Evening star., 1922-05-06
BOUT noon we went down tc

| the lone hand, but he said nothing,
for it was part of the agreement.
Maloney seemed rather glad than
! otherwise. He had clues of his own
about Mrs Branford. Still, Kennedy
smoothed things over by compliment
] ing the detective on his activity. and
| indeed he had shown remarkable
ability in the first place in locating
Mrs. Branford.
| II started out with the assumption
that the Brandfords must have need
| ed money for some reason or other,
| said Maloney. so l went to the COM
| mercial agencies today and looked up
Branford. l can't say he mas Deen
J prosperous; nobody has been in Wall
street these days, and that's just the
thing that causes an increase IN rake
| burglaries Then there is another
possibility" he continued triumphant
| ly. II had a man up at the Gratan
Branford was seen with the actor
Jack Delarue, last night. ! imagine
they quarreled. for she returned
alone, much agitated. in a taXlcab.
Any way you look at it. the clues
are promising whether she needed
money for Branford's speculations or
for the financing of that rake De-
| larue."
Maloney regarded Craig with the
air of an expert who could afford to
patronize a good amateur-but after
all an amateur. Kennedy said moth
ing, and of course l took the cue.
YES" agreed Blake, you see, our
| original hypothesis was pretty good
one. Meanwhile, of course, the police
are fioundering around in a bog of
| false scents
'It would make our case a good
deal stronger" remarked Kennedy
| quietly, "if We could discover some
of the stolen jewelry hidden some
where by Mrs. Branford herself" He
said nothing of his own unsuccessful
| search through the house, but con-,
tinued: What do you suppose she
has done with the jewels? She must
have put them somewhere before she
got the yeggman to break the safe.
| Shed hardly trust them in his hands.
But she might have been foolish
! enough for that. OF course it's an
| other possibility that he really got
away with them. 1 doubt If she has
them at Grattan Inn, or even il she
would personally put them in a safe
ures in that end of it. We must let
no stone go unturned."
| That's right" meditated Maloney.
! apparently turning something over in
we only had some evidence. even part
of the jewels that she had hidden. it
| would clinch the case. That's a good
! idea, Kennedy"
! Craig said nothing. but could see.
| or fancied l saw. that he was graft
ed Maloney off on another trail. leav-
| ing us to follow ours unhampered.
] The interview with Blake was soon
| over and as We left l looked inquir-
ingly at Craig.
Il want to see Mrs Branford
= OF cpofr h coiI tpIy Il
better alone today than We did last
| night"
| 1 must say I half expected that she
would refuse to see us and was quite
| surprised when the page returned
with the request that we go up to her
suite. 1t was evident that her atti-
| tude toward us was very different
from that of the first interview
Whether she was ruff1ed by the official
| presence of Blake or the officious
presence of Maloney, she was at least
politely tolerant of us. Or was it that
she at last began to realize that the
| tolls were closing about her and that
\ things began to look Enthusiastically
| black?
Kennedy was quick to see his ad-
vantage. Mrs. Branford." he began.
| since last night l have come into the
possession Of some facts that are very
|; important. / have heard that several
loose pearls. which may or may not
be yours. have been offered for sale
by man on the Bowery. who is what
| the yeggmen call "a fence"
| Yeggman-fence." she repeated.
''Mr. Kennedy, really l do not care
| to discuss the pearls any longer. 1t
Is imm aterial to me what becomes of
them My first desire is to collect the
insurance. If anything is recovered I
am quite willing to deduct that
| amount from the total. But must in
| sist on the full insurance or the re-
| turn of the pearls. AS soon as Mr..
Branford arrives I shall take other
steps to secure redress"
| A boy raped at the door and
| brought in a telegram which she tore
| open nervously. He will be here in
| four days." she said. tearing the tele-
gram petulantly, and not at all as if
she were glad to receive it. rs there
| anything else that you wish to say"
, She was tapping her foot on the rug
as if anxious to conclude the inter-
view. Kennedy leaned forward ear
nestly and played his trump card bold
I do you remember that scene in
''The Grass Widower,'" he said slow
| ly. where Jack Delarue meets his
runaway wife at the masquerade
| ball.
She colered slightly. but instantly
regained her composure. Vaguely"
! she murmured, toying with the flow
! ers in her dress.
''In real life, said Kennedy his
voice purposely betraying that he
meant it to have a personal applica
| ton, Husbands do not forgive even
rumors of-ah-shall we say affini
ties?-much less the fact"
| IN real life" she replied, wives
| do not have affinities as often as some
newspapers and plays would have US
| believe"
| -"I saw Delarue after, the perform
ance last night" went on Kennedy in
| exorably. II was not seen, but ] saw,
and he was with
She was pacing the room now in
unsurpassed excitement. will you
never stop spying on me " she cried.
| Must my every act be watched and
! misrepresented? l suppose a distorted
version of the facts will be given to
i my husband. Have you no chivalry.
! or justice. or-or mercy?' she pleaded
| stopping in front of Kennedy.
| mrs. Branford," he replied coldly,
81 cannot promise what I shall do.
NV duty is to simply get at the truth
| about the pearls. If it involves some
other person, it is still my duty to
all that you really know about the
| pearls and trust me to bring it out
| all right?"
She faced him, pale and haggard.
81 have told" she repeated steadily
Il cannot tell any more-1 know
nothing more"
J Was she lying? l was not expert
enough in feminine psychology to
! judge. but down in my heart 1 knew
| that the woman was hiding some
What was it she was battling for?
| We had reached an impasse.
| 1T was after dinner when I met
! Craig at the laboratory. He had made
! a trip to Montclair again. where his
| stay had been protracted because Ma
! loney was there and he wished to