Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-13

=" OR Morse the case was not over.
- And as for myself his insinua-
tions and reticences, my own
i adventure with Hasta. the find
ing Of Eleanor'S handkerchief,
had left me uneasy, but hopelessly con-
fused. For why, after all, should
there be any further doubt or prob
lem? We had signed confession, in
culpating himself and generating
every one else. from the one to whom
all other evidence pointed as guilty.
This was plain fact, and seemed to
close the matter.
But If, in spite of it, Morse remained
unconvinced-and admitted that the
nights developments made him appear
not altogether decentralization did
he suspect? Presumably Hasta. But
then he had spoken of some other
agent, behind and unknown, toward
whom he was cropping.
With the purpose of ordering my own
thoughts. attempted to view the Sc
quence Of events from Norse'S stand
point. On Saturday evening Celia Bal
lion had been killed. He had obviously
considered the glove, the Strangling-
thong and the shadow seen by Eleanor
az a possible effort on the part of some
one else to implicate Francis Balloon.
Why? Because, in the first place,
they appeared too grossly incriminat-
ing, and secondly, Ballion had refused
to attempt an alibi. But Morse had
reasons he had not explained.
I recalled the tracings of footsteps
made by Roose, and wondered If there
were any connection here. Possibly
but could get no further in this direc-
ton. One thing certain, however, was
that Morse believed there had been a
with he
he did not tell me why he thought
so. Moreover, he had not considered
Francis Ballion a hypocrite Good: all
this was undoubtedly his attitude be-
fore the discovery of the signed confess
sion. But what had occurred after
ward to cast doubt on that unequivocal
statement? 1t was here my confusion
began. I recalled his antiquarian in
terestS in the Renaissance and could
make nothing of them. Then followed
the recent happenings-his furtive visit
to Greyhouse. the absurd phrase he had
discovered scratched on the paper, his
interest in architectural plans and Ball
lions collection of gems. and finally
Eleanor's blood-stained handkerchief.
All this hung together in his mind,
somehow. but could not find the con.
Meeting thread. II it were not for the
handkerchief. and the unaccountable
behavior Of Hasta, I should have >con-
sidered the detectives suspicious ridic-
ulous. But here again l was baffied;
for precisely those things that had i'm
pressed me had seemed to leave him
relatively Indifferent, as If, in fact,
he took them for granted. That he
knew more than he told me was clear
but 1t remained his own secret And
this very seoretiveness, in place of his
earlier confidence. was another enigma,
Why should he doubt my discretion?
looked at the matter from differ
ent angle, and asked what advantage
any one but her husband would derive
from the death of Celia Ballion. No
one benefited except him and Eleanor;
and, as for the latter, I refused to en-
terrain any imbecile misgivings. But
then what had Morse meant by speak
ing of her as having been drawn into
the atmosphere of Greyhouse, and
warning me to avoid her? 1t was q
new riddle. On the other hand, that
there could be any motive beyond greed
or martial antipathy in connection with
80 inoffensive person as Mrs. Balloon
seemed utterly incredible
I called up in review every one even
remotely connected with the case. Take,
for example, Carl Ballion. Putting aside
all other circumstances-his reputation,
his position, his fondness for his
brother and Celia-how could he bene-
At from his sister in-law's death? These
were preposterous conjeetures. There
remained, Of course, Hasta; and yet.
failing motive, he could only appear