The evening world., 1920-12-20

when he beard had proof that would
clear Mrs. Felderson, he, too, promised
to be with me in . few minutes.
Wcks then stopped at the door to
say: "Mt. Woods called about week
ago, Sir"
What did he want?" 1 demanded.
"lle stated as 'ow e was alter SOM
papers concerning a business dea
that e and Mr.. t'elderson were inv
terested in"
In the excitement over my discovery
I had completely forgotten the real
errand that had brought me to the
rouse.
+. What did you tell him, Wteks?"
u told i'm that you had charge OF
all MIR. Feldcrson's effects, sir, and
;hat he could probably obtain them
from you" the butler replied.
That was right Did he leave after
tGat?"
Shortly after that, SIR" wtcks
answered. "But first he asked for the
key to the garage, sayin that e would
kt to hlnspect the auto
Did you give it to him?" | Snapped.
Yves, sir. 1 saw no arm in that.
sir"
l'.rau to the garage and quickly
searched the broad pockets OF Jins
ear. The portfolio was not there.
hurried toward the house TO ask
Wicks il Woods had mad any papers
with HIM when nc returned the
garage key, but slackened my pace
before / had gone halfway. After
all. il made very little difference.
The evidence had only beeh gathered
to keep Helen with her husband.
Now, since that was no longer an is-a
sue, what did it matter If Woods hadN
stolen the proofs OF his own di ]
honesty. True. Simpson and DddT
had asked me to get them, but l 20.
that they had urged the importanob
OF those papers more to give me
something to do than for any real
need Of them.
Just then an automobile came up
the drive and Simpson jumped out.
He was gravely skeptical until l led
him into the garage and showed him
the bullet holes; then he was enthuS-
iastic
While we were talking the Coroner
drove up. He took the bullet had
extracted from the back OF the car
and looked at it as though he eX-
pected 20 find its owners name etched
on it, after which he examined the
holes in the back OF the car and in
the fontboard.
"This would seem to clear Mrs.
Felderson, but 1t also makes it look
as though every other suspect Is in
nocent. Look at these holes in the
floor! The bullets that lodged there
must have been fired from above.
Also you will notice there are thre0
bullet holes in the back of the car
and two in the footboard besides the
shot that killed Mr.. Felderson. I'm
less your friends, the Socialists, were
carrying a young armory with them
they could never have fired that
many shots in the short space of time
that it took Mr.. Felderson to pass
them. 81 should say that 1t would
take a man from-well, from fftcen
to thirty seconds, at least, to fire six
shots at any target, and before that
time the automobile would have been
out Of range"
He might have used an automatic
rife" / interposed.
The Coroner took Off his hat and
rubbed the bald spot on the back OF
his head.
"That is possible" he admitted.
"but it doesn't explain how those
bullet holes got into the ioor. There
might have been a struggle and the
gun discharged into the floor that
way" w7f
THAT doesn't explain the holes
the back of the car" l objected, fear-S
ing that they would again 80 back 10
the theory that Helen was respon-
sible.
The holes in the footboard seem
to me positive proof that the shots
were fred from above" Simpson ar
gued. Are there any buildings or
trees along that road where the mur-
derer might have stationed himself
and waited for Felderson to come
along?"
There are no buildings" I replied,
"but there must be trees in the vi
cinity of that stream"
That sounds as though it might
bring results" Simpson said.
Thompson, suppose you take the
can find. In the mean time I'll start
proceedings to quash that indictment
against Mrs. Felderson.'
The Coroner insisted he was due q :
an inquest that very moment, but
would go with me in the afternoon.
As we walked toward the cars, Simp-
son asked me II I had found the
papers dealing with Woods's case,
and I told him I thought Woods had
stolen them and repeated the infor-
nation Wicks had given me-
After they had left, I decided to go
out to the Blandesville bridge and do
a little preliminary scouting of my
own. Eager for Mary's company, and
wishing to tell her the glorious news
that was to clear Helen, l drove to
the hospital, only TO find that Mary
had not been there and Helen was
asleep; so I drove on to Marys, hop
ing TO find her home.
Miss Pendeton is just going out,
but ! will ask II she will see you.'' the
maid Informed me.
heard Mary's light step pattering
down the stairs and turned to greer
her. She was dressed in a smart,
semi-mititary costume which she had
worn while a volunteer chauffeur dur
ing the war, and she looked simply
radiant.
MARY, we've made certain discover
les which absolutely clear Helen Of
suspicion" ! cried, taking her hands
in mine. l told her of my find of the
morning, and watched her eyes N,1deu
with Joy and surprise. so, while Wa
haven't found out yet who murdered
Jim, we know that Helen had no part
in it,"
Mary was thinking hard about some
thing, but she recalled herself quickly