Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1928-09-29
EIGHTH [NSTALLMENT
N,IAr lIAppFNED j

AA0
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE
S,nioa judd. amateur detective, and
N..:l;,a p',, Al undertaken, are visiting
=; n-g,., lace Suddenly the household
1. ,..5c' ) &c and that John Drane has
- ,.-:I.I-c. The dead man is FIRST seen
4, six fe ia...:, then by Amy Drare and
u ,cdd T,c .4t,er faints.
ice oh,tit call and Investigations
g. IN. Dr.. Hlessingion Is called, and aiter
rr the ,oul lercd John Drane, makes
i srourGaiE -eyeiation TO Amy Dranc
Il r. her ''uEtle" is not man but woman:
}}r. Bles,;cg:on discounts the theory OF
sr!c,dc, Saying that l'rane was definitely
r,l- lsred. Or. BlesSington comments on
IL FAC, thaj al the servants in the Eouse'
loit. OF Dr3re gre sick ard that Drane mas
rrcyer discharged servant for Ill health.
Dick brennan, ths detective, arrives 10
investigate the case.
Brennan questions the persons i'll the
house asking Amy II anyone had any rea-
son ~ Kill her uncle. -,
ANY SAYS no one had any reason 10 XIII
her uncle. After further questioning, she
IS asked about Dart Meanwhile Judd has
told the story OF his acquaintance with the
actual John Drane in Riveroank. :.
SIMON Judd proposes to Brennan that he
fci, in the solution of the case, serving as
r.lnuan's partner. Brennan accepts the
.rre,osal Immediately. Judd confdes that
I;y amt what she says she Is
,.nw co ON WITH THE STORY
what do you mean by that /"
Prc.uan asked. "You mean she's
crooked:
ooh. black my cats, no" Simon
Tn4d exclaimed "If l know folks
she's the straightest sort there is
.ar,d the incest too She amt this
late John Drane's niece, nor yet his
prand-nicce-that's what mean. You
hear her say off that rigamarole about
John Drane's brother Daniel goinI to
California in rs, and marryin' Mary
O'Rvan, and havin' son Thomas
that was this Amy's pa? And about
this Thomas Drane marryin'. some
Amelia Gartner that come to be this
An, sirl's ma? Well, black my cats,
'iYs Mi true except none of it Their:
wasn't no brother Daniel. No, sir
! take my oath TO that. knowed
that Drane family as well as | know
myself, and there wasn't no Daniel
IN it. That's all les"
"Are you sure of that?' Brennan
asked.
"Whv listen" said Simon Judd.
"This girl got the story from John
Drane r John Drane told her THIS
Daniel Drane went West in '7s. In
'7B John Drane was twenty-five Year,
old and him and me had been chtrns
since we was born-never day we
didn't see each other. / was at their
house more tMan l was at my own.
knowed them from A to Z. And
there wasn't any Daniel Drane, ]
,eli you. There was just two kids
nn the family-John and this sister OF
his named Ella, and l knew them
both all the time"
"He made up this story to tell the
,girl," said Brennan.
Because he was woman" said
Simon Judd" and hadn't no children
to love and cherish. He was she,
,r!;nd you, Brennan. And when she
this John Drane, whoever she was
got along oldish she had to have
some child to love. So, if | amt
ali old fool and guessin' wrong, she
picked out some orphan child some
twhere and told lot of lies. Just
to have kid to come back here and
lo.e her when she got too old and
feeble to fuss with this Wall Street
stuff and so on"
"This may be mighty important if
il is true Brennan said. at might
account for the murder-some con-
ncction of the child, her father per-
haps, wanting money. Something
along that line"
It's true" Simon Judd insisted.
'"Nhy look here, you This old wo-
Imam, this John Drane, made it all up.
Take. the names-Mary Organ was
a girl we both knew out there in
l..ssrbanl when we were-all kids. She
{ u, out there only last year. And
Lan;el!-she had brother Daniel,
{; Mary did. And Amelia Gartner
IT, vas hid to be Amy's ma-she
.u.ntr kid we both inc" IN
k. -..l when we were kids to-
6 her. She's alive yet, out there,
an. she had brother Thomas-that
gave the notion of Thomas Dr7ne.
Noa go out to Riverbank and yol,ll
f-d that's all the solemn truth; you
g. out to California and [ bet you
don't find any trace OF a Daniel
Drane, or a Mary Organ his wife,
or Thomas Drane, or Of"
Hush" Brennan said. The girl
is coming"
Amy returned with the notebook
for which Simon Judd had sent her
and almost Immediately Mrs. Vincent
came out, leaning on the arm of Bob
Carter. She had been resting on her
bed, being in great pain, and had been
obliged to put on a dress before she
could answer Brennan's summons.
The poor woman seemed to be In Q
very bad state indeed, but she did
her best to answer Brennan's ques-
tions, and her answers were full and
quite circumstantial.
She was widow, she said, and hPd
been employed by the supposed John
Drane for five years. He had per-
sonally engaged her as housekeepef
at an employment agency In the city
where she had registered, and his Of
fer had been great relief to her be-
cause il lad been hard to find posi-
ton on account of her poor health.
He probably would not have taken
her, she said, except that the house