Nogales international., 1932-01-06
EIGHTH INSTALMEN7'
SYNOPSIS


tic story), his wife, old Mrs Dane, Herbert
) Eobinson and his Sister, Alice, and DR.
Sperry, friends ard neiglbcrs, are in the
habit of holding weekly meetings. At one OF
1hen. Mrs. Dane, who is hostess, varies the
; program by Unexpectedly arranging a spirit
uslistic seance with Miss Jeremy, friend OF
Dr. Sperry and no. professional as the
medium.
AT the first sitting the medium tells thc
details of a murder as it is occurring. Later
that night Sperry learns that nei3hbor.
Arthur Wells, has been shot n,yste riously
With Johnson he goes to the Wells residence
end they find confirmation of the medium 8
account Mrs. Wells tells them her husband
shot himself in fit of depression.
At second seance, Mss lefein adds
details about summer resor aere
Charles Eilingham was known to sa
at the same time that Mrs.
there. She also speaks OF a p
being lost which contained some
taut car tickets ard letters. Mrs.
alone OF the women, seems thrilled byV de
investigation.
4 Johnson goes alone and investigates the
deserted house. He is frightened by strange
noises, as of an intruder in the house, but
completes his investigation.
He leaves the house and in his excitement
carries off the fire tongs, leaving them in
his own hall rack where his wife discovers
them the next morning and reproaches him
for his nocturnal wanderings. He also
forgets to bring away his overcoat, which
is carried off By the mysterious stranger
Nirs Dale learns of his peculiar actions
and charges him with possessing an I'm
suspected sense of hurnor.
NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY
u am not aware--' l began
stiffly. Il have always believed that
+ / furnished to the Neighborhood Club
its only leaven of humor"
Don't spoil il" she begged Don't.
If YOU could know how | have en-
ioyed it. All afternoon have been
chuckling. The fre-tongs, Horace.
The hre-tongsP y
Then l knew that my wife had been
to Mrs. Dane and l drew long
breath. Il assure you," I said gravely,
"that while doubtless / carried the
wretched things home and-er-placed
them where they were found, have
not the slightest recollection of it. And
it is hardly amusing, is it?"
Amusing she cried. ITS delic-
ious. 1t has made me young woman
again. Horace, if / could have seen
your wife's face when she found
them, l would give cheerfully al
most anything I possess"
But underneath her mirth I knew
there was something else And, after
ali, she could convince my wife if she
were convinced herself.
I told her OF the visit Sperry and
| had made the night Arthur Wells
was shot, and OF what we discovered:
Of the clerk at the pharmacy and his
etatement, and. last of all, of my ex-
perience in the deserted house.
She was very serious when tl1i-
;shed. Tea came, but we forgot to
drink it. Her eyes flashed with excite
.rent, her faded face flushed. And
with it all, as | look back, there was
an air Of suppressed excitement that
seemed to have nothing to do with
my narrative. / remembered it, how
ever, when the denoNemeNt came the
following week.
She was remarkable woman. Even
then she knew, or strongly suspected,
the thing that the rest of us had
missed, the of the equation. But
| think it only fair to record that she
was in possession of facts which we
did not have, and which she did not
divulgc until the end.
"You have been so ungenerous with
me-" she said finally, "that am
tempted not to tell you why sent
for you. Of course, know am only
helpless old woman, and you men
are people of affairs. But now and
then I have flash of intelligence.
I'm going to tell you, but you don't
deserve il"
She went down into the black silk
bag at her side which was as much a
part of her attire as the false front
She wore with such careless abandon.
and which, brown in color and indif-
ferently waved, was invariably part
ing from its 1nooring. She drew out
/ newspaper clipping.
"On going over Claras notes" she
said, Il came to the conclusion, last
Tuesday, that the matter of the miss
ing handbag and the letters was i'm
portant. More important, probably,
than the mere record shows. Do you
recall the note of distress in Miss
Jeremy's voice? 1t was almost wall"
had noticed it. :.
II have plenty of time to think, "
she aQQeQ, IlOL WITHOUT PdtnOS. AHS.
is only one Monday night in the week.
and-the days are long. It occurred
to me to try to trace that bag"
"In what way?"
GLOW does any one trace lost art1-
cles?" she demanded. "By advertising,
of course. Last Wednesday | adver-
tised for the bag.
l was too astonished to speak.
81 reasoned like this: If there was
no such bag, there was no harm done
AS a matter of fact, if there was no
such bag, the chances were that we
were all wrong, anyhow. If there was
such a bag, wanted it. Here is the
advertisement as I inserted it."
She gave me small newspaper cut
t;ng:
"Lost, handbag containing private
letters, car-tickets, etc. Liberal rewarcc
paid for its return Please write to a
81 the Daily News"
sat with it on my palm. It was
50 simple, so direct. And /, lawyer
and presumably reasonably acute. hat
not thought Of i'll