Evening star., 1922-04-28

preserve this letter from herr mused
Kennedy. why didn't he destroy It."
That's what puzsles me-" remark
one has broken in and substituted
this Lytton letter for the Tharston
letter."
Kennedy was scrutinizing the let
ter. saying nothing. II may keep it,"
he asked at length. Leland was quite
willing. and even undertook to OBJ
tain some specimens OF the writing
OF Vera Lytton. With these and the
letter Kennedy was working far into
the night and long after had passed
into land troubled with many wild
dreams Of deadly poisons and secret
intrigues of artists.
The next morning q message from
our old friend First Deputy O'Con-
ing the rooms of an artist named
Thurston in one of the cooperative
studio apartments. Thurstofl him
self had been there Tor several days,
and was reported to- have gone to
Maine to sketch. He had had q num-
Der of debts. but before he left they
had all been paid--strange to say,
by notorious firm Of shyster law
yers, Kerr G. Kimmel. Kennedy wired
back to find out the facts from Kerr
& Kimmel and to locate Thurston
at any cost.
Even the discovery Of the new let
ter did not shake the wonderful self.
possession Of DR.; Dixon. He denied
his story OF a letter from Thurston,
to which he had replied by sending
an answer, care Of Mrs. Bonconr, as
requested. He insisted that the en-
gagement between Miss Lytton and
himself had been broken before the
announcement OF his engagement
with Miss willard. AS for Thurston.
he said the man was little more than
a name to him. He had known per-
fectly all the circumstances of the
divorce. but had had no dealings with
Thurston, and no fear Of him. Again
and again he denied ever receiving
the letter from Vera Lytton.
Kennedy did not tell the Willards
begun to tell on Alma. and her
father had had her quietly taken to
a farm of his up in the country. To
escape the curious eyes Of reporters.
Halsey Post had driven up one night
In his closed car She had entered 1t
quickly with her father. and the Journey
had been made in the ear. while Halsey
Post had quietly dropped of on the out
was waiting to take him back. It was
evident that the Willard family relied
implicitly on Halsey, and his assistance
to them was most considerAte While
he never forced himself forward. he
kept in close touch with the progress
away his watchfulness increased proper
tionately, and twice a day he wrote q
long report which was sent to her.
Kennedy was now sending every effort
to locate the missing artist. When he
eft Cambridge. he seemed to have
However. with Oconnor's aid. the po-
lice Of all New England were on the
lookout.
The Thurstons had been friends OF
Halsey's before Vera Lytton had ever
met DR.. Dixon, we discovered from
the Danbridge gossips. and I. at least.
jumped to the conclusion that Halsey
through a sense Of ,friendship when
he found that Kennedy was interested
in Thurston's movements. I must say
I rather liked Halsey. for he seemed
very thoughtful of the Willard's. and
was never too busy to give an hour or
carried out without publicity.
Two days passed with not word
from Thurston. Kennedy was o6vt.
ottsly getting impatient. One day .
rumor was received that he was In
Bar Harbor; the, next It was Z re-
ever. came the welcome news that
he had been located In New Hamp-
shire. arrested. and might be expected
the next. day. 80 49, ..:
At once Kennedy became all energy
He arranged for a secret conference
In Senator Willards house the mo-
.ment the artist was to arrive. The
ing trip back to town. Nothing was
said to any one about Thurston. but
Kennedy quietly arranged with the
district attorney. to be present with
the note and the jar Of ammonia
properly safesuarded Leland. OF
could not. Halsey Post seemed only
too glad to be with Miss willard,
though he seemed to have lost in
terest in the case as the Willards re.
turned to look after 1t themselves
Mrs: Boncour was well enough 70 Az
sisted on coming in a private ambu-
lance which drove over from . near
by city especially for him. The time
was fixed Just before the arrival OF
the train that WAS TO bring Thufstoil:
snSs + w.s ana rn Zoe: :naf: paon o
impatiently waiting for Kennedy to
begin this monentous sxposition that
was to establisA the guilt or inno-
cence Of the calm young physician
who sat impassively In the tatl. not
half a mile from the s,n room a.h.tss Ehsrs MS
"In many respects this is the most
remarkable case that 1t has ever been
my lot to handle" began Kennedy
"Never before have I felt SO kesnly
my sense OF responsibility. Therefore,
nroeeeding. rro let me begin by setting
forth the facts as see them.
"First. let US consider the dead
woman. The question that arises here
is. was she murdered, or did she COM
init suicide? I think you will discover
the answer as l proceed. MISS Lvtson'
burgess Thufston. The Thurstons had
temperament, and temperament 70
quite often the highway TO- the d.
vorce court. It was so In .this. case.
Mrs. Thurston discovered tthat her
husband was paying much ATTENTION
in New York, ana he accepted sefyice
in the south, whore he happensd to
be. At least It was SO testified By Mrs.
Thurston's lawyer.
Now here comes the femarkable
featoure Of the case. The law ir1n o.
began to Investigate the legality Of
this divorce. Before q notary Thurs.
ten made an affidavit that he had
never been served by the lawyer FOR
Miss Lyttop, as she was now known.
Her lawyer is dead. but his repre-.
papers is alive. He was brought to
New York and asserted sQuarely that
he had served the papers properly.
"Here Is where the shrewdness OF
Nose Kimmel. the shystsr lawyer.
came in. He arranged to have the
southern attorney Identity the man
he had served the papers on. For this
purpose he was epgAged in conversA-
tion with one OF his own clerks when
the lawyer was due 10 appear. kim
mel appeared to act confused. - II he
crn lawyer. who had sesn Thusston
only once, fell sQuAfely into the trap,
nd Identified the clerk an Churlton.