, Barbara's moth.
er had gone away for a brief rest
leaving her alone in the apartment
with the servants. She had welcomed
the opportunity to work undisturbed
on the mystery that had landed me be-
hind the bars. Thinking that at Ruins
Gaston's funeral she might pick up
some clue that would be of service in
unrayeling the tangled skein that held
her and me together, she had gone
thither, and seeing my mother there
Rnd SuSpecting at once who she might
be. had introduced herself. Quickly
they had become good friends and she
it was who had informed nv mother
of my plight
Present also with us, despite the
lateness of the hour, was the district
attorney and two of his aides and
Nellie Kelly, or as she much preferred
to be called, Mrs. Moore The girl was
technlcaily prisoner, but her services
IN bringing the real criminals to book
had been so exceptional that she had
been released on her own recogniz-
ance. Hither she had been brought
that the district attorney might check
up with her the marvellous tale of
criminal conspiracy that she had I'M
folded to my counsel in the brief re-
cess of the court that day.
orville Graders, it appeared. had
Oeen the master-mind that had direct
ed all the plotting. A score of years
before he had been president of one
OF the metropolis biggest banks. He
had been discovered to have embez-
lied nearly million dollars. He had
0een tried and sentenced to seventeen
years Imprisonment, but no one ever
mad been able to find what he had