Evening star., 1924-01-10

them anonymous letters was talkel
'bout-but mebbe 1 better not go into
that now
Geoff paused discreetly. and New
If DR.. Hood has the proof as you
say and the man has actually con-
fessed--?"
DO you mean to tell US that he
wrote those letters HIMSELF" Mrs.
cayley demanded. NO one ever saw
them except my poor brother, and he
always destroyed them at once,-1t is
quite all right, Vera, Mr.. Middleton:
it need be q secret no longer that
for several years Mr.. Bernhard was
annoyed by threatening letters which
came semi i-annually, but he always
! declared them to be the work of a
lunatic and there was never any clew
| TO the identity of the man who sent
them"
:'Why did he write to your" New
bury asked. Does he admit in SO
| many words that he is guilty?"
GUILTY." Geoff repeated Yves,
it's all kinder mixed-up to me; he
speaks O his crime and he killed
himself because he thought the po-
lice was after him. but they wasn't.
, He knew the man from O'Hare's, o.
course, and he spotted two plain
/ clothes fellers that headquarters in
New York loaned to Dr. Hood. but
! they went TO see him bout some
thin else. After that first talk with
on Dunn while l was workin' round,
and try to make friends with him.
l did, and then I saw him in the
city, and / reckon at the last a
feller wants somebody to write to,
SO he picked me out, sayin' he hadn't
no friend or relation left in the
world. It's funny, but he don't seem
to have. been scared. none that he
would a-got convicted in the first
degree even If he was caught; 1t was
. Nt1.N loo i'm - InA y
couldn't face"
II really find it difficult to believe
of him, he always appeared to be
such a weak, spineless creature; but
about the writer of those letters, he
must indeed have been mad" the at
torney observed as the doctor reap
peared: Does he allege any mo-
tive? Some idea must have existed
in that warped brain of his
TT did" Geoft allowed his gaze
to wander meaningly toward Vera
Sherwood and Middleton. He'd been
kinder nursin' a grudge he thought
he had agin Mr.: Bernhard till It got
so big. to him he couldn't think O.
nothin' else, seems like"
I'VE have intruded long enough,
and 1t Is time for me to take Miss
Sherwood home" Adrian Middleton
turned to their hostess. My dear
Mrs. Cayley, you know that we will
walt eagerly for the details and share
In your relief when the whole hor-
rible matter is thoroughly investi-
gated and permitted to drop II my
sister can be of any service what
ever-"
do you want me to stay here with
you for a day or two, Mrs. Cayley?"
Vera Sherwood asked. II will be
glad to do anything 1 can, you know
that"
"Thank you, my dear, but I really
think 1 shall be better alone. This
news is a shock. of course, but the
reaction will pass, and at least the
horrible suspense is at an end"
Geoff responded to the doctors i'm
perative tug at his arm as the Wis
itors were taking their leave, and
walked with him to the terrace
doors.
why didn't you tell me this at
once, when you got backT demanded
for us to get Old Henry's story first7
It didn't have any direct bearing on
'T figure it did," Geoff replied.
Dunn was kinder a lonely cuss all
his life not bein' the sociable kind
to mix much with folks, but the few
sight O.. and young Shirley was closer
to him than most anybody, though he
didn't give away his association with
Bernhard. That only got whispered
rOunQ dIIeT MS Oedtn, ana l. IHluh
Dunn didn't take much stock In II
till he got all tied up with Bernhard
himself later and couldn't git free,
not while Bernhard lived. We'd better
be gittin' long now to wait at your
house for a message from headQuar-
ters and then over to the county seat.
I s'pose the district attorney Is wait
ing, If you talked to him. Did you
git Lyons or AllenT
Lyons. He said he'd hurry up to
Dunn's place in a police car and take
charge of everything. What was 1t
Dunn wrote your"
Just a ramblin' kind o. explana-
tion without no actual reference to
the murder, but it's plain If you read
between the lines. 1 suspicioned the
truth right along, but 1 couldn't fas-
ten a thing on him. If Bernhard could
a-used Shirley the way he did Dunn
he wouldn't a-shot him, but he must
have seen the boy was too high
spirited to be made no tool of. Dunn
guessed the truth after he went to
work for Bernhard. / knew that when
seen him in his rooms last week,
for he never once spoke bout Shir-
leys suicide. but called it his death
and I could tell from his eyes how
he hated Bernhard, as I'd thought be-
fore. I'll give you my letter soen's
we gift away from here"
Continued in Tomorrow's Staf.)
Women will ask for equal rep