Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1923-03-09
SYNOPSIS

CHAPTER I.-John BARLEY, noted GRIM
tnal Investigator, recently returned from
Secret Service work during the war, ts
asked by the governor Of New York to
investigate a mysterious attempted rob-
berry OF the Robert Slyke home at Circle
Lake, near Saratoga. Peculiar circum-
stances OF the case interest BARLEY. and
he acceptA
CHAPTER H-with his friend Pslt
BARLEY goes to Circle Lake, the pair
becoming the guests Of Bob Currie, an
old friend The three visit the Slyke
home. Slyke apparently resents Bartley's
men in prison for the attempted robbery
were guilty. BARLEY 10 not Next morn
ing slyke is found dead In bed. apparent
ly having shot himself
CHAPTER II1.-Miss Potter. the dead
mans sister-in-law, the village police
chief. Roche. and the family physician,
& but all asrss syss ks1
Investigating, BARLEY nnds evidence that
slyks, after q card party he had given.
was shot on the tower OF the house. un-
absence from the room someone removes
the revolver from Sykes hand.
CHAPTER IVA boy working in the
garage asserts he heard . shot during the
really on the tower.
CHAPTER v.-Pelt starts out to inter
view the members Of the card party: He
ly wealthy broker. had offered to sell his
friends whisky He hnds evidence that
the men In jail for attempted robbery Of
slyks were framed"
CHAPTER vI.-ReturninE from . visit
to Saratoga, BARLEY, Pslt and Curris
come upon large motor truck. without
lights and off the road. They are dis
license numbar, and fred on. The truck
gets away The three come upon Q long
dlsussd burial vault. Apparently the lock
The nsw Vault shs stored % With c Whisky and also
the revolver which had been found In
Sykes hand. A man. seemingly well
acquainted with the place, arrives and
chauffeur. A detective. working for the
revenue departm ent arrives and takes
charge Of the vault.
Currie and myself had been placed
by BARLEY so that when the door
opened we would be hidden by it, He
took up his position on the other side,
crouching fiat against the wall. 1t
was too dark to make out his figure,
or even that of Currie at my side.
listened to his uneasy breathing, and
thinking about.
Whoever was opening the door had
no fear Of making a noise. He stun
bled into the vault and swung the
door behind him with a little click.
Then a slit Of light pierced the dark
ness and we crouched against the
wall, scarcely daring to breathe, ex-
pecting every moment that he would
see US. Just what he had come for
/ never knew. He played the light
rather aimlessly along the walls, then
turned in onto the floor. All at once
1t paused, and I heard an astonished
gasp. No wonder, for the light was
resting on Bartley's shoes.
The next second he had extin-
guished it and was making for the
door. Almost before he had moved,
BARLEY had flashed on his own torch
and was saying, PUT up your hands
I have you covered"
The light In Bartley's hand had
been focused on the mans body, leav-
ing his face in darkness. AS he be-
gan to move 1t upward to his face, the
man made a swift, flying dive at
Bartley's legs. The attack was so
sudden that he was taken unawares,
and they fell to the floor together AS
BARLEY went down, he struck the but
ton Of his torch and extinguished 1t,
leaving us In darkness. We could
hear the two men thrashing about on
the floor, but could not tell who was
getting the best of it, Then I remem-
bered the lantern and searched for
that. Relighting 1t, held it above
my head so that the light fell on the
floor. BARLEY was sitting on the man
that had attacked him, his face and
white suit streaked with dirt and a
lump reddening over one eye, but he
was smiling. He directed me to find
his torch, which had rolled half under
a box, and relight 1t. When I had
complied, he rose to his feet, and,
pulling the man up with him, told me
to throw the light on the face Of his
prisoner
Lets have look at this chap"
We saw a black, scowling face, and
cruel, shifty eyes that blinked angrily.
Currie cried, "Why, It's Sykes
chauffeur!
The man did not deny it, but stood
silent and glowering. Remembering
what BARLEY had told me Of the but
Ter having seen him on the stairs
while we were in the tower rooms,
/ wondered If he were the one who
had placed the revolver here. When
BARLEY questioned him as to why he
had come to the vault he replied that
It was none Of his business; and when
BARLEY suggested tina! the police
might make 1t their business, he only
laughed sneeringly. We were dis
cussing what We should do with him,
since there was no charge on which
he could be arrested, when we re-
ceived another shock.
The chauffeur had closed the door
of the vault when he entered, but In
some way it had become 9nfastensd