Evening star., 1923-06-07

Only since he came here" answer
ed the butler in perfect English.
You liked him?"
Neither yes nor no. He knew lit
| tie of his duties. but he was willing
to learn. He was respectful to me
| and friendly enough. I had no rea-
son TO dislike him
Morton didn't seem to get anywhere
with this man.
We'll, what do you think Of his
| character" he said Would you say
ployer?"
IAN men are capable of crime" said
the Jap in low. even voice, but he
could not kill Dr. Waring and go
| away leaving the study locked on
the inside"
Why did he go away, them"
That I do not know. 1t may be
| he tired of the place here"
But there was money due him
Yes: that makes 1t hard to under
| stand"
Morton had an uncomfortable feel
ing that the Japanese was scornful
of him and: worse rs .isa still that the
You may go," he told Ito. and
then, turning to Lockwood. he said,
little be1ligerently: Who Is in charge
here? To whom do / make my re-
port?''
The question was like a bombshelI
All were silent until Mrs. Bates said:
Il suppose I am what might be called
in charge. You may report to me-"
ITO you. ma'am?" Morton was
| clearly surprised.
wife. and as his heir. feel I am in
authority. And also / wish all re-
ports made to me. as I am the one
most deeply interested in learning the
| identity of the murderer.
If he was murdered" supplement-
| ed Mrs. Bates.
And Mrs. Peyton broke in: You
needn't think. Mr.. Morton, that there's
| such thing as secret entrance or
secret passage In this house, for |
know there Ia not"
Yet there are other theories. other
! possibilities" the detective said, his
| air little less important than II had
been. Suppose. now. that Nog had
robbed and murdered his master when
| he carried in the water tray. Just
suppose that, and suppose that with
his Japanese cunning he had devised
4 way to lock the door behind him
or. say he had gone out by the glass
door and had locked that behind
him
How" cried Pinckney. his eyes
wide with excitement.
Say he had previously removed a
pane of Rlass-they are not large
panes. Say he reached through. lock-
| ed the door inside-the French win
the pane. reputtied 1t and gone
away.
Gee" cried the boy That could
] be-
"Of course. il could. And there are
| other ways il might have been ac-
did happen. hut what ! want to know
| Is who is at the head of this investi-
gation?"
Il can't feel that Mrs. Bates is
Mrs. Peyton said little sullenly.
She was not married yet, and, there
| fore. as resident housekeeper. l feel
rather in authority myself"
But you say you are the heir. Mrs.
Bateso" the detective inquired.
Perhaps ! ought not to have told
that Emily Bates spoke reEretfully.
But Dr. Warnings lawyer will tell
| you Il Is true / am the principal heir
| II is so designated in his will. which
| YOU will fnd in secret drawer in his
| desk
You know where this drawer is?"
Later on. will ask you to show
us. II YOU are the heir there is no
| further question of your authority
! here"
| And Detective Morton left the room
Twenty-four hours later Cray. the
| district prosecuting attorney, stood
in the Waring study.
The body of the master had been
| removed. and to Cray's regret he had
not seen Il before the embalmers
work had removed the red ring on
| the forehead.
TT was a sign" he said 10 Morton.
/ who was moodiIy listening. "A sign
| like that left by the murderer always
means revenge.
| You agree TO murder, them" Nor
| ton spoke eagerly. glad to have his
| theory corroborated
! What else? Look here, Morton; it's
got to he either murder or suicide,
| hasn't it? Yeso Well, then. to which
| of the two do the greater number OF
| clues point" sum up. For suicide We
| have only the lock droom argument.
| | admit 7 don't know how any one
! could get in or out of this study. but
! as say. that's the only sign of sui
| eide Now, for murder we have the
absence of the weapon, the robbery
! of the money and the ruby. and sign
of a circle on the dead mans fore-
head Wish I'd seen that 1t wasn't
burnt on, for 1t disappeared after the
| embalmers took care of 1t.
''Oh. no. il wasn't as deep as
! burn. More like an impression ieft
by a ring of cold metal or the edge
of a glass tumbler."
rVery strange, and decidedly an i'm
portant clue For. here's the queer
mart: The doctors declare the mark
! must have been made while the man
was alive. Now. how can that be ex-
planned"
Give 1t up. It's too much for me.
But II was too small circle to have
been made by the tumbler on the
water tray. l measured it"
II know: that's why think II was
sign of revenge. Suppose the motive
was revenge and the reason for re-
venge had something to do with a
quarrel in which a small glass or cup
dgured That's the idea, though, OF
course, il needn't have been a glass
or cup at all. but something with
ring-like edge. Thus, there was
reason for the sign on the dead mans
face
Il see: though | never could have
doped IL out like that"
"Oh. I don't say it's exactly what
happened, but there must have been
something Of the sort. for what other
hypothesis Ats the case at all? We
can't imagine DR.. Waring branding
his own forehead. and then killing
himself. can we?'
No: and II he had. where's the
branding iron--to call it that-and
| where's the dagger"
That's right. Now, ] propose to
treat the matter as a murder case.
and look for the criminal first. and
| then find out how he entered the
! lock ed room afterward.'
Pooh! those locked rooms