The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-02-18


face and pronounced embonpoint.
"Ah-I-er-I have set the whole
force to work searching for the young lady,
he wheezed pompousl8 whats this ]
hear about the old man being found dead3"
ut is true"
"Who found him? How long had BE
been dead? Was it suicide, murder Or
did he Just die?"
Surrendering himself to the inevitable,
Bristow hurriedly sketched the details Of
the case as far as it had progresses, en-
phasizing those points Of evidence calcu.
lated to divert suspicion from the missing
girl. His narration was interrupted at
frequent intervals by 'sundry queries and
comments from the above officer, who was
industriously jotting down what he consid-
cred salient features.
Like to see the body" he finally inti-
mated. Funny thing-this branding busi-
ness"
"You will have to await the completion
of the autopsy Bristow reminded him.
y Cant lose much time pulled the Of
ficer. Lets have look at the girls room.
He made searching examination Of the
little bed chamber, adding from time to
time to his voluminous notes.
"Well, she's not herev' he announced at
length.
The men passed from the stairway, Mar.
shall Metcalf commenting vaguely on the
various aspects of the case, the lawyer re-
plying in monosyllables.
Looks like foul play" said the marshal
as they reached the lower hallway. Queer
old party-found dead-branded on chest
warning tackled on door-windows barred
stranger seen hanging around premises
daughter missing! Stranger may have been
burglar getting lay of land-barred windows
accounted for by fear of robbery or vio-
lenee-heart failure improbable-no known
reason for suicide-no established motive
for understanding on door may have
been joke-daughter evidently ran away.
Complex! Very complex.
Looks bad for the GIRL he commented.
Reckon she killed himr'
at is not likely" snapped Bristow, re-
straining impulse to kick the corpulent
officer
Don't know-cant tell. She'll have
lot Of explaining to do.''
eff you do not find her she will not ex-
plain very MUCH" suggested the attorney
with irony that was not wholly lost on the
obtuse guardian of the peace.
That's right-that's right" he conceded.
Reckon I'd better telegraph,
Eyes, for Gods sake, ph-do somc-
thing only do itr' cried the now thoroughly
exasperated lawyer.
The beefy incarnation of law and order
waddled ponderously from the house.
With sigh of relief Bristow watched him
disappear.
loved, while angering Bristow, worried him
all the more for the reason that the os-
tensible circumstances surrounding her dis
appearance justified the marshal's natural
deductions. Yet he could not bring HIM
self to believe that she knew aught of her
fathers sudden death, although he realized
the Importance of finding her without delay.
The door of the library was closed. The
doctors were still engaged in the autopsy.
He could hear their muffled footballs and
subdued voices as they moved about in the
performance Of their task. To Bristow it
seemed as though they would never finish
probing into the mystery of DR.. Selden's
death.
Where was Nerissa? What had occa-
stoned her hurried departure? Why had
she remained away 50 mysteriously?
Suddenly his hand, which he had thrust
abstraetedly into . pocket, came in contact
with small, hard object and, with cry Of
surprised recollection, he withdrew the dia-
mond hyooch he had found in the de al unay1sc