Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-27

sen why the Duke should accuse the
Gray Phantom of treachery. They
also made 1t clear that the reporter
was member Of the Dukes new or
ganization and that by some faith
less act he had incurred the dis
| pleasure of the leaders of the ba' I.
The Phantom loathed traitor. but
the Duke himself was no sticBier for
| fair methods, and that "a member of
his gang should have been caught in
pernCIiouS act was not particularly
surprising. As the Phantom saw it,
, the chief Importance of his discovery
lay in the fact that he was still labor
ing under serious handicap. He had
thought that in assuming the guiSe of
a newspaper reporter he would insure
himself against molestation from all
sides, but now il appeared that the
man whose identity he had borrowed
was an object of suspicion and pos
sihle vengeance. The threat in the
first sentence of the message was clear
and to the point
tie ScoWled darkly at the MESA ge,
then folded it carefully and put it in
his pocket. He still had an advantage.
he told himself, for he was safe 90
far as the police were concerned. What
he had to guard against was the
stealthy Vaccinations and intrigues of
the Dukes band. On the whole, it
was fortunate that the note had fallen
into his possession, for forewarned was
torearmed. Increased alertness and a
few extra precautions would see him
clear of the pitfalls.
Distinguishing his flash, he left the
room and descended the stairs at the
ehd or the hall, emerging behind the
counter IN the front of the store He
walked down the narrow aisle between
the show case and the shelves that
lined the wall The door to Cages
bedroom was unlocked, and he en-
tered
a shaft Of gray light slanting in
beneath the window shade gave bury
outlines to the objects in the room.
lie passed to the window and pulled
the curtain aside 1t was a dull, black
day as dismal and gray as the one
that had greeted him "a hours ago
when he crawled out of the tunnel.
His inspection of the room shed not
the falntest ray of light on the cues
tons In his mind. He searched care
1ully, sweeping the dark corners with
ms nash, but nothing appeared TO
nave been touched since his last visit
OF the tragedy he had witnessed, not
the slightest sign was to be found that
the scene was so wildly impressed on
MS mind that he felt as though the
very walls We're alive with the echoes
or the dying womans groans lie
could still see the quickly moving
hand that had held the knife.
Whose hand?" he asked. 1t had
been mere flash, and, as far as he
could recall, there had been nothing
distinctive about it. 1t was not likely
he would recognize the hand if he
should see 1t a second time; yet the
question was already settled in his
mind. The housekeeper herself had
given him the answer to 1t in the few
words she had gasped out just before
the blow was struck
tell"
She had referred to Pinto, Of course,
for her previous words and looks, the
Gray Phantom thought, had clearly
SHOWN that she suspected the police.
man OF having murdered her EN-.
pioyer. 1t was safe inference, then,
that Pinto had slain the housekeeper
in order to seal her lips forever, and
the Phantom wondered whether the
patroiman was not also responsible
for the barricade at the end of the
tunnel. 1t seemed plausible enough
Pinto must have known that there
had been witness to his deed. though
he probably did not know that this
witness had seen only knife and "a
hand. 1t was even possible that the
policeman had seen more of the Phan.
tom than the Phantom had seen of
him. At any rate, he was doubtless
aware that the housekeeper's words
had been addressed to some one hidden
in the opening back of the revolving
frame. Fearing that this person
would betray him, he had quickly
slammed the frame into place, after
which he had run around to DR..
Bimble's cellar and blocked the mouth
of the passage, Intending that the wit
ness to his crime should smother to
death.
So much seemed clear; at least 1t
furnished hypothesis in the light of
which the strange events of the night
before were explainable. The only
puzzifng factor in the situation was
the disappearance Of the body. The
Phantom. cudgel his wits as he might,
could see no other solution than that
the murderer must have removed IL.
No one else would have been likely
to do SO. II the body had been found
by any one else the matter would have
been promptly reported to the police,
and without doubt another crime
would have been chalked up against
the Gray Phantom. Scanning the
K
tom could see no other explanation
than that the body had been concealed
by the murderer
But WHY" he asked himself. So
far as he could see. the murderer
could have had no reason for covering
up the crime, which in the absence OF
contrary proof would have been i'm
puted to the Gray Phantom. The po-
lice and the press would have Jumped
instantly TO the conclusion that the
arch-rogue had followed up the killing
of Gage with the murder Of the house
keeper and their fertile brains could
easily have invented several plausible
motives.
This, to all appeara noes, would have
suited the murderer TO perfection.
Why, then, had he gone out of his
way to keep the crime secret?
The Phantoms mind churned the
problem for several minutes before the
answer came to him. AS Is often the
case, 1t was so ludicrously simple
that he wondered why he had not seen
it at once.
Clear as daylight he decided.
THE murderer knew the crime
couldn't be fastened on me, because
had an alibi. | was In Jail, so to
speak, when the murder was commit
ted. Of course, | was in Jail only by
proxy, the real prisoner being Tommie
Granger, but the murderer didn't
know that until later He thought
was locked up, and that was enough
for him"
The Phantom backed out of the
room His visit TO the scene of the
two murders had helped him TO clarity
certain problems, but ne had accom-
plished nothing definite. His sus-
picions in regard to Pinto had become
stronger, but as yet he had not
shred of actual proof against the man.
Re considered what his next step
should be as he walked across the
store and started up the stairs. For