New Britain herald., 1927-05-23

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She did do that? Do you mea
she continues to do so?"
Eyes. My nurse knows he
chambermaid. and insisted o
her telling me-"
THAT is helpful and you hav
done right In letting me know
Rest assured such information
will only be used in furtherin
the cause Of justice, and 1t 1
through some such chance knowl
edge that We often reach tn
I facts"
The whole party arrived bacl
at the hotel about the same time
and. though the gay scene in thu
lounge and dancing rooms was at
tractive. Stone declared his readi
ness to meet Miss Folsom and heI
nephew and have a conference or
the business that had brought him
down.
The Barrons we're excused from
attendance and Robin Sears and
Angel Fair we're sent away to
dance.
Then Croydon Sears and the
detective accepted an invitation,
brought them by lite Riggs. to
hold the session in the rooms that
had been Folsom's and were now
occupied by Dan Pelton.
This suited Stone and they went
there at once.
II am glad you are here. Mr..
Stone" Anastasia said. In her
straightforward way. Il wish /
might have engaged you. I have
one detective already" she said.
glancing at Riggs, land l find no
fault with him. But he has not
your experience, whatever talent
he may possess. Now, hope you
two will work together. for there
is much to be done. know, as
we'll as you do, that Mr.. Sears Is
coming into notice, and If ever
there was a ridiculous suspect, he
is it,
why" and Stone looked at
her gravely. II came down here.
Miss Folsom. TO save my friend,
Croydon Sears. from a possible
false accusation. and II you so
lightly toss aside the danger Of
such. l shall think 1 came unnec-
essarily."
Maybe unnecessarily for hat
effort, but thtre Is still the ques-
ton OF who killed my brother.
That has to be answered. Mr..
Stone, and If you will take it upon
yourself to solve the mystery, ]
will gladly pay, any bill you may
present"
ITO my mind. Miss Folsom"
Stone said 1.-THE best and surest
way to save Mr. Sears name from
unmerited accusation is to find the
real murderer. In this I am quite
sure you agree with me-"
Eyes, indeed" was the emphatic
response. "And. the way it looks
to me. We are just starting out on
q new investigation, or rather on
a new phase of the investigation,
but better equipped for an intelli-
gent inquiry"
Fleming Stone looked at the
speaker with evident admiration.
"A wise judge could not put the
matter more accurately he said.
land I am glad to work with and
for you and your colleagues"
And for heavens sake get
somewhere said Pelton, who.
while saying little, had been lis
tening to Stone and his aunt. I'm
no detective myself. but I think
II were I'd work harder and
faster than most"
Hes hitting me-" Tite Riggs
said, with no display of annoy
ance. but We know. don't We,
Mr.. Stone. that the great intellects
of the true detectives work slow
ly? That the snap judgments and
hasty conclusions Of the amateurs
are OF little worth compared to
the astounding results Of our de-
liberation and meditation"
The CHASING of himself with the
famous Stone was forgivable be-
cause of Riggs whimsical tone and
good humored smile.
We'll try to compass BOTH
Stone said; well hope to get the
speedy results Mr.. Pelton SO much
desires. together with the astound-
ing results promised by Mr.. Riggs.
And now to business. Mr.. Pelton,
your part will be to show me all
the papers OF your late uncle's
that have any bearing on the mat
ter of his death. Or better still.
all the papers Of his you have
down here, for it's easy to be mis-
taken as to the bearing Of a docu-
ment."
"All right. Mr.. Stone" was the
reply, but the observant eye OF the
detective noted 6isinclination to
comply with the request.
Perhaps that will be our frs.
STEP" Stone went on, determined
to push the matter. since Pelton
was so obviously aversc to 1t.
Yet it was not a lengthy pro-
cedure. After the neat bundles of
letters and papers were brought
from the desk and looked over.
Miss Folsom directed her nephew
to produce the suitcase that he
had brought from New York, with
additional data in 1t.
To this Pelton showed unmis-
taxable unwillingness. He said he
had mtslaid the key to the suitcase,
but his aunt brought him up with
a round turn.
NONSENSE" she exclaimed. you
haven't done anything of the sort,
and il you have, it doesn't matter.
We can break it open. You bring
out that suitcase. Dan"
Pelton went to the closet to set
y. =