The Oklahoma miner. [volume] (Krebs, Okla.) 1912-192?, 1921-08-04


sponse, "Adolph Krantz."
NO, | don't; ther amt lone of
those people yere, tell yer"
The door slapped shut in my face,
and l heard a holt shot into place
the interview was ended.
l stared moment at the blank door
in bewilderment; then turned away,
and slowly retraced my steps to the
street. SO the young woman had de-
liberately lied to me; had merely been
amusing herself at my expense; had
sent me on this Wild goose chase so
that she might laugh over my sim
plicity. But was this true? If so,
how was / to account for the strange
coincident that both she and Harris
street? 1t could not have occurred
merely through chance. Something
must have happened in the mean
while to overthrow all her plans, and
to cause this rabid housekeeper to
even deny her very existence. And |
held the key Of eXplanation-the muir
der Of AIva.
Beyond all doubt here was 10th
cause and effect The girl had intend
ed to either see me herself, or by
proxy in the form Of this mysterious
Miss Conrad. But what had since
occurred had compelled a sudden
change in plans, necessity for con-
Cealing her escape. There was no
way in which she could notify me, but
she might very easily have telephoned
to her landlady. And, if the place
was what l suspicioned it to be, she
might have every confidence that her
secret would he guarded.
l glanced up at the front of the
house, searching the windows but
without results. The curtains were
closely drawn to keep out the sun,
and the place appeared forlorn and
deserted At the delicatessen shop on
the corner | gained a CLEAN of light,
but merely enough to strengthen my
former judgment. The keeper, a fax
en-haired Swede, was loquacious
enough, but had only been In business
there a few weeks.
"247 lie Compte, you say. Yes, she
takes roomers; some are men, and
some are women. They come in here
and buy, but never ask the names; 1t
was all cash, so why should l care?
! Sometimes | hear them call names
| sure; but never Conrad. The woman
what keeps the house? Wait and
| tell you; it is on the books; ahl you
read as she wrote it for me-Mrs. Au-
| gusta Waldron; maybe a widow?
! What you think? Bah, she never like
anything l have to sell. l care moth
! ing for trade with her--a cat this Mrs.
Augusta Waldron."
/ left him with the familiar sound
Of the name ringing in my ears-the
whole thing was travelling in n circle,
and the circle was growing continual
Iy more compact. Blindly, l was
stumbling up against it here and
there most Unexpectedly. Augusta
Waldron, beyond doubt, was Ivan Wal
dron's wife. No wonder her house
was designated the meeting place for
those people.
/ returned to the hotel. Only as
stood before the door did l realize
that the newsboys were calling out,
Extra All about the murderw
felt that my face was white, and that
by hand shook, yet l hastily bought
copies of half a dozen sheets, showing
them into my pockets.
The reports were mostly alike, ex-
ceedingly brief and unsatisfactory, ex.
cept that they conveyed the impress
sion that thus far the police possessed
no real clue as to the perpetratOr of
the crime. No one connected with
the meeting the night before was men
toned in any article, nor was any sus,
piciOn of such a meeting mentioned,
read the last line with distinct feel
ing of relief, dropping the paper on
the floor.
They had discovered no clue, moth
ing whatever to work upon. The In
terror of the car had yielded no evil
dence of its former occupant, the only
reference being to mud on the floor
Outside all footprints had been OBJ
liberated by the falling rain. No one
in the neighborhood had heard 6
sound, or witnessed any movement
The whole affair was shrouded in mys
terry.
What, under these conditions, was
my duty2 What could / either do. OF
say, to clarity this tragedy, and bring
the guilty to justice2 | sat there fol
an hour thinking and smoking, en-
deavoring to answer these queries.
could study out no clear way to any
confession, which would not directly