Evening star., 1921-06-26

and Garth in the troubles of Ad-
dington Alsop To begin WITH
the inspectors indisposition confined
him to his fiat 1t held Nora there in
the part of a nurse. 1t drew Garth. wht
would have braved the most Viruient
contag:on to be near her. Most I'M
portant of all, it allowed the mighty
Alsop to apply for police help without
fear of detection by the reporters ana
agents constantly swarming at head
quarters.
When Garth entered the flat that
afternoon he was. unknowlnsiy' areaus
on the threshold OF the strange case
for he had read in the noon eur sui,'ons ms
the brief paragraph which recited an
accident to all appearances Con,iiioii
enough. A man had been picked up
unconscious in the middle .'of qoiet
street. Evidently he had ,ai1s been sirueN how.
ever, arrested Garth's attention. Ihe
victim, Ralph Brown. he knew as
successful private detective. Moreosei'
the outrage had occurred durins tne
slack hours before the dawn. Appar-
entity no clue as to its perpetra tors
remained. Garth spoke Of that casu
ally to the inspector. The huge: SUI
ferng man was scarcely lntrisueu
Wrapped in an ancient dressing so"n
Ant in an easy chair. facing the nre;
whose Goals he perpetually reproVed
with frown. He groaned. There was
utter despair in the rumbllnG. amman
Nike note. Nora laughed.
Laugh away" the inspector roared.
"but make Garth forget he's a detec-
tive if he can't do better than MOUND
sick man with cheap automoo'ie
Case" t.,,,
are sometimes the most important OF
ALL" she said. "Jims right. It's odd
no witnesses can be found.
As if there had been something pro-
phetic in her words and her attitude.
a mufled knock came from the outer
door. Two men entered the living
room The one in advance was young
with frightened and apprehensive race.
His companion was older ana p1r.Mer;;
cheeks. And those eyes were uneasy.
For Garth they did not quite veil sense
of sheer terror.
IT'S Mr.. Alsop. father" Mort said
"Mr Addington Alsop
The inspector had already struggled
to rise. He conceded the Importance OF
this unexpected call. He apolosized for
"Nora's got me wound up like a
Alsop broke in rapidly,
mo politeness. inspector. must
speak to you. I'm up against IT, TneF re
after me-
TIE sat down heavily. The young
IL man, whom he introduced as his
secretary, Arthur Marvin. lighted
cigarette with trembling nnsers.
Garth watched them both while the
inspector explained that they might
speak freely before him and Nora
Alsop. he knew, because of his genius
for organizing money and industry,
and his utter ruthleSSness in dealing
with those whom necessity had
thrown within his power. had made
dangerous and active enemies. the
detective could understand the hnan-
cier's position. His death might be
cheap risk for outside fanatics to take
to destroy his leadership against the
forces of radicalism, for there were
few men strong enough to replace
him. Alsop had a newspaperin his hand
now. and was holding 1t out to the
inspector while with his foretinger he
tapped the paragraph which told OF
Browns accident rl1.Dus, ,".
NO accident.ushe n1lrttereda, THAT
man worked for nns-a precaution any
fool would take. We'll, he must have
found out what, he was after last
night: and they got him. and thought
they had killed him. They tell me at
the hospital he's still unconscious.
Alsop handed Garth a crumpled.
torn and soiled postcard.
That came in the noon mail. Must
have been picked up by somebody and
before they got him. threw it out OF
. window. OF some such thing.
Garth read the card-a single line.
almost undecipherable:
danger tomorrow night. Brown"
That means tonight" Garth said.
xoIo h I'M INN q nj
for tonight"
"The conference with capitalists
and politicians at which we settle on
certain legislation that will put some
Of these foreign anarchists on the
skids. snatch American labor beyond
their influence, and give the honest
business man chance to make
fair profit by driving his men as he
should. See here. inspector. I expect
some important men from Wall street
and Washington tonight. 1 can't let
them walk into a bomb. and I don't
want any high explosives myself"
NASTY situation. I'm no politician.
Fight crime. Wen see what we can
do. It's good thing you found Garth
here"
what is it. Mr.. Alsop?'" he asked.
''You've something else to tell u.s."
"A ghost story" he said. with an at
tempt at a laugh. Fact is. Marvin |
and I and some of the servants are
haunted by veiled woman. ! can
only tell, you facts and let you judge.
] daresay you know about my house
On the river near the city line. 1t is
lcnely for that neighborhood, and very |
old I've always heard stories about
a ghost, veled woman on the upper
hoor-some connection with the sui
eide of beautiful girl long ago. You
know the sort of thing. It's always
told about old houses. The point is. I
saw that veiled woman last night. and
she gave me rather too much evidence
Of spirituality
''Why do you connect a ghost with
anarchists?" the inspector demanded.
Because" Alsop answered. perfectly
e.riously. II believe the thing was after
E.y papers
.Then why suspect your visitor of
tcing a ghost?''
Because" Alsop said patiently. "this
<isitor had every appearance Of walk
Ing through a locked door. I've a safe
in my room. and as an extra precau-
at the house. I've locked my door. !
went upstairs late last night. There
was no light in the upper hall. but a
glow came from the lamps downstairs.
in this sort of radiance I saw the
figure of woman, clothed in white.
come apparently from my room. cross
the hall. and disappear I cried out.
] sprang for the door. 1t was locked.
Marvin and I searched the house. My
daughters are in Florida. The only
women in the place were servants.
house without the collusion Of one Of
these. And I've had them a long time.
it's hard to suspect them. Besides.
Marvin has had much the same expert
cnce. Tell them,. Arthur"
.'As a motive" Marvin said slowly.
NJ