Evening star., 1922-04-28

willing penalty for his devotion to
medicine?" t
We walked along in silence. wal
ter. did You notice he said not word
of condemnation of Dixon. though
the note was before his eyes? Surely
Dixon has some strong supporters in
cambridge. as we'll as enemies"
The next morning we continued our
: Investigation. We found Dixon's
lawyer. Leland, In consultation with
his client in the bare cell of the
county jail. Dixon proved to be a
clear-eyed, clean-cut young man..
The thing that impressed me most
about him. aside from the prepos-
session in his favor, due TO the faith
displayed. whether guilty or inno-
cent Even an innocent man might
well. have been staggered by the cir
cumstantial evidence against him and
the high tide of public feeling. in
spite VI the support that he was re-
ceiving. Leland. we learned. had
been very active. BY prompt work
at the time of the young doctors ar
rest he had managed to secure the
greater part of DR.. Dixons personal
letters, though the prosecutor Sc
cured some, the contents of which
had not been disclosed.
Kennedy spent most of the day in
tracing out the movements of Thurs
ton. Nothing that proved important
was turned up. and even visits to
nearby towns failed to show any
sales Of cyanide or sublimate to any
one not entitled to buy them. Mean
while. In turning over the gossip of
the town. one of the newspaper men
bungalow was owned by the Posts
and that Halsey Post. as the executor
OF the estate. was more frequent
visitor than the mere collection OF
cour maintained stolid silence that
covered seething internal fury
when the newspaper man in question
limited that the landlord and tenant
were on exceptionally good terms
1t was after a fruitless day of such
!. search that We were sitting in the
reading room of the Fairfield Hotel.
Leland entered. His face was posi-
lively white. without a word he took
us by the arm and led US across
to his Office. Then he locked the
"Whats the matter" asked Ken
"When I took this case" he said,
Il believed down in my heart that
Dixon was innocent. ! still believe 1t.
but my faith has been rudely shaken.
feel that, you should know about
what f,have Just found. As told
Daons S ,esss,s hsa hsirs ny, a read Gf them
all then. But I have been going
through them tonight Here is a
letter from Vera Lytton herself.
You will notice it is dated the day of
her DEATH
He laid the letter before. us. II
was written in a curiouslyl greyisb-
black ink in a woman's hand, and
read:
"Dear Harris
"Since we agreed 10 disagree we
have at least been good friends. If
no longer lovers. I am not writing
in anger to reproach you with your
new love, So soon after the old. l
suppose Alma willard is Var better
little actress-rather looked down on
in this Puritan society here. But
there ID something 1 wish to warn
you about. for it concerns us all in
aimately.
mix-up II we don't look out. Mr..
Thurston-I had almost said my hus-
band. though I don't know whether
that il the truth or not-who has
just come over from New York. tells
the validity of our divorce. You re-
call he was in the south at the. time.
and the papers were served on him
in Georgia. He now says the proof
of service was fraudulent and that
he can set aside the divorce. In that
case you might figure in q suit for
alternating my affections.
Il do not write this with i'll will.
but simply to let YOU know how
Nthings stand. II we had married.
suppose would be guilty of bigamy.
a. any rate, II he were disposed he
could make n terrible scandal.
''Oh. Harris, can't you settle with
him il he asks anything? Don't for
get so soon that we once thought
rnorta,s-at least, did. Don't desert
me. or the very earth will cry out
against you. 1 am frantic and hardly
know what I am writing. Ny head
aches but + . is my heart st,,ti that s,,i, ts
down in my heart. but not to be
cast of like an old suit for 4 new
one. You know the old saying about
q woman scorned. beg you not to
"Your poor little deserted
AS we finished reading. Leland ex-
claimed, That never must come be-
fore the jury
, Kennedy was examining the, letter
carefully. strange" he muttered.
"See how,i was folded. 1t was writ
ten on the wrong side of the sheet.
6r rather folded up with the writing
outside. Where have these letters
part of the time in my safe, part
desk by the window"
.'Tbe office was locked, suppose7"
! asked Kennedy. There was no way
to slip this letter in among the others
since you obtained them"
"None. The office has been locked,
ana there is no evidence OF any one
having entered or disturbed q thing" "
He was hastily running over the
pile of letters as IL looking to see
whether they were all there. Sud
Yes" he exclaimed excitedly. zone
of-them is gone" Neryously he fum-
bled through them again. "One fs
gone" he repeated, looking at US,
startled.
'sWhat was 1t about.?" asked Craig.
"It was note from an artist, Thurs
ton, who gave the address OF Mrs. Bon
cour's bungaiow-ah, I see you have
heard of him. He asked Dixon's
recommendation of a certain patent
headache medicine. ] thought it pos
sibly evidential, and l asked Dixon
about 1t. He explained IT by saying
that he did not have a copy OF his
reply, but as near as he could recall
he wrote that the compound would
not cure q headache except at the
expense OF reducing heart action dam
soription- Indeed, he thought It q
scheme to extract advice without In
ana snsWered Il only because he
,hcuGn Vera had become reconciied to
Thufston again. can't f1nd that let
~: y: booked at each other In amass-
why. IL Dixon contemplated any