The Washington herald., 1921-05-01


ope word lea 70 snothsr. He vss ugfy.
anyhow, that nernfng. sonefhins-e tall
ephoss CALL I think-Aad upset him
~who canedf-.
Il don't know. And. anyhow. Tn the
one hsld Il al pieess together against
me-
But there's the knife It hasn't been
found
1T may be lost In the snow
-winnsriy VIII ina somethinG-
.I haven't your faith. Edith he said
as I left him but the look he gave me
fingered In my heart
went out TO csrpenter house. only 20
meet there . definite and general opinion
that Justin had killed John Benedict
They all depiored It Of course. wonder
ing how he could have committed the
crime. and. In . way. since Benedict was
popular and the murder not sordid. rath-
er hoped he would come out free: but the
Impression Of his guilt persisted In spite
Of my defense Of him and went 70 the
weaving room 70 be alone
Rita Kubars sister followed me there
with the news that . man wanted 20 zee
me- The hope that some one might bring
us Q peg on which TO hang hope led me
TO tell ncf 70 OTluk "uen -
came my heart sank 70 zee that my caller
was Tom Foran-
The old man looked crushed By the
erief. Of his vifs's death 4 heard that
you came over night before last he said.
tviriinS his battered old cap In nervous
hands 4 want 10 thank you. miss for
eoninG-
TN sorry couldn't get In I ssid-
Is there anything I can do nowT
would you want to come to the fo-
nersl7' he asked. watching me with visit
full eyes. It'll be this afternoon
few Of the men who have worked with
me will be there. but ! thought perhaps
she might have liked 10 have . woman
come And don't know any women
That was how happened TO 70 TO the
funeral Of . woman whom / had hardly
known in her lifetime
had seen death more than once In the
course Of the years had worked at Car
penter house. but Il seemed to me that
have never seen Il in % lonely. 90 tragic
q Euise as IL wore when it came 70 the
Forana The little shack, pitifuliy bare,
made gloomy setting for the simple serv-
ice through which poor old Tom Forsn
sat in q trance of grief while the min
lister. shabbily thfeadbare himself. read
the solemn words. Il am the Resurrec-
ton and the Life" he ended. Then four
men lifted the bare comm 20 the waiting
hesrse. and they, the old man and 1 en-
tered q big black car and drove TO one
Of the new cemeteries to the westward.
Under . gray sky that drooped with
threat Of another storm, we watched the
box lowered into the snow Of the broken
ground. Perhaps IL was because my own
worries brought me closer TO the sorrovs
Of others. but nothing in all my life sad
dened me as had that somber scene.
left the men at the cemetery gate and
took the street car back to the settle
ment. 1 could not face mother and Ma
taIie then. They seemed too detached
from the realities Of life, too sheltered
for understanding Of them. and SO. to
avoid them. waited until late before 1
started for home. Natalie and mother
had gone to bed and apparently TO sleep.
but grandmother called me as / passed
her door. i went in and told her of Ken
meth winnerly and his talk Of her. He
certainly liked cake" she chuckled.
Wen. maybe Il was cast on the waters.
Justin and 1 went to winnerly the next
afternoon. Rothan had given him sum-
mary Of the evidence. but the finding OF
Benedict's coat on the side Of the tracks
and the declaration Of McGrath that the
footprints in the snow had been oblit-
Grated Oy Ine tnlINluB OF Nnc ICY peAAScs
was all that had been added to what We
knew. wfnnerly went over them like .
man scanning q column OF figures, and
was reminded by his method that he
was q great executive rather than a great
detective Of the sleuthing school be-
gan to wonder IL he were really the man
to climb this stone wall OF mystery when
he swung around to question US
Over and over our story he went. lead
ing us in and out Of the telling, but sp-
parently unsstished with our measer
tale. Benedict went back that night
with q defnite purpose" he reasoned.
"Rothan finds he left the plant at 4, at
tended . conference at the Manufactur-
ers' Association. and had dinner alone al
the Union Club. Then he rode out &c
Carpenter. He left his car and did moi
70 in the plant. Whom had he come tc
met? That's the question"
Some one teIephoned him that morn
inF," I said. Justin and Rita Kuba
have both said the call seemed to mak'
him more than usually ugly"
Did the switchboard operator notic'
the call7'
There were a hundred a day for Bene
dict" Justin said. "An she remember
is that a man called who seemed unuseC
to telephoning. He used a pay telephone
because he had trouble about the coin.
HIN" said winnerly. That begins q
look as IL we'd have TO go back quite
distance to piece the puzzle. Perhap
Rothan has"
Rothan, while he had already delve'
back into Benedct's life, had no clew ou
Of his information garnered from tn
storehouses OF the winnerly oficer. Ben
edict, born in Missouri, had gone Wes
with the extension of one Of the trans
continental railroads. From track con
struction Isborer he had risen 60 the su
perintendency of one OF the contracts ii