Evening star., 1923-06-27

ing his comparative youth--he was
only thirty-five years of age-into
che very front ranks of his profess
| sion, and his income was one of which
men--spoks- with bated breath. he
came OF a family of landed pro-
prietors, whose younger sons for gem
erations had drifted always either to
the bar or the law. and his name was
well known in the purlieus OF LIN
coins Inn before he himself had made
1t famous. He was full OF sympathy
and understanding. His one desire
! at that moment was not to make
mistake. He decided to leave un-
| masked the obvious question.
Il know" he said simply. Are
You dining anywhere?"
II thought of staying on here, was
the Indifferent reply.
we won't do anything of the sort"
Wilmore insisted. There's scarcely
! a soul in tonight. and the place is too
humpy for man who's been seeing
spooks Get back to your rooms and
change. I'll wait here.
What about you?"
"I have some clothes In my locker.
Don't be long. And, by-the-bye,
which shall it be--Bohemia or May
fair? I'll telephone for a table Lon
don's so Internally full, these days.
Francis hesitated.
"I really don't care" he confessed.
| Now / thing Of 1t, shall be giad 10
get away from here. though. ] don't
want any more congratulations on
saving oliver Hilditch's life. Let's go
where we are least likely to meet
any one we know"
"Respectability and starched q
shirt-front. then" Wilmore decided
| We'll go to Claridge's.
! He was a persistent refuser of invi-
| tations, and his acquaintance In the
| fashionable world were comparative
! ly few. Yet every now and then he
; felt a mild interest in the people
whom his companion assiduously
pointed out to him.
; "A fashionable restaurant, Francis
! is rather like your law courtS-ii
| levels people up" the latter remark
/ ed. Louis, the headwaiter, Is the
! judge, and the position allotted II
/; the room is the sentence. / wonder
who is going to have the little table
next but one to us. Some favored per
son. evidently"
Francis glanced in the direction
indicated without curiosity. Th'
table in question was laid for two
and was distinguished by a wonder
full cluster of red roses.
why is it," the novelist continued
speculatively. that. whenever W,
! take another mans wife out, w,
think it necessary to order rec
| roses?'
And why is it," Francis queried
a little grimly, that dear fellow
like you, Andrew, believes it his dut,
when all the time he is thinking o
something else? j know you're dyint
to talk about the Hilditch case, aren'
you? Well, go ahead
I'm only interested in this las
development" Wilmore confessed
"Of course, 1 read the newspaper re
ports. To tell you the truth. for /;
murder trial 1T seemed to me to rathe
lack color"
TT was very simple and straight
| forward case" Francis said slowly
"Oliver Hilditch Is the principal part
| ner in an American financial com
pany which has recently opened il
the west end. He seems to hav,
arrived in England about two year
ago, to have taken a house in Hill
street. and to have great deal o
money. A month or so ago, his part
ner from New York arrived in Lon
don. a man named Jordan of whom
nothing was known. 1t has sine,
transpired, however. that his journe,
to Europe was undertaken because h,
/ was unable to obtain certain figure
relating to the business. from Hill
ditch. Oliver Hilditch met him a
Southampton. travelled with him (,
London and found him room a
the Savoy. The next day, the Who'll,
OF the time seems TO have been spen
! - eS Aii,O' anu II - CERTAIN. iron
the evidence of the clerk, that som,
disagreement took place between tn,
two men. They dined together. how
ever, apparently on good terms a
the Cafe Royal. and parted ip Regen
street soon after ten. At Il o'clock
Jordan's body was picked up on tn,
pavement in Hill street. within a few
PAGES of Hilditch's door He hac
! been stabbed through the heart witt
some needle-like weapon, and wa:
! quite dead"
| Was there any vital cause of quar-
! rel between them?' Wilmore inquired
| Impossible to say" Francis renIied