The Coolidge examiner., 1933-11-03


yer's wife replied. ITS on Thlr-
/ ty-seventh street, in West Philadel-
phla. He phoned me TO tell me
where it was; he said he'd either
| bring II back after hours, or If L
preferred, my chauffeur could call
| for It"
"And who did go for it? Mr..
Fletcher went to the fraternity in
it, the same evening"
"Oh. he got II himself" Mrs.
Fletcher said. Right after Stuart's
call-the same morning, in fact.
You see." she explained, his TAX
ing the car like that :" she
paused. seeking a word. "well :.
upset Edward almost as much as
his jealousy. II II wasn't for the
scandal. he would have had II
traced and Stuart arrested. To
prevent that. promised to get In
touch with him as soon as | heard
where IL was Before eleven |
,, phoned him at his office. where the
chauffeur had driven him In the
limousine. And nothing would suit
him except calling for II himself"
obviously to settle the last ques-
tion as to Jordans identity" Ran
kin commented. The garage EN-
ployees were acquainted with him
and knew be had brought in this
car"
AT this damning proof of his con-
tentiOn, the woman's eyes reflected
fresh dread.
Il that's right" she STAN
mered. 81 never thought of that.
II he interviewed them he'd have
positive proof that II was Stuart he
caught"
Rankin nodded briskly. Exact
ly, Mrs Fletcher. And once that
last doubt by which you might have
benefited disappeared. ne would be
convinced of your falthlessness. 1t
is futile not to face the facts; you
must realize | cannot escape the
conclusion that.
In the midst of his statement, he
broke of suddenly; imperceptibly
his body stiffened. For at that in
slant, digging into the bottom Of the
dashboard pouch. his hand encoun.
tered thin. long. roundish object
of CLASSY smoothness that tapered
TO a fine point he withdrew 1t in
the cup of his hand to hide the dis
cOvery from Mrs. Fletcher; but
even before he looked at II eau
tiously. he had recognized its i'm
portance. II was a nypodermic
needle. deliberately secreted away
in compartment of the lawyers
car. where prying eye would be un-
likely TO find It'll
Bending over TO screen the act.
ne carefully dropped the tube into
an inner pocket; his voice did not
betray him as he continued:
bhC GOnCiuSiOD lI4dl yOuI
husband is implicated in Stnart Jor-
dams murder" Tommy Rankin fin.
ished in an even tone. as if nothing
had happened.
Ii was Rankin's discovery of the
needle in Mr. Fletcher's car that
crystalized his belief that the law
yer was the criminal ne sought AS
he pointed out to Mrs. Fletcher. he
had ample opportunity to commit
the crime; and Monday nights de-
velopments. supplementing those of
Saturday, supplied an effectively
plausible motive. Nevertheless.
doubts OF his guilt assailed Rankin.
But there was no denying the
significance of the hypodermic
needle. In contrast to purely cir
cumstantial evidence. IL inescapably
connected Mr.. Fletcher with the
murder. For the detective did not
wait long TO establish the fact that
il was the weapon with which
Stuart Jordan had been poisoned.
That same evening. he returned
with 1t to headquarters and de-
manded of Mr.. Sykes, the city
chemist, prompt, microscopic ex-
animation in the laboratory Mr.
Sykes announced that the syringe
had last held solution OF conine
The chemists experiments removed
Rankin's last misgiving about sus-
pecting Mr.. Fletcher.
AT the same time, he gave Mr.
| Sykes to analyze and measure, the
two vials Ned Patterson had con-
cealed in the tobacco pouch in his
bedroom.
And then. after leaving the chem
| ist, he received another report
which Implicated the lawyer still
more deeply In Jordan's death.