The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1923-04-13
CHAPTER vll-contlnued.

to the house ana kllleu MIN Sutn
gone back to her uncle's, and told the
story about being afraid to go through
the woods alone. She said 1t was
three o'clock when he came with her
to- the house. That's good alibi. of
cShrse; but suppose she had been
to the house once before. The dog
didn't bark, because he knew her. She
was also in the house when the re-
yolver disappeared. If you claim the
taking OF the gun was foolish, why
can 1t not be said to be the kind of
an Illogical thing woman would do?
The average man would know It was
no use to remove the gun. You re-
member h0w. startled the aunt was
when she saw the girl"
BARLEY had listened with an amused
SMILE that grew broader as talked.
Though I had not been serious when
i began. the more thought of the
idea the more plausible my suggestion
sounded. BARLEY himself had said
that in the case we must build up a
theory first; and then see if the facts
would at 1t.
When had ended, he said that he
himself had. at first, considered the
possibility of the girls having done
it, but had decided against it. He
reminded me that Slyke had been
killed ON the balcony, and carried
down two flights of stairs, and that
Slyke weighed one hundred and fifty
pounds. the girl not hundred. Re-
Hembering that and the task 1t was
to carry such heavy weight down
so many stairs. did l still think the
girl could have done it?
My face turned red with chagrin,
and. seeing that was hurt, he smiled
at me kindly and apologized.
Isl didn't intend to hurt your feel
-ings, Peit. You are like all news
paper men. you enjoy building up a
story out of nothing. In this affair.
we mustn't let ourselves get side
tracked. We shall need all the clear
thinking we can do"
Anxious to redeem myself, said,
sJohn, we have been going on the
theory that. some one from outside
came into the house and killed Slyke,
a mysterious visitor who arrived after
Lawrence had left. Perhaps the muir
derer was hiding in the house all the
time"
He gave me an interested look and
an approving nod.
Suppose" / went on, .that the
murderer was on the balcony. 1t was
a good place to hide. 1t was so dark
up there that he could not have been
seen from the ground Then let us
assume that Slyke heard sound
above him. when he was in the room
below the balcony. and went up to
see what it was. The person may
,~haye made the sound on purpose to
|. attract his attention. At any rate,
when he does come out on the bal
cony, he is killed."
hartley did not speak for while,
turning my suggestion over in his
mind. Then he answered. "You may
be right. It is possible that some one
was waiting for him to come upstairs.
But do not forget that, If that is so,
the person would have had to wait
there for long time; for he could
not tell when iSlyke would come into
the room below the balcony Still,
your suggestion is well worth keeping
in mind"
Although he spoke so fayorably of
my idea. could see that he did not
really agree with me.
yawned and BARLEY glanced at his
watch. It was after three, and we
should have been in bed several hours
ago. He rose, and taking two objects
from his pocket placed them on the
! desk. / leaned over to see what they
were
Lying black and sinister on the dark
mahogany surface were the revolver
that had been taken from Sykes hand
and hidden in the vault, and little
cork stopper, its end covered with
red wax that showed. where a knife
had been used on ii.
Look" BARLEY said, pointing at
them with a laugh. 1.-THE sole result
~ q AuJ WVEh. Inc only cues we
have are before us. One is revolver
that did not have finger print ON it !;
the other little stopper that might
have come from anywhere. From
these we have to discover the MUIR
derer"
Again he laughed / stood looking
at the twos objects, thinking how in
significant they were and wishing
they could speak and tell their story.
Catching my mood, his face grew
grave. He stood looking at them for
moment. then with sudden gesture
swept them into a small box saying,
I'VE ought to have been in bed hours
ago."
had reached my room and was
pulling down the bed covers when he
called to me. returned to his room
and found him sitting ON the edge of
his bed taking Off his shoes.
II forgot to tell you, Pelt, that when
we reach the solution of this murder,
4.