Evening star., 1928-06-17

and amused He seemed to sense a
certain emotional necessity in the girl
to relieve her mind; but long before we
went away he had led the conversation
round to commonplace matters. When
we rose to go Sibella insisted that We
come again.
You're so comforting, Mr. Vance, y
| she said. I'm sure you're not a moral
list; and you haven't once Condoled with
me over my bereavements. Thank
Heaven. we Greenes have no relatives
| to swoop down on us and bathe us In
| tears. I'm sure I'd commit suicide If
we had"
Vance and I called twice more within
| the week. and were received cordially
| Sibellas high spirits were always the
same. If she felt the horror that had
| descended so suddenly and unexpectedly
upon her home, she managed to hide 1t
we'll, Only in her eagerness to talk
freely and in her exaggerated efforts to
avoid all sign of mourning did sense
any effects on her of the terrible ex-
| perience she had been through.
Vance on none Of his visits referred
directly to the crimes: and l became
deeply puzzled by his attitude. He was
trying TO learn something-of that l
was positive. But I failed to see what
possible progress he could make by the
casual methods he was pursuing Had
/ not known him better I might have
suspected him of being personally in
| terested in Sibella; but such a notion I
dismissed simultaneously with its for
mutation. noticed, however. that after
each call he became unaccountably
pensive. and one evening. after we had
had tea with Sibella. he sat for an hour
before the fire in his living room with
out turning page of the volume of da
Vincis "Trattato della Pittura" which
lay open before him.
On one Of his visits to the Greene
mansion he had met and talked with
Rex. At first the youth had been surly
and resentful of our presence; but be-
fore we went away he and Vance we're
discussing such subjects as Einstein's
general-relativity theory, the Moulton-
Chamberlin planetesimal hypothesis.
and Poincaire's science of numbers on
plane quite beyond the grasp of a
mere layman life myself Rex had
warmed up to the discussion in an al
most friendly manner. and at parting
had even offered his hand for Vance
to shake
On another occasion Vance had asked
Sibella to be permitted to pay his
respects to Mrs. Greene. His apologies
10 her-which he gave semi-official
f1avor--for all the annoyance caused by
the police Immediately ingratiated him
in the old lady's good graces. He was
most solicitous about her health, and
asked her numerous questions regarding
her paralysis-the nature of her spinal
pains and the symptoms of her rest
lessness. His air of sympathetic con-
cern drew from her an elaborate and
detailed teremiad.
Twice Vance talked to Ada, who was
now up and about. but with her arm
still In sling. For some reason, how
ever, the girl appeared almost farouche
when approached by him. One day
when We were at the house Won Blon
called, and Vance seemed to go out Of
his way to hold him in conversation.
AS have said. could not fathom
his motive In all this apparently desul-
tory social give-and-take He never
except in the most indirect way; he
appeared. rather. to. avoid the topic
deliberately. Bus did notice that,
however casual his manner. he was
closely studying every one in the house.
No nuance Of tone. no subtlety of reac-
ton, escaped him. He was, knew.
storing away impressions, analyzing
minute phases of conduct. and prob
ing delicately into the psychological
r1ainsprinss OF each person he talked
TO-
We had called perhaps four or five
times at the Greene mansion when an
episode occurred which must be re-
counted here In order to clarity a later
development Of the case. I thought
little Of 1t at the time, but, though
seemingly trivial, 1t was to prove of the
most sinister significance before many
days had passed. In fact, had 1t not
been for this episode there is no telling
70 what awful lengths the gruesone
tragedy Of the Greenes might have
gone; for vance--in one of those
strange mental flashes OF his which
always seemed wholly intuitive but
were, in reality. the result of long,
subtle reasoning the incl
dent at crucial moment, and related
it swiftly to other incidents which In
themselves appeared trifiing, but which,
when co-ordinated. took on tremend-
Gus and terrible Importance
CONTINUED in Tomorrow's STAR