The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1922-11-03

be lald at my door, some kind OF
case might be made up against mi
and 1t would seem plausible Blu
fortunately, / was out Of 1t In tint
We're we merely characters In
standardized detective story, suppos
I'd be arrested and deluged with sus
pense and clues and so forth"
"Your escape was too narrow e
joke over. Henry" she reproved him
gravely.
I'm not joking. my dear Lucie-
learned nothing about the tragedy un
til late last night. From what / can
find in the papers, II seems agreed that
Bob was not the real Masquer. but
had assumed that guise for Joke. A
tragic jokel Since he was undoHbt-
edly drunk at the time, his story can't
be relied upon as very convincing.
And yet, It's frightfully hard to believe
| that. even by accident, son should
have shot down his own father"
"Don'tr Lycie WINGED little. I'm
spite OF all the evidence against him,
in spite of the way he was found with
that aviation uniform, it's still awful
to believe. / can't realize that it has
actually happened"
According to the papers, poor Mrs.
Maillard has gone to pieces. No Won
der"
Eyes. | was there with her all day
yesterday, and shall go again today.
They say Bob Is terribly broken up.
He sent for his mother, and she re-
fused to see him. / don't know how it
is all going TO end Do you think his
story might be true-that somebody
else might have acted as the Masquer
that night?'
Gramont shook his head.
tits possible" he said, reluctantly,
yet it hardly seems very probable.
And now, Lucie, I'm very sorry indeed
to say it--but you must prepare your
self against another shock In the near
future"
"What do you mean2 About the
oil"
me. IT'S too long a story to tell
you now; here we are at the Maison
Blanche. Just remember my words.
please. It's something that l can't go
into now"
Every well, Henry! Do you think
that it's possible your chauffeur, Ham
mond. could have learned about the
drinking party. and could have"
Gramont started. Hammond? No.
I'll answer for him beyond any ques-
tion, Lucie. BY the way. does Fell
know anything about Hammond hav-
ing been the first Masquer?"
mot from me-" said the girl, watch
ing him.
VERY well. Hammond got into bit
of trouble at Houma, and 1 had to
leave him there. 1t was none OF his
fault, and he'll get out of it all right.
Well, come along up to our oil meet
ingl Forget your troubles, and don't
let my croakings about a new shock
cause you any worry just yet"
=. He was thinking of joachim Fell, and
the girls closeness to Fell. Had he
not known that Fell was responsible
for Hammond's being in Jail. he might
have felt differently. AS it was, he
was now forewarned and forearmed.
although he could not see what ami
mus Fell could possibly have against
Hammond.
1t was lucky, he reflected grimly.
that he had never breathed to soul
except Lucie the fact that Hammond
had been the first Masquer Had Fell
known this fact, his desire to lay Ham,
mond by the heels might have been
easily fulfilled-and Hammond would
probably have found himself charged
with Maillards murder.
They found joachim Fell debating to
a stenographer. He greeted them
warmly, ushering them at once into
his private office.
Gramont found it difficult to con-
vince himself that his experiences Of
the previous afternoon had been real.
Ii was almost impossible to believe
that this shy. apologize little man in
gray was in reality the imam higher
upl" Yet he knew it to be the case
knew it beyond any escape.
"By the way" and Fell turned to
Gramont, "if you'll dictate a brief
statement concerning that oil seepage,
I'd be obliged Merely give the facts.
| may have need Of such a statement
from you"
Gramont nodded and Joined the |
stenographer in the outer Office, where |
he dictated brief statement. 1t did |
not occur to him that there might be |
danger in this; at the moment, he was |
rather Off his guard. He was thinking |
so much about his future assault on |
Fell that he quite ignored the posi-
bility of being placed on the de-
fensive.
Within five minutes he had returned |
TO Lucie and Jachin Fell, who were |
discussing the condition of Mrs. Mall |
lard. Gramont signed the statement |
and handed it to Fell. who laid it with |
other papers at his elbow.
81 suppose we may proceed to bust
ness?" began Fell. 81 have drawn up |
articles of partnership; we can apply |
for incorporation later five so desire.