Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-11


Yes. It was about that"
IT have never been so upset by any
thing in my life" said Mr.. Molloy. BY
pure luck, Dolly and myself went over
| to Birmingham after dinner to see a
show, and in our absence the outrage
must have occurred. l venture to say, 3"
went on Mr.. Molloy a stern look creep
| ing into his eyes, THAT if only I'd been
on the spot the thing could never have
| happened. My hearings good and I'm
pretty quick on a trigger, Mr.. Carroll
pretty quick, let me tell you. 1t would
have taken right smart burglar to
have gotten past me-"
You bet it would" said Dolly. "Geei
It's pity. And that man didn't leave
a single trace. did hep"
"A fingerprint-or it may have been a
| thumbprint-on the sill of the window,
honey. That was all And I don't see
what good that's going to do us. You
! can't round up the population of Eng
land and ask to see their thumbs"
| And outside of that not so much as
single trace. Isn't it too bad From
start to finish not soul set eyes on the
fellow"
Yes, they did" said John. That's
what I came to talk to you about. One
of the servants heard noise and came
out and saw him going down the stair
case"
If he had failed up to this point to
secure the undivided attention of his
audience, he had got 1t now. Miss Mol
10y seemed suddenly to come all eyes,
and so tremendous were the joy and
relief of Mr.. Molloy that he actually
staggered.
Saw him?" exclaimed Miss Molloy
| "SuS-saw him?" echoed her father
scarcely able to speak in his delight.
Eyes. Do you by any chance know a
man named TWIST"
"Twist?" said Mr. Molloy, still speak
ing with difficulty. He wrinkled his fore
named Twist, honey?"
1.-THE name seems kind of familiar"
| admitted Miss Molloy.
He runs place called HealthWard
| Ho, about 20 miles from here. My I'M
Gle stayed there for couple of weeks.
It's place where people go to get into
condition. sort of health farm, sup
pose you would call it."
"Of course, yes. have heard Mr..
Carmody speak of his friend Twist.
But"
Apparently, he called here the other
day-to see my uncle, I suppose-and
this servant I'm speaking about saw
him and is convinced that he was the
improbable, surelyl" Mr.. Molloy
seemed still to be having a little trou-
BILE with his breath. Surely not very
probable. This Twist, from what you
tell me, is a personal friend of your
uncle. Why, therefore. Besides, If
he owns a prosperous business"
John was not to be put off the trail
by mere superficial argument. DR.. Wat
| son may be slow at starting, but once
started he is bloodhound for tenactty
"Ive thought of all that. I admit it
did seem curious at first. But If you
| come to look into it you can see that
the very thing burglar who wanted
to operate in these parts would do Is
to start some business that would make
people unsuspicious Of him."
Mr.. Molloy shook his head.
ut sounds far-fetched to me"
Johns opinion of his sturdy good
sense began to diminish.
"Well, anyhow" he said, In his solid
way, "this servant is sure he recognized
Twist, and one can't do any harm by
going over there and having a look
at the man. I've got quite good ex-
cuse for seeing him. My uncle's hav-
| ing a dispute about his bill and 1 can
say came over to discuss 1t"
Eyes" said Mr.. Molloy, in a strained
sure you can" said Miss Molloy
with sudden animation. Smart OF you
! to think of that. You need an excuse
| if YOU don't want to make this TWSI
| fellow suspicious"
Exactly" said John.
He looked at the girl with something
resembling approval.
And there's another thing, pro-
ceeded Miss Molloy, warming TO ner
subject. Don't forget that this bird, II
| he's the man that did the burgling last
night, has a cut finger or thumb. II
you find this Twist is going around
with sticking plaster on him, why tnen
that1l be evidence"
Johns approval deepened.
THAT'S a great idea" he agreed.
What I was thinking was that wanted
to find out If Twist has a cold In the
| head"
"A kuk-kuk- kuk-?" said Mr..
Molloy.
Eyes. You see, the burglar had. He
was sneeZing all the time, my informant
| tells me"
well, say, this begins to look like
| the goods" cried Miss Molloy gleefully.
"If this fellow has cut thumb and a
cold in the head, there's nothing to 1t.
It's all over except tearing off the false
whiskers and saying, I am Hawkshaw,
| the detective!' Say, listen. You get
|
will go right over to Healthward Ho
now. You see, if I come along thatll
make him all the more unsuspicious.
Wen tell him I'm a girl with brother
that's been whooping it up little too
| heavily for some time past and / want
to make inquiries, with the idea Of put
| ting him where he can't get the stuff
for while. I'm sure you're on the
right track. This Twist Is the villain
/ Nf Inn hat v.ofl i'm dn1l re
AS you say, fellow that wanted to
burgle houses In these parts naturally
would settle down and pretend TO be
! something respectable. You go and get
that car out, Mr.. Carroll and Wen be
off right away"
John reflected. Filled though he was
with the enthusiasm of the chase, he
could not forget that his time today
was earmarked for other and higher
things than the investigation of the
mysterious DR.. Twist of Healthward Ho.
II must be back here by quarter to
l." he said.
"Why?"
81 must"
"Well, that's all right. We're not
going to spend the week end with this
guy. We're simply going to take look
come right home and turn the thing
over to the police. It's only 20 miles
You'll be back here again before H."
"Of course" said John. You're per-
fectly right. TIL have the car out in a
couple of minutes"
He hurried of. His views concerning
Miss Molloy now were definitely favor
able. She might not be the sort Of girl
he could ever like, she might not be
the sort of girl he wanted staying at
the Hall, but it was idle to deny that
she had her redeeming qualities. About
her intelligence, for instance, there was,
he felt, no doubt whatsoever.
And yet 1t was with regard to eAis
intelligence that Soapy Molloy wasr'Rt