The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1921-09-23


true enough. scarcely doubted but
what 1t a your act-onIy l per.
suaded myself that the man must have
attacked you. and that you struck In
self-defense. ! would not believe you
guilty Of deliberate murder. meant
to give you a chance; SO I took the
weapon away with me-"
She drew a long breath.
"No n saw your"
mot a soul; the street was absO-
lutely deserted. l wiped OF the blood,
and hid the knife In my pocket until
I reached the hotel !; then ! concealed
it at the bottom of my valise."
ut is still thereY"
"No; something led Harris to
out to investigate. He had my tele-
phone number. and easily located both
hotel and room. Waiting until | left
the key. he entered. and went through
the valise in search Of anything he
could find. He came upon the dagger
hatpin, remembered that you had just
such a one In your hat that night.
and instantly jumped to the conclusion,
as he had seen the wound. that this
was the weapon of murder. He be-
licves we were working together. and
this was why l had concealed the
thife."
And you? o believed thatT
II believed In YOU" l said earnestly.
"ht first I thought 1t must be you;
then l saw that pin in your hat again,
when l knew l had one just like It
hidden at the hotel. This gave me
new hope, until I returned and dis
covered my valise slit open. and the
dagger gone. l knew Of no one who
would do such an actor had occa-
sion to-except you, in an effort to
destroy evidence.
"Then later. when that was cleared
up by Harris acknowledging that he
was the one who got the rin, l told him
about your having your own in your
hat at Perond's. He only laughed. and
said you were smart enough to buy
another. as DOR as the first was
found missing; that doubtless there
were plenty to be had"
Hes right ; there are. AT least I
know Of one shop on lower Broadway
where they are for SALE" She stopped
suddenly. with a peculiar gesture.
why, now / think Of 1t, Sarah Wal
dron has n exactly like mine; I
bought it for her."
"Ivan Waldron's wifef"
"Of course; that's rather odd, isn't
it?"
1T opens up a line of thought, any
way. Could you find out, do you
suppose. IL she has 1t still? What
does she know about her husbands"
The girl laughed softly.
"Know! Less even than I do, I
imagine. He doesn't show up here
oftener than once in six months, and
Sarah gets nothing from him.. She
wouldn't know-why?"
Because. after all, it might be the
Russian; If 1t was he would have to
lie to Harris. and pretend to know
nothing. You heard how those two
talked at Perond's. What did you
make of it,"
She drew her eyes together, leaving
the marks of q frown on her fore
head.
THAT they had planned together to
rob Alva; that WaldrOn was to be
hidden somewhere outside. and was
to wait for Harris to signal him that
the money had been paid over"
Exactly; Harris failed to learn
that the money changed hands, and
consequently did not signal. But
Waldron. nevertheless, was outside
waiting: had no doubt spotted Alva's
machine. and was ready to act. The
M thing we do not know is-did
Alva start home alone; or did one
Of the men accompany him? II the
latter suppOsition is true then that
fellow must have committed the
murder, with Waldron q possible
accomplice after the crime. II not
true, then the only other solution Is
that Alva picked Waldron up for COM
partnership. Were they acquainted at
ALP
Il think 50, but am not sure; you
said WaldrOn first reported this
chance to Harris"
$50 he did; tEen 1t Is quite possible
the two knew each other. That would
make 1t easy for the Russian to ask a
ride. Whoever struck the blow was in
the rear seat. This theory fits in all
right with his actions toward Harris"
What do you NEAR to dor
SHADOW WaldrOn; he is sure to
expose himself sooner or later. We
must get away from here, out Of the
hands OF these fellows. Could you
find your way to the stairs in the
dark 2"
Yes. / have been here often"
"Then / am going to turn out this
light before opening the door,"
She led the way confidently enough,
moving silently along the wall, 1
keeping close SO as to touch her. A
few steps brought us forth into the
hoIl - tho hn0A ~ = N0sUht ne Stofrc