New Britain herald., 1930-10-15

W HdL IS IL, ucdIlS 4hlS. kollus fled up the staircase, fear lending wings to her feet, and Thorne in- stinctively accompanied her. At the head of the stairs a young girl was leaning Imply against the wall her trembling knees barely holding her upright.
 Mrs. Lawrence" she gasped in- coherently. Its awful in there, Ma"
 The landlady stopped. Awful what?" she demanded. Talk sen- sible, Mary; aint' nobody going to hurt you."
 The girl shuddered. But I touched her" she moaned, "'cause she didn't look up or answer when I put the coffee on the table by her. Oh, her eyes"
 Thorne brushed by Mrs. Sims. Stay here with your daughter" he advised. Jim and I will see what's the matter" and he and his assist / ant sped through the dark bedroom and into the tiny sitting room be- yond. Both halted on the threshold Of the open door at sight of Mrs. Lawrence.
 The sightless eyes turned upward, the ghastly twisted mouth, told their own tale without spoken words Reverently the two men tip toed to her side and stopped. Both her hands still lay concealed in the partly open desk drawer. Gall the coroner-' Hes sick in bed" interjected Jim. T tried to get a message to him early today"
 Then phone the deputy coroner, Er. Wingate; he lives in George town. and, Jim" the man halted at the door, Tell Mrs. Sims not to come in its no sight for deli 1 cate woman. Explain who we are and say we'll stay and aid her"
 Left by himself Thorne struggled to control his rising excitement. Ly- ing dead before him was the one
 woman he wanted to sec the blond woman in blue whose ac-
 tions had so bewildered Arnold
 Winslow and had aroused his curi-
 osity as to the link connecting her
 and Elsa Chase.
 Thorne made no attempt to touch
 the body, once convinced there wa>'
 no sign of life; only in the presence
 Of the proper officials could Mrs
 Lawrence be moved. Paying her no
 further attention, he examined the
 room, little more than large
 closet with It's one window. Only
 one door opened from it and that
 led to the bedroom through which
 he had entered. The furniture, while shabby. was neat and clean. a were the walls, bare except for the mirror opposite the door.
 In only one corner of the room was there any sign of disorder; | there, a half dozen or more maga- zines lay scattered about and Thorne , dropping on one knee, glanced through them swiftly, to find nothing of any interest. Evi- run to lurid literature, as all the magazines were of a type to appeal 1 to that class of re5der. | Once more on his feet, Thorne l stepped over to the body, the un- natural position Of her arms caught and held his attention. Were her hands damned in the drawer that she had not withdrawn them?
 Thorne stopped down and looked under the chair and the table, the woman's feet and legs were twisted, not lying straight before her, con- firming his theory that some con- | vulsion, no matter how slight, must have occurred. Then why were her hands still in the table drawer?
 The drawer appeared quite deep and Mrs. Lawrence's hands were thrust far in it, although it was open only a little way. Thorne | slipped his hand in the opening along by her arm, papers rustled under his fingers; something soft. 1 possibly a handkerchief, lay to the right as he groped about-a touch of her chill skin made him jerk back involuntarily as their hands | came in contact.
 He was still on his knees using | his electric torch when he caught sight under the table of piece Of paper protruding from under the wooden bottom of the drawer where it's sides had evidently warped and separated. Very gingerly Thorne worked the paper loose and held it up to the light. It was apparently the upper half of billhead, for the printed type ran:
 Dryden Sanitarium. Chicago, Illinois | To room ...... ........... Soo.Ou To meals for special nurse .. 15.00 To laboratory fees ....... 1000 A zigzag tear ended the state | ment Thorne sprang up at the sound of people approaching. first thrusting the torn bill in to his vest pocket.
 Chapter s3 MAN OR WOMAN? Jim Barker, Thorne's assistant entered the room. with Dr. Wingate kthe assistant coroner, Inspector 1 Mitchell. the landlady and an older man in worn suit of clothes. "T uaa with Wingate when Jim