The Jasper news., 1920-08-19


ths ois s,hsisnxn r.arly gone away
~ was ~ h h|dIhg In the bulldIngi
2 Who had femoved the OaEton
pearls from Tho wall safsi- II must
be someone who knew the combina-
ton.
Q. Who hac written the note found
on the iloof Of my bedroomt How
and when had Il been placed on the
fioOr there's
Z. Who were ne persons who were
trying TO binckmail the family next
doori &
s. How had the Anonymous notes
been delivered on the floor OF Barbara
Bradford'n rOOhf evidently the
writer was The same as in my cass.l
Q. Was thef6 anything in the past
relations Of Mr. Bradford and my
great-uncle fIet would cause my
great-uncle to plot against the Brad
ford familyf M
2. How were the mysterious sounds
heard both BY my great-uAcle. By Bar.
bara Bradford. and BY myself 70 be
accounted forf
s How we're sthe mysterious foot
steps heard ~ Mrs. Burke to be en-
plainedf Wars they merely the TIM
aginlngH Of q superstit;ous old womanf
The relations between Mr.. Bradford
and Rufus Gatfon puzzled me. Mas
Bradford's recofection Of her fathers
remark about my great-unrle certainiy
indicated that he held ne high opinion
Of him. Ny great-uncle's actions
throughout had been peculiar. His
suddenly sending for me and insisting
on my coming here to i've, his insist
ence on leaving his wlfe's jewels IN my
care, and on ehtrusting me with the
combination cf the safe, all now took
on sinister aspect. II certainly was
peculiar that ~ had gone or without
leaving me eus address where he could
be reached s
Then. too. there was my own pnex-
pected and unwarranted discharge at
my place OF business. was positive
In some way Il was connected with my
having come t0lthis place to live. Had
my great-uncle himself brought It
about for the purpose Of discredlting
met Was II fhe work Of the black
mailers to get square with me for hav.
ing accidentally butted In on the
meeting they had arranged with Miss
Bradfordf
The scar-faced mani Who was her
1 was certain that he was I'm some way
involved. 1t might have been he who
had caused me to lose my job. Ger
tainly the malevolent glance he had
given me IN the restaurant that night
showed that he would have wrought
me harm II ne could. The next time
laid eyes on him l was determined
TO trail him With bulldog .tenacity ,un-
I'll I ascertsinef his identity ana where
he lived. / felt sure that the tran of
the mystery would lead to his door.
decided not to leave the apartment
all day. had laid In plentiful sup
ply Of food the day before % there
was no necessity for my going out.
There was plenty Of work for me to
DO. / must try to devise some way
Of examining the safe door and the
Jewel box that remained for evidence
Of fingerpdnts, and must inspect the
building both from within and without
to see II I could learn how the notes
were delivered.
From one OF the toilet tables ! OBJ
tanned some flne powder and opening
the wall safe again took out the
Jewel box and carefully busted Il over
with the powder. hoped that the
powder would reveal markings OF
hands on the bon. but either was too
inexperienced or my method was
wrong, for 1 succeeded In obtaining
no sort of result. beyond ending out
what my own fingerprints looked like
on a sheet OF paper prepared with
some home-made iampblack. After an
hour or two Of experimentation gave
It up as a bad sob. and turned to the
study Of methods BY which tie notes
might have been delivered.
The CASTOR apartment was on the
sixth door Of the building. which was
surrounded by ordinary three and
four-story dwelling houses. II must
have been someone In the building.
n not in the apartment itself. It would
be quite possible for someone on the
floor above to have projected the notes
through my window and that Of Miss
Bradford by attaching them to the
end OF a long stick Imade up my
mind to ascertain who occupied the
apartments above
The mystery of the whispers did not
seem to be Of such easy solution.
While I had been Inclined At nrst to
,,a0ard INV oVvn oxnerlar,ce "A n flaaam