Elbert County tribune., 1921-11-11


scrubwomen and a watchman or two.
A tenant might slip in at such an
hour. yet he would be fortunate indeed
to escape the observation of some one
along the halls, or on the staircase
| l felt confident careful questioning
among the night employees would give
some line on the identity of the man,
even II there should prove no other
| means of locating him.
One thing was settled; ] must go
back to the hotel. II l was to pay my
| bill and depart | would lose all con
nectIon with Marie Gessler; she would
then possess no means of finding me.
| could not seek her, but she possessed
my address. and must surely endeavor
to communicate with me before night.
The only thing then. was to remain
and walt for her to call. Yet this
surely exposed me TO the danger OF
arrest, II waldron named me 10 the
police In connection with the death OF
| Harris.
| Yet by this time I was firmly con
| vinced that the Russian would either
lie outright In the affaIr-claimlng that
Harris injuries had resulted wholly
from a fall downstairs in the dark
or else would swear them upon some
unknown invader who had escaped
after knocking him senseless. Certain
ly he would never reveal the truth.
unless compelled TO do so. To do so
would queer his whole game
That is. It would If his game was
anything as l had doped 1t out. II
he, working alone, or with some
accomplice. as now appeared more
| probable, had been concerned in the
Alva murder. his main object at pres
ent would assuredly be TO escape de-
lection. and get a division of the
spoils. His one desire would be to
| remain out of sight. and in order to
| do this he must shield me from arrest
l awoke at eleven, rested and with
clear brain. Nothing had occurred
TO disturb me, and, as l looked at the
watch and realized the hour, felt no
longer a doubt but what Waldron had
found some way In which to protect
us both. Eager to look over the noon
editions myself, l dressed rather
hurriedly, and descended to the lobby.
The paper secured was devoid of par
ticulars. Gentleman George" Harris,
well known to the police. had been
found dead in the hallway of room
| ing house on lie Compte street, oper-
ated by Mrs. Sarah Waldron. 1t
is believed to have been a thieves
| quarrel from the evidence of those in
the house, who heard the sounds of a
| struggle. and saw strange man
! A.. A. mn
were no arrests. although the police
were searching for certain parties who
might be implicated.
So far so good but now what about
the Russian? He had evidently escaped
suspicion, yet would be far from easy
| In his own mind. The situation in
which lie found himself would only
serve to increase his desire to secure the
money, and get safely away while the
going was good If he actually knew
where such money was to be had,
he would scarcely delay seeking It,
II he had personally hidden that bag
OF currency taken from Alva, he
would be after the stuff within twenty
four hours while II another held II,
he would as surely seek the fellow
out and demand his share This gave
me two lines to follow; might locate
Waldron, and shadow him or | might
see what discoveries l could make in
the Colmar building. The better
chance seemed to me lay In Broad
street | ate deliberate lunch,
planning how best to proceed, and
hoping some bellboy would call me to
81. R,,I.
uninterrupted.
Both Wall and Broad streets were
busy enough when l elbowed my
passage through the shifting crowds
of men hurrying in every direction,
and, reached the edge of the curb,
gazed upward at the ornamental front
of the Colmar building.
l took an elevator to the tw elfth floor,
and walked slowly from end to end
| of the marble corridor, reading the
names ON the glass doors as l passed.
1 met but few people and attracted
no attention, passing down the stair
way to the floor below. Growing more
pessimistic as ] proceeded, 1 had
reached the fifth floor. when, as
| turned at the front of the iron stairs.
my glance rested on the letters stem
ciled along the frosted glass op-
posite-'Mutual Investment Company.
Casper Wine, Manager" / stopped
STILL my heart beating wildly. feel
ing that l had stumbled blindly On
the very thing l had been seeking.
| Casper Wine was the name of the
man who. through accident, had opened
to me the door leading Into the Alvs
| factory; the man who had left mo
alone In the entry while he disappeared
| to talk with Alva privately in the
little side-room. Casper Winel For
the first time l really believed the