The Washington times., 1932-05-20
CHAPTER SO

Colt was opening drawer after
drawer, finding a supply Of en-
Velopes and writing papers here,
q tin box of stamps there. and
still not a shred, not scrap. Of
any intimate, personal data.
There remained but two draw
ers yet to go, when / heard Colt
give a low exclamation Of trl-
umphant surprise.
my God, Tony" he called.
'Look what he have found
here"
The commissioner was holding
UP an envelope, long and white
and sealed, across the face of
which was written in bold black
strikes: Statement of Hugh
Baldwin, M. D. To be opened
only if and when he dies sud-
denly or mysteriouSly."
Colt handled that envelope
with the greatest care. With
no knowledge of what it con-
tanned, he realized that here in
his hand might lie an explana-
ton of three tragedies.
On the other hand, it might
be nothing of the kind. Often
enough, fraudulent statements
cleverly forged have been left
near. dead bodies, to make death
appear self-inflicted. In such
cases the very sealing Of the en-
velope may hold a fragile and
yet most valuable clue. Thus
Colt treated this sealed docu-
fnent with almost reverential re-
Spect.
He carried it over to the win
dow and held 1t up to the light.
Through the rather flimsy linen
paper Of the envelope. he could
make out some Of the written
characters within. Then with
the blade of a pocket knife, he
began to work loose the lower
flaps of the envelope-the parts
that are sealed in the factory
leaving the flap which the writer
had pasted down untouched for
further examination.
The Memorandum
Now he drew forth from the
envelope a sheaf Of papers, writ
ten across in bold lettering with
q heavy black pencil, in a
strongly characteristic hand.
We sat down and read the state
ment together:
"I am leaving this memoran-
dunn because I fully realize that
I may be put out of the way by
nv enemies-or that I may yet
decide to end my own worthless
life. In either case, I want the
truth to be known. say my
enemies, but should say
Christine Quires and Lola Ca
rewe. l do not intend to lose
my life at the whim of these
two vampires in human form or
20 out without leaving behind
me the evidence that shall re-
venge my murder. And it is
likely that if I do go suddenly
and violently, it will be murder.
"The facts of my relation
ship with these two women are
simple and direct enough. I
was the physician for Mr.. Git-
ford, the husband of Lola Ca
rewe. Mr.. Clifford was not a
very i'll man at the time of his
marriage. He suffered from in
digestion and / treated him for
this with a simple remedy. But
upon one occasion, I wrote a
prescription and through some
incalculable fragment Of cir
.cumstance which DETECTED my
attention at the time I waSs
writing the prescription, I wrote
down an ingredient which I
had no intention of ordering.
The combination which I had
prescribed resulted therefore in
a poisonous dose. The fact is
that I, his trusted physician,
killed Mr.. Clifford.
"Of course, I did not intend
to kill him. But he did die
solely as a result Of my care
leSSness. When I realized what
had happened. I was struck
dumb with horror. I had al
ways been an honorable prac-
titioner. I have often heard
the joke that doctors bury their
mistakes. l know that honor
able doctors do nothing Of the