Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-24


If SO, what could be more conven.
lent place than that little Summer
house? searched It with tie hope
that might find some clue inside.
found twos the scrap OF cambria and
the quill" =
And the scrap Of cambrtc?'. / asked
curiously. What about that?"
Poirot raised his eyebrows.
You do not use your, little gray
cells he remarked dryly. 1.-THE
scrap OF starched cambria should be
obvious" -
mot very obvious to me-" 7
changed the subject. ANYWAY" /
| said, this man went to the Summer
| house to meet somebody. Who was
that somebody"
| Exactly the question" said Poarot
| You VIII remember that Mrs. AcK.
| royd and her daughter came over from
Canada to live here?"
us that what you meant today
| truth?'' -.
Perhaps. Now, another anoint
| maids story" b ~
What story" - sass
1.-THE story Of her disnnissSi. 4 Does
1t take half an hour to dismiss a ser.
want? Was the story Of those impor.
| tant papers likely one? And. 70.
member, though she says she was in
her bedroom from $50 until 10 o'clock.
there ts no one to confirm her state
ment.''
You bewilder me- said.
ITO me it grows clearer. But tell
me now your own ideas and theories. %
drew a piece Of paper from my
pocket.
II just scrubbed down a few sugges-
tons" / said alphabetically.
Let us hear Them
I read eout in a somewhat embar.
| raised voice.
ITO begin with, one must look at
the thing logically" :.
Just what my poor Hastings used
to- say" interrupted Poirot. "But.
alas! he never did So"
Point No. 1-Mr. Achruyd was
| heard talking to some one at $50
o'clock.
Point No. AT some time during
| the evening Ralph Patton must have
| come In through the window, az cyl.
denced by the prints OF his shoes,
Point No. 3-Mr. Ackroyd was ner.
vous that evening, and would only
have admitted some one he knew.
Point No. 4-The person with Mr..
Ackroyd at $50 o'clock was asking Tor
money. We know Ralph Patton was
in a scrape.
These four points go to show that
o'clock was Ralph Patton. But we
know that Mr.. Ackroyd was alive at
S:45 o'clock. Therefore. 1t was not
Ralph who killed him. Ralph left the
window open. Afterward the murderer
came in that way"
And who was the murderer in.
quired Poirot.
THE American stranger. He NAV
nave been in league with Parker. and
possibly In Parker we have the man
who blackmailed Mrs. Ferrars. II SO.
Parker may have heard enough to
realize the game was up. have told his
accomplice so, and the latter did the
crime with the dagger which Parker
gave him.
1t Is theory, that" admitted Poi.
rot. Decidedly you have cells of a
Kind. But 1t leaves a, good deal unac.
counted for"
| Such aS--?''
"The telephone CALL the pushed-out
| CHAIR"
do you really think the latter i'm.
| portantF interrupted.
| Perhaps not, admitted my friend.
1t may have been pulled out by acct.
dent. and Raymond or Blunt may have
showed itstnto place unconsciously un.
der the stress Of emotion. Then there
Is the missing forty pounds"
Given by Ackroyd to Ralph" sug.
gested. HE may have reconsidered
his first refusal"
That still leaves one thing unex.
| planned"
/ "What?"
Why was Blunt so certain in his
own mind that It was Raymond with
Mr.: Ackroyd at $50 o'clock?'
! He explained that" I said.
| You think 80? I will not press the
point. Tell me instead what were
Ralph Paton's reasons for disappear
ing?"
That's rather more difficult" said
slowly. II shall have to speak az a
medical man. Ralph's nerves must
have gone phut. II he suddenly found
out that his uncle had been murdered
within a few minutes Of his leaving
him-after, perhaps. a rather stormy
interview--well, he might get the
wind up and clear right out. Men
have been known to do that-act
guilty when they're perfectly limo
lcent.''
CONTINUED in Tonorrow,s Sfarl