Evening star., 1924-01-01
Continued from Yesterdays starr

terday afternoon ! kept my word ana
gave the explanation Of Lanes late
visit to me on the night of the murder
which we had concocted between U.S.
Today l discovered that he had Deen
making a fool of me all the time, that
he never intended to pay the price
of my silence after ] had once com
mitted myself. and that he had lied
about Joe's WILL too; he'd been ieit
the bulk of the estate.
81 would not go to the detective
bureau in New York with the true
story. for after the trumped-up version
would never protect me from publicity;
but when l found out that Lane was
laughing at me in his sleeve l mace
up my mind to tell all l knew to some
one who might find it useful in the
investigation, and though of you. Doc
tor. You or your deputy may ask me
any questions you like and l will an
swer, but please let me say first that
my resentment against Lane is not my
only motive in coming here. Ever since
il was settled beyond doubt that Joseph
Bernhard was murdered l have not slept,
feeling that | should come forward and
tell what perhaps only | knew ] could
have seen him ruined. beggared. driven
TO despair, but oh. not dead! Not
degd'"
She sank back once more in her
chair. staring straight before her in
dull misery, and only reused herself
at the doctors question
What is it you can tell us that
perhaps only you know, Miss Dawn?
assure you again that you are speak
ing in the strictest confidence, and l
beg that you will be absolutely frank
with u.s.
''I shall be- The woman raised her
dry, haggard eyes to his. Doctor, there
was something in Joseph Benkard's life
that he feared, He was no coward,
that much must be said for him, but
something must have occurred in the
past that preyed upon his mind, al
though he never consciously admitted
it to me, and | am sure now that he
anticipated the death which actually
came to him. The haunting dread of
murder was ever in the back of his
mind!
when we first became interested in
each other and | grew 10 know his
every mood, I observed that he had
curious fits of depression at two pc
riodS of the year, in the early autumn
and around the midwinter holidays.
He told me that he had been receiving
anonymous letters evidently written by
some lunatic and threatening him with
all sorts of dire things, but | knew
that could not be the real cause: that
there was something deeper, something
stamped indelibly on his memory. He
had boaSted to me of the men he had
used and whose trust he had after
ward deliberately betrayed, of the
firms which through his secret machina-
tions had been driven to the wall. He
though it supreme cleverness on his
part, strokes of genius. and his con-
science did not trouble him in the
least, but of this other thing he never
spoke in his waking moments"
You mean, ma'am," the doctor
leaned forward with his hands on his
chubby knees, you mean that he talk
ed in his sleep?"
She nodded.
He often came to me straight from
the office after the market closed in
b. 90 tar1rv ho,t God ft,
mind and body with the days conflict
and strain. and would throw himself
on the davenport in my library and
fall almost instantly into a brief but
i strengthened and refreshed. but I be-
gan to fancy that he looked at me
oddly, in a queer. suspicious sort of
way. and on one occasion he remarked
that he had had wretched dream full
of vague, silly horrors and asked II he
had talked any gibberish. / assured
him that he hadn't, but after that l
commenced to wonder, for beside
those strange periods of depression
which lasted for days he had recur
ring moods which would come upon
him at any time without
warning or apparent reason. In
play, in the midst of the most frivo-
lous conversation he would suddenly
become detached and sit staring in front
of him, as if at something which no
at once when l touched or spoke to
him, but 1 noticed that he studied me
afterward in keen, wary fashion to
see if l was surprised or curious, and
I schooled myself to ignore these mo-
ments of preoccupation and let him
shake them off OF his own accord.
They worried me, though, and my
wonderment grew until one afternoon A,
fallen asleep in the library while !,
made tea. All at once, he cried out
in a horrible, choking fashion and then !
the words came distinctly: Not mur-
describable terror in his tone that i,
was frightened, too, and / sat abso-
lutely still and waited, but he only
mumbled after that, then sighed and |
glad 1 had learned self-control and j
could smile and tease him about being |,
SO bored with my company that he had |
fallen asleep! He suspected nothing, |
but after that, almost as though his |
subconscious mind trusted me, he talked |
frequently in those weird nightmarish !
dreams of his, sometimes defying them |
10 harm him and at other times beg
ging abjectly, piteously for his life; !
but most often Of all there would be |
that recurring word, murder and a |
shuddering fear and horror of it. That
is all; there was never hint as to
Doctor, that you should know Of this"
"It is interesting, certainly" the
doctor remarked, with side glance at
Geoff. "You say that Mr.. Bernhard
never once in his waking moments re-
ferred to this matter"
"Never, but he was always on guard
lest he should. He told me enough
about his stock nnanipulations to damn
financiers If any one could have proved
his trickery: he gloried in 1t! There
could have been nothing in his bust
ness career, no one of those whose
could have caused that fear: and vet
could always feel the shadow Of 1t,
like wall between us!'
'Mebbe he didn't never give you a
actual hint sleepin' or wakin, ma'am.
as to the party he though was goin'
TO try to murder him some day, but
didn't you ever kinder suspicion, your
self, who he might have reason to be
afeered OF Geoff asked. Couldn't you
put two and two together and figger
got no notion a-tall who 'twas?'
Zoe Dawn shook her head wearily.
- used to think and think about it
III 1t seemed as If / should go mad!
The very fact that he dared not tell
even me made it appear a vital. living
menace in my eyes, and sometimes I
feared that | should pick up the paper
tually did read last week; only now it
has ceased to matter" Her lips twist
ed in faint smile, but the suffering in
her. her eyes oeied esd 1t II would help You
] had a definite suspicion I would voice
it, but / only know that he foresaw
this and dreaded it,"
The things he told you bout how
Wall street fellers; they couldn't be
scratch his head. then thought better
that's why he felt easy in tellin' YOU You,
mebbe he was Altered to give him