The Daily Alaska empire., 1929-09-18

| III your eSCdpaQe III the pOdI we had to find out everything that could be known about Miss Sea- broke. Naturally"
 "Then you didn't track Somer- field and me?"
 "Only to the end of the wood. And, by the way, I've got some property of yours. You are care less.
 And LaXton pulled out my bundle of notes and handed it to me. Somerfield burst into laugh.
 Shall we tell him? he said.
 We did. Laxton listened to the account of our temporary burial with mixed amusement and aston ishment. Then he repeated his question.
 Why have you come to Belgium? Not for the beautiful eyes of Miss Vandesomething-don't tell me" wondered how far I might go without compromising Veronica.
 Come candori" said he. "In exchange for candor I'll drop the little business of the motor boat escapade, Mir Grenofen. That fell lows got off into Europe and to search for him would be like look ing for a needle in a haystack. You have the proceeds of the bur glary?"
 What burglary, professor?" Somerfield put in.
 "The burglary at MT. Fother- bury's. That's the one I'm think ing of at the moment. If you know of another-"
 | "I'll ask you another question. Has Fotherbury missed it?"
 Laxton kept silent for moment Then he said
 Why do you ask that?"
 That's answer enough" said Somerfield. "Fotherbury hasn't missed it. Fotherbury doesn't keep stuff like that at Newplace if he owns it. Museum stuff. Old stuff. I'm no great judge, but I'll give a quarter of a million dollars for it, professor. Candor for candor, you know"
 There was another pause. Lax ton looked at us in meditative way.
 well come back to it." he said At present I'm waiting to know why you are in Belgium"
 I had made up my mind by this time.
 All right" said I, i've take you at your word. There were two reasons for coming to Belgium. One was to get away from you. The other to try to strike the track of the mystery of Pell.'
 And I told him how we had worked out our plan, the suspicion we had of coercion applied by Sea- broke to Veronica, the certainty that the puzzle of the tragedy in Newplace Abbey could only be solved by discovering the identity of Pell, the nature of his previous relations with the Seabrokes, and the reason why they all found themselves in Blackwater.
 Laxton listened attentively. He did not sneak till I had done Then he said:
 If you could get at Miss Sea- broke. you think you could find a |light?"
 We might. That is if ,"
 "If there was no danger to her pet refugee? I see. Well, now MT. Somerfield, you shall have can- dor for candor. I did not learn of the burglary from MT. Fotherbury. l I worked out the burglary from data, and I had no idea of it's re- suits till you kindly obliged me with them just now"
 "Well-l" Somerfield exploded.
 "In tell you how my attention was first drawn to Pell. Last May I had to arrest familiar friend of mine. We had a little amicable ltalk and he not only gave me "reminiscences, but told me I'd kept him out of a good thing. He had undertaken to go to a man named Pell at the Lord Nelson Inn, Black Iwater, and give him date, and the date was June 24th. There was to be big money in it. He was vague about the source of the big money; but he had the name and the date pat enough. "You can imagine my interest in the matter when I saw the names iof Peu and Blackwater and the wealthy proprietor of Newplace Ab- bey in the Times. And, believe me, we were in the middle of a most interesting affair when Pell's death dropped a wrench in the machinery"
 ! A date! And the 24th of June! My mind flew back to that strange jinsistence of Pell on the immediate publication of the Newplace dis coveries; that was just before the 24th of June.
 Copyright, 1929, Wm. Morrow Col Laxton makes a start toward
 solving the mystery of Roger