Evening star., 1933-07-28
TheWhife CoCIkaf0o
ty Migson G. Eberksrf

uxAHAAO"A oA.S. cAA ScIy Aatc1y, onlocutlu-
that Of q waiter-shocking enough as q
crime, it's true, but still Marcel had
been IN the eyes Of the world a person
OF little Importance. And his death had
been considered and rightly, I thought
| to have been induced by, and q result
Of. the first murder. ~.
But the murder of a priest-taat was
dinerent- even though he might prove
to be only masqueraded priest.
1t was not only the fact Of q third
murder IN few days that reused the
town and the police to higher, pitch
OF excitement and energy. There was
also the fact that it proved that the
murderer had escaped all efforts Of the
police to discover his identity, and that
he felt so secure in his safety that he
dared another brutal murder under their
very noses.
If there had been few clues about the
first murder and only my own evidence,
which was little enough to go on in the
case of Marcel's death, there we're no
clues at all for the third. The priest
was dead by poison and had been dead
for from to l8 hours, and that was
all they knew
The police sent promptly to far-away
Paris for assistance; from something
Lorn said, I believe there mad been in
the town one of those subterranean. po-
litical wars brewing which had previ-
ously intervened and determined the
commissaire to settle the matter II it
was possible without help.
But the third murder proved too much
for his faith in himself and his wish to
inspire his political opponents with a
sense of his own ability Or perhaps it
was the pressure Of public opinion that
grew too great for him.
He also temporarily increased his
force, so that instead of our being sim
ply clapped into jail we were, to all
practical purposes, held prisoners by the
numerous guards which surround the
hotel and overflowed into the courtyard
and rambled uneasily through the cor
ridors and went to the kitchen There
Paul supplied them with such frequent
drinks that there were several occasions.
I'm sure. when. If the murderer had
popped up under their noses like a
rabbit and declared his identity. they
might as readily have welcomed him as
a comrade as have given chase.
1t Is perhaps not strange, under the
circumstances, that while this guard
might have been supposed to oct as
protectors as well as jailers they were
not wholly successful in either role. as
you will see.
And by the time the detectives from
Paris arrived the thing had already
marched to its swift and violent ending.
The intervening time seems long in
retrospect. but was very swift in expert
ence, for we were so caught in the rapid,
thing beyond our immediate peril was
crowded out Of our consciousness.
After the first dazed moment follow
ing my grisly discovery in the White
Salon, realized that If Sue had been
in danger before, that -canger must now
be immeasurably greater.
So In the end Sue and I both went
to call the police and tell them of what
was there in the White Salon. We went
together. for could nc. bear to let her
out Of my sight in that menacing place.
don't remember that told her what
lay in that black coffin, but somehow
she knew. I do remember our calling
from the very landing where I had
stumbled upon the dead man whose
murder had ushered in the dreadful
business, to the policeman in the court
below
And 1 remember how he sprang to his
feet and stared up at us. and how his
jaw dropped and the blank astonish-
ment in his face when he comprehended
Sues rapid French.
AllO IIidt lle IldQ NlSlUly W Try ScNcTdi
times before he could pucker his
open mouth to give the shrin whistle
that brought two other policemen tum-
bling into the court and eventually up
the little winding stairway to bring in
their wake turmoil and search and in
quiry again.
The whole thing couldn't have taken
more than four minutes, but it seemed
at least ten.
But the thing that stands out sharply
In my memory is the thing that hap
pened on the very second preceding
their entrance into the White Salon.
had left Sue under their eyes on the
landing and had myself turned back
into the corridor and then into the
room. I suppose had approached the
great piano merely in order to show
them where the body lay, for could
hear their hurried feet on the stairway.
1t was only chance that I stood in
such a position near the piano that q
wisp of white on the carpet caught my
eyes. bent involuntarily and took in
my hand small handkerchief. It had
been concealed from my eyes until then
by a massive carved leg Of the piano.