Evening star., 1923-01-28

ing itself was crowded into a pillow
case which Coughlin took from the
bed. The coroner. after sending In q
call for d police wagon, assisted Al
bertson, who was wrapping the body
in sheet preparatory to It's transfer
Meanwhile. Rennison, toying with
fTowndrow's magnifying glass. walk
TED thoughtfully to and fro near the
| spot at which the body had been
found. ONCE he stopped near near the
felt the nap Of the blue carpet. A iit-
tile later he opened the door, then
closed 1t in manner that indicated
| the point at which 1t caught AT
length he stepped out into the hall.
! craving the door shut after him.
In the hall Rennison found the po-
liceman who had been guarding the
door.
| Long wait. eh?" the Army man
said. However. it's about over now.
II guess. The wagon will be here
pretty soon"
The policeman, whose mouth was
| full of tobacco, made some reply to
which Rennison gave no heed. NOV
| ing about just outside the door, Rem
nison was gazing at the red carpet on
the floor.
You haven't been spiliing any Of
that tobacco juice around here,
hope" the captain said good-humor-
edly.
NO. sir" replied the policeman. who
| saw that the gaze of Rennison was
on little spot a few inches from
the wall and about eight feet from
| the door Il saw that, too, sir. But
! 1t amt no mark of mine"
Rennison dropped on one knee ana
placed the glass over the spot.
"'Tain't tobacco juice" the police
man assured him. And it amt no
! bfoodstain. neither"
n u at.s = fN
as he continued to examine the mark.
| II was of a pale, grayish color.
friend"
"Then it wasn't no murder, hey?"
the other asked with interest.
! Rennison. rising, made no reply
He stepped to the door and opened IT,
DO you happen to have fiashli ght
with you, ,coughlin?" he called.
Sure" answered the detective.
do you want it?"s =
III you please ="
Coughlin hurried out:
Struck something?" he asked Gag
eriy in a low 'voice.l~
T. II don't know, Coughlin."
| With tho electric fashlight that had
been given to him by the detective
Rennison again examined the grayish
stain through the glass. He soon
rose and returned the fiashlight to
| Coughlin.
What is it. captain"
Il don't know" Rennison answered
shortly. .--..
The two men -re-entered the room.
closing the door. behind them. Slip.
the detective, Rennison led him to
window.
Now. Coughlin. tell me how far you
have gone Repnison directed.
1.-THE detective hushed a little as ne
"Wen. not very far. captain. The
fact. that I had TO wait for you and
Mr.. Towndrow sort of held me up.
Then. too. it didn't look to me like
the man was murdered"
/ Does it look so to you now?
NO. captain, I can't see it that way
at all. The only suspicious circum-
stance in regard to this affair is that
somebody who was in here when that
made an all-fred quick getaway"
asm for the ~investlgationr'
! Not overmuch. perhaps"
But you have made some In
quiries?"
"Oh. yes. I found that Claiming
Eentered the hotel at $3.50 o'clock this
afternoon. He was alone and car
ried a black travelling bag. A clerk
named johnson. assigned him to a
I6eliboy named Spurgeofs- SpAfgeon
then, went downstairs. A few min
utes later party in room 401' rang
! foI,ice water and Spurgeon respond
. *aAnd, It was Spurgeon who found
the door unlocked. and who. enter
ing the room. discovered the body?"
"Spurgeon did all that, captain"
"All right. Let's get on to the time
/ that in accordance with the request
| of the government, you locked the
room and placed 1t under guard.
What did you do after that?"
ct saw the manager of the hotel.
Mr.: Worthington. He opened things
TO me generally. l talked with the
clerk and Sturgeon. Mr.. Worthing-
ton tried to find whether any one else
had seen Claiming: He questioned
several Of HIS employees. The only
other person who saw our man was
the elevator boy.'wh had hardly no
ticed Charming when he went UP on q
! crowded car" =, = -'s"
/ "You made no attempt to learn the
names of other persons occupying
rooms on this fioor2".
| 'eWhy, no. Why should !? What
! would they have TO. do with the case
It didn't look like murder to me then
and It doesn't look like murder to me
now -
,"AlI right. .copghlin," Rennison said,
and passed into the bathroom. There
he saw the cover had been. torn from
1 tDESICNING :. 4.
4