Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-02-16

tAave been the dirt unuec ier Leet. 1
~. nothing whatever to say. Kirby.
.. .,press my sentiments exactly"
1yery we'll. Then we might open
=. door and invite in Miss Hartman.
s..rs are others who should be along
IN that have claim also to be pres
IL,
awhat others?" asked Jack Cum
,irgham.
,refsr to have them all here"
tAny one else?" . .
.sThe Chief Of Police" y
,.ses looked at him hard. "This Il
- ! private conference. thenT
.sThat's a matter Of definitions. I
X ,.,e invited only those who have
saim to be present." Kirby answered.
Il ITO my Office. I think"
III you prefer the chiefs ofBce we'll
\ adjourn an 90 there"
The broker shrugged. "Oh, very
4 veil"
I Kirby stepped to the door connecting
,,tb an outer Office ana threw It open.
~, and Mrs. Hull, Olson and the Chief
n Police followed Phyllis Hartman
i,to the room. More chairs were
brought in.
h "Chief, is there anything you want
b ay?" Kirby asked. Sat-,
II "Not a wor.rd. I'm sittin IN O
barquet seat. It's your show, son. v
Kirby's disarming smile won the
.a;st's heart, "I want to say. now
Mst I've talked with the chief sew.
srsi times, He's given me q lot Of
snod tins an I've worked under his
direction
\, The head Of the police force grinned.
"Outsldc Of the chief every one here
\ L connected closely with this case an
!. involved in it. It happens that every
S.n an woman Of us were in my
uncIe's apartments either at the time OF
ySis death or just before or after"
Kirby raised q hand to meet OlsOn's
psotest. ...
"Oh, know. You weren't in the
rooms, but you we're on the fire. escape
outSide. From the angle Of the police
you may have been in. All you had
tc do was to pass through an open
"SSS %suspicion fell first on me an on
/. Hull" Kirby went on. you've seen
Il ali thrashed out in the papers.
Lad been unfriendly to my uncle for
years, an ! was seen goin' to his rooms
I IN ieavin' them that evening. My
ewn suspicion was directed to Hull.
4 especially when he an Mrs. Hull at
tie Coroner's inquest changed the time
s D as to get me into my uncle's apart.
nent half an hour earlier than ] had
been there. I'd caught them in a panic
of terror when knocked on their door.
They'd lied to get me into trouble.
Hull had quarreled with Uncle James
! with a gun in two days after that
tmc-and it was just forty EIGHT hours
later he was killed. It looked a lot like
Hull to me.
II had one big advantage, chief, a
the cattleman explained. 'I knew, for
been In the rooms just before me. She
7 the appointment to meet there before
10 o'clock. You will remember Mr..
\ 9lanton's testimony. Miss Mclean an
! compared notes, 50 We were able to,
Z ihave down the time during which the
nurder must have taken place. We
worked together. She gave me other
important data. Perhaps she had
better tell in her own words about the
, clue she found that We followed"
Rose turned to the chief. Her young
tace flew a charming flag Of color.
Il told YOU about how I found Mr..
Cunningham tied to his chair, chief.
forgot to say that in the living room
there was a faint 0dor of perfume. On
my way upstairs passed in the dark
man and woman. ! had got a Whit
o. the same perfume then. It was
violet. So knew they had been in the
apartment just before me. Mr.. Lane
discovered later that Miss Hartman
used that SCENT"
Which opened up 4 new field Of
ppeculaton," Kirby went on. "We
nesan to run down facts an learned
that my cousin James had secretly mar
Sled Miss Hartman at Golden month
Deiore. My uncle had just learned the
news. He had a new will made by his
awyer, one that cut James of without
cent an lett his property to Juck
That will was never signed" Jack
broke In quickly.
Kirby looked at Jack and smiled Gym
Eany. No, 1t was never signed. Your
ptother discovered that when he looked
%e VIII oyer at uncle's desk few min.
stes after his DEATH"
Cumulative evidence pointed to
games Cunningham, continued Kirby.
he tried to destroy the proof Of his
marriage to Miss Hartman. lie later
Eetehded to lose an important paper
tnat might have cleared up the case. He
H'ed to get me to drop the matter an
% back to Wyoming. The coil wound
closer round him.
About this time another factor Mt.
Facted my attention. I had the good
luck to unearth at Dry Valley the man
VINO had wri tten threatenin' letters to
ny uncle an to discover that he was
Nayin' next door to the Paradox the
very night of the murder. More, my
friend Sanborn an guessed he had ac-
MMally been on the fire escape of the
Wyndham an seen sOmethin' Of impor-
lance through the window. Later I
forced statement from Olson. He told
III he had seen that night"
Mlrby turned to the rancher from Dry
sahey and had him tell his story. When
nc mad finished the cattleman made
=, "on the face of it olson.s story leaves
hl,doub - doubt the question of who actually
silied my uncle. If he was tellin' the
txSoie truth. his evidence points either
\ Tue Huils or my cousin James. But
y was quite possible ne had seen my
SImns,st SSnc!e tied up an helpless. ap' had
shot him. Am I right, Chief?"
Inc (ylipf NOddol Orin1y ttRfOhk