Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-16

ton jade. Id been wearing it at
tached to chain around my neck as
| far back as / could remember. Who
put il there | don't know Per-
haps--"
your mother-maybe," suggested
| Wade, slantinG searching gaze at
Vanardy.
Il don't know, Wade. You may be
right. / remember neither father nor
mother. All | know is that the cross
seemed to be the only connecting link
between my present and The past j
couldn't remember. | fought like mad
when the street urchins and gangsters
tried to take it away from me, and
somehow. through thick and thin, |
managed to cling to it. Then. one day
about six years ago, ! lost it. Prob
ably the chain parted. Anyhow, in
some mysterious manner the Gloss
fell into Cages possession. ] went to
Gage and demanded il. He must nave
seen how anxious I was to recover it,
for he put stiff price on it. I was
willing to pay--would have paid al
most anything each time ! began
to count out the money Gage doubled
his price. So it went on for years and
| admit | sometimes felt like stran-
Cling the old miser. But never threat
ened to kill him and / never wrote
the letter mentioned in the papers.
Somebody's been doing some tall
lying" declared Wade irately. IF /
wasn't so fat I'd make the fellow that
wrote this article eat his own words.
But you should worry. boss. They
can't get away with it"
Il am not so sure, Wade. Seems to
me they've made out a fairly complete
case against the Gray Phantom. The
motive is substantial enough. There
are enough mysterious circumstances
to suggest that only the Phantom
could have committed the crime. The
fact that the murderer stole cheap
trinket and left $500 worth of real
diamonds behind him. is rather inn
pressive And you mustn't forget that
a little evidence against the Gray
Phantom will go a long way with
jury"
Wade, picture of ponderous wrath,
crumpled the newspaper In his huge
fist. The fretfu look in the small
round eyes signified that his mind
was graphing with problem
"The letter Gage. got the day l'efore
the murder must have been forged.
he ventured at last.
"Of course, but 1t may have been
done skillfully enough to deceive All
but the keenest eye. Handwriting ca
perts have been known TO disagree in
matters of that kind"
The fat man reflected heavily why
didn't Gage beat it for the tall woods
when he got the letter.
Because the tall woods are full of
ambushes. Likely as not the letter
gave him a Jolt at first. Then, upon
giving it a sober second thought, he
cooled down His principal considera
that the (sraV Pha ntnn1 had
never been known to commit MUIR
der, and that consequently the letter
was either a joke or bluff"
But he told the cop it was the Gray
Phantom that stabbed him."
Naturally. wound in the chest
isn't conducive to clear thinking. We
may assume that the murderer APP
preached his victim by stealth and
that Gage never saw the man who
struck him down.
Under the circumstances it was
natural enough for him to suppose
that, after all, the Gray Phantom had
carried out his threat. What else was
he to Think"
Wade's expansive chest. you've
been framed. boss.
Vanardy nodded And it doesn't
require great uedl VI DTlllldICS W
figure out who engineered the frame
up. The Duke has the reputation of
being good hater."
The fat man seemed startled. But
the Dukes in stir" he argued. You
sent him there yourself"
$50 ] did A pleased smile lighted
Vanardy's features. But two or
three members of his gang were not
present at the roundup, and | have
received tips to the effect that they
have been organizing a new crowd. |
suppose the Duke has been commilni-
eating with them through under
ground channels and instructing them
in regard to this frame-up. The Duke
has sworn to get me, and undoubtedly
this is his method of accomplishing