The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-09-02
CHAPTER IT. The Woman in the Case.

| Yes, Janet Fremont was the uni l identified young woman who had es- | capped from the taxicab during that | Hateful ride 70 Police headquarters. | Even though she is the heroine of Fthis story, that much against her has
 got to be admitted. But before the l reader has a chance to pass her up | to righteous indignation let us hasten 1 to point out certain inaccuracies in l the newspaper clipping above repro | duced.
 In the first place, she was not "a | desperate woman crook" Prior to | the day on which she had ben ar 1 rested in the company of "Velvet'' l Raymond she had never met or even
 heard of that plausible soft-spoken rogue; and at the time Inspector
 Holden had entered the Cafe O'Artag-
 nan and discovered them seated to- 1 gether at a little table in a corner of
 the Broadway resort she had no sus- | picion that her companion was a den- l izen of the underworld,
 In the second place, she had not | fired the shot which sent the police l official to the hospital. True Holden | had declared positively that it was | his woman prisoner who had shot him. But he was wrong. Janet was | entirely innocent of the shooting. She i had never in her life held a gun m her hand, and she was so tender constitutionally incapable of shooting | a rabbit.
 Why, then. had she had not come l forward and cleared herself of the l serious charge against her? In or der to answer that question compre- | hensively it will be necessary to ex
 plain in detail the circumstances l which had brought about her painful | predicament.
 On the morning of that eventruI | day she had gone down town to oo
 some shopping, leaving her baby in | the charge of an accommodating neighbor.
 She had been married then exactly
 five years. In fact, it was to spend i the check which her devoted husband had given her for an anniversary present that she was making the rounds of the department stores. Nothing was further from her thoughts at that moment than the prospect of making the acquaintance of a handsome welI-groomed young man and dancing with him in a Broadway resort. She was a loyal and scontented wife and mother, too fond of the man whose name she bore to be interested in any other. It was her inordinate love of danc- ing plus temptation in the form of a stunning, fashionably dressed woman whom she met at the glove counter of Stacey's department store, which was responsible for her visit to the Cafe D'Artag gnan and her subsequent meeting with Velvet Raymond.
 Her temptress was a perfect stranger to her. But she was a lady n inf ha IJ was treated with such deference by the saleswoman who was helping her try on gloves. that Janet felt quite | f1attered when she spoke to her, voic- | ing a whimsical complaint about the difficulty one had in finding just what 1 one wanted at the shops since the war had interfered with importata- tions-
 That opening remark had develop | ed into an extended conversation When they walked out of the store | together Janet and her new acquaint- | ance were on such good terms that
 when the latter suggested a cup of tea and some pastry before they con- 1 tinued their shopping tour, the younger woman readily acquiesced ''I know dear little tearoom on
 Thirty-fourth street. opposite the
 Waldorf said Janet.
 Her companion nodded. "Yes, I
 know the place you mean. It will do,
 lighting up with the inspiration that
 that had come to her, 'tny dear. are you fond of dancing?"
 Fond of it! I'm perfectly crazy | about 1t. but
 Then suppose we try the Cafe D'Artagnan instead. They say the
 dancing floor there is the best in
 town, and their French pastry COOK
 has an international reputation"
 ''Th Cafe D'Artagnan!" Mrs
 Janet Fremont drowned dub1ously.
 'Is it-er-quite respectable? I was
 was there once with my husbanc l and-'
 That was at night, of course.
 understand that things are quite live 1 ly there after dark. But in the after
 noon the atmosphere is entirely diff ferent. Why, my dear, the very best people go there. Some of my most fashionable friends are regular pa- l irons of the place. The management
 furnishes professional dancing part | ners, you know, and one has a chance to learn all the latest steps from ex- pert teachers. It is just like going to an exclusive dancing school on1v
 much more jo1ly.''
 A wistfu1 expression came to Janet,s l face.
 q suppose there couldn't be any 1 harm in our taking a cup of tea n
 there and watching the dancing Tor . | while," she said. "I can't stay very
 long. I haven't finished my shopping and I want to get home early.' She did not finish her shopp,oe
 that day. however As they sat sip ping their tea and watching the | whirling couples on the glaAs-,ilxe l dancing floor, her companion sudden
 ly gave vent to a joyous ejaculation
 why, there's Percy Madame over
 there! I told you that the very bes, people came to this place. You've