Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-04
By
]. S. Fletcher


minutes to IL o'clock" he replied.
When you set these two down, that
lisp"
Just so--when set them down at
the top of the path"
How long would it take them--sup-
posing they went thereto walk down
to the river bank near the ruinS?"
Three minutes, at the outside"
Johnson in his turn silently consid-
cred matters Could Sanderson and the
strange man have been two of the three
men seen by Archer near the Abbey
and the Brown Pool abort IL o'clock
on the night of the ndrder? Could
they have boz IN tea l,l.n ghom the
defendar Il t-A4s deg bad seen bend
ing oyeE Col E12Ieder@ t7.y?
Weilv" he SAM, suddenly turning
again on John Oates. What after
that?"
Nothing till - o'clock. Then took
the car round, according to orders. The
man came cut, SanderSon with him.
didn't catch anything they said The
man walked straight to the car and got
In, and Sanderson told me to drive to
Harrington again, and to pull up any,
where in the market place. did so and
pulled up by the Market Gross. The
man got out and walked away"
Didn't he say anything?"
Sort of goodnight, over his shoulder.
He crossed in the direction of the church
and went home, put the car up and
turned i'm
saw him?"
Il don't know about that I don't
think could positively. All can re-
member about him is that he was q big,
tall man-as big and tall as Sander
son."
Johnson got up. But he suddenly
raped out another question.
Have you seen your master this
afternoon" he asked.
mo! It's my afternoon out" replied
John. II haven't been at the house
since noon. He was at the court when
Ileft."
Johnson made no further comment
asked no more questions, and, with a
curt reminder to the two men of the
ACCESSIBILITY of keeping their tongues
quiet. went away and back to the hotel
Madison was entering the hall as lie
reached it. Together they turned to-
wards Engleden's private sitting room.
"Well?" asked johnson. Heard any
thing OF the missing birds?"
Not whiSperi" replied Madison.
Clean gone! Not a trace of 'em!"
He looked at Johnson as If he eX-
pected him to show infinite surprise at
this announcement. But Johnson only
laughed as he threw open the door Of
the room in which Engleden and Shore
ham were going over Col Engleden's
diary with Mai. Anstie.
What did you expect?" he asked, in
whisper. I'm not going to rub it
into you, but told you they'd hooked
i'll The thing is-how?"
Engleden looked up from the table at
which he and the others were seated.
ANY news?" he asked.
Monet" replied Madison. I'm licked
by the whole thing We've made every
possible inquiry during the last two
hours, and / can't get the least scrap
Of information about either Sanderson
or Hewitt. Not the least! They might
have melted into thin air''
When did they melt?" asked john
son, dryly. They were substantial
enough at a quarter to o'clock, for
saw EN- with my own eyes, one on the
bench and the other in the we'll Of the
court"
But that's Just it, exclaimed Malli-
son. II saw them, too--bethl Just
before Mai. Anstie came UP to speak
to me. What's amazing is that several
other people I've spoken to saw them,
OF the same time After that-from
then, when people began going out
nobody seems to have seen vestige
of either Disapepared-completely!
"They must have gone quietly out,
got into Sanderson's car, and gone off,"
said Engleden. "Unnoticed!"
mol" said Madison. "Sanderson has
three cars. No car of his has been
out of his garage this Afternoon, Mrs.
Sanderson when she left had a hired
car from Harrington. I've found out
about her. She left Harrington by the
South express at half-past 7 this
morning, for London-she'd be there
by noon. If Sanderson and Hewitt left
the town hall by any vehicle it wasn't
by any car or cab hired In town-I've
saw them leave the town hall There
are three doors, and only three, by
which they could have left. Two are
open to the public; one Is the mag
istrates' private door. There. was q
policeman at each door. I've spoken
to all three policemen--none OF the
three can remember that he saw either
Sanderson or Hewitt leave"
Remember" said Shoreham. pos.
sibly. But that's matter Of memory.
They mean they can't positively say
they noticed Hewitt or Sanderson."
'No-I'm sure they mean what they
say. Sanderson, of course, is known 70
everybody; so, too, Is Hewitt. If any Of
my men had seen them leave"
IF nobody saw them leave" re-
marked Engleden, they must be there
still, Madison! Hiding, perhaps, until
night comes on"
mo, sir--I thought of that. I've had
the whole place searched from top to
bottom. 1t is a place in which 1t would
be easy to hide. certainly, full enough
of queer hooks and corners, but there's
nobody in it now
Mai Anstie, who had been listening
with an amused smile, looked up from
the papers on the table.
II think the solution Of this mystery
should be found pretty easily" he said.
II suppose Mr.. Sanderson remained IL
the magistrates room for some time
after the adjournment and left when
the crowd had cleared and the police
men had left the doors. That, surely,
is"
mo, sir!" said Madison, firmly.
"That occurred to me, too. But I've
personally spoken to every magistrate
who was on the. bench. Sanderson
never went into the magistrates room
after the adjournment. He was last
seen standing at the end of the bench,
talking to Col. Waggener-the colonel
says he left him there. Hewitt was in
the court, just below his master. After
that not trace of either!"
IF they're not anywhere in that
town hall. Madison, they got out of It,"
declared Engleden. And once out they
must have gone somewhere-that's fiat!
What about the Station?"
Never been there" replied Madison,
YEARLY. "Of course, telephoned there
at once. I've tried everywhere-every
garage. cab proprietor, livery stable In
the place. The long and short of 1t is,
they've made most extraordinary dis
appearance, and there isn't trace OF
them!"
What you really mean is that you
haven't come across a trace of Them"