Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1933-10-12

II
he seeinea perfectly calm. Whaf mas-
me wonder was his look. If you unds-
stand me. It was like a frown onI-
worse; his mouth was drawn into .
rigid thin line and his eyes burnedn
he hunted word-''well, ruthIess,v
could almost see the veins on his bao1
throbbing."
you would say. undoubtedly tho.
he was angry?"
II suppose he must have been On,.
1t was a deliberate, impersonal co.,.
Of anger. like fire smoldering undor.
the surface. Then remembered
hadn't seen Mrs. Fletcher anywhere.
for an hour. volunteered to find hor.
but he refused; he said he Womb d.
1t himself without any trouble D.
that time. I was pretty certain Soma
thing was up, and when he left mo ?
began to trail him. couldn't he,r,
wanting to learn why Mr.. F1etcbor
was upset."
"Your interest may prove verv
valuable, Mr.. Whitaker" Rankin on.
couraged him gravely. snow. who.
did Mr.. Fletcher do? He searched yo,.
his wife, of course?'
very thoroughly, sir; he lookaa
into every room along the halls. 70.
CARELESS Of whether the door Wa.
closed or not. He had to excuse bis
intrusion to the people inside several
times. At first, he had no luck, If Won
can call II that; and l began to think
Mrs Fletcher had left the house alto.
gether. But when he reached Harris
Connelly's room, he suddenly entered
and shut the door behind him. That's
the one next to mine, Mr.. Rankin, on
the top floor"
DO you recall If the door was open
or closed when Mr.. Fletcher ap-
preached the room?"
Closed sir. and he didn't bother to
knock" Whitaker returned. HE Just
walked In without warning. AS soon
as he shut 1t, I slipped into my own
den. next door. figuring might be-
able to hear what happened"
swell, how much did you overheard
Rankin inquired. could you make
out what was being said?"
'Not at first" the student related.
"As I closed my own door, Mrs.
Fletcher was talking fast and earnest
~, as If explaining the situation She
said something about being tired Of
dancing and having headache; and
then, MFR. Jordan was kind enough to
keep me company while rested
Then / knew 1t was Stuart with her,
though he didn't utter a word the en-
tire time. The surprising part Of it
was that Mr.. Fletcher was almost as
quiet; interrupted just once and said,
Don't you think your place as chap
eron is downstairs. Verar And he
spoke in such firm, almost threaten
ing way that 1t was definitely COM
mand. When they all came into the
hall. I felt tension between them
that made the situation seem even
more serious than 1t had sounded.
Stuart was flushed with embarrass-
ment and Mr.. Fletcher looked posi-
lively vindictive; and his wife was
scared. in spite of her efforts to cover
her confusion"
"And that was all that was said or
done between them?" The detective
voiced his regret at the .meagerness Of
Whitaker's disclosure and account.
"All saw" Whitaker answered
promptly. when they came down
stairs. took Mrs. Fletcher away for
a dance, to relieve the strain. But
l never let on I had any idea of the
trouble upstairs. We talked mainly
about the pledgees-how we haze
them and have fun with them the last
few days before initiation"
Rankin's features suddenly dis
played fresh animation and he shot
his question at the boy.
did you mention to Mrs Fletcher
the annual practice of taking the
PLEDGES for a ride late on the night
preceding the initiation, and losing
them in the country"
Eyes. in some detail" the boy re-
piled. II described the way we dressed
them in old clothes, made sure they
had no money with which to return
and separated them in some deserted
spot outside the city to get back the
best way they could"
The detective turned to Ted Stan
ton. What time did you drive out to the
country with the initiates and where
DID you eventually strand them?"
"Well. we started from the house with
them at ten-thirty by machine" STAN
ton compiled unreservedly. "Three
cars in all went out. belonging to the
boys; each carried three PLEDGES and
the same number of brothers"
Before that. at what time did the
earlier hazing Of the night begin?"
"Right after supper. Mr.. Rankin"
the president returned. 1.-THE PLEDGES
had all been instructed to report here
by supper on Monday; they knew In
advance It would be hectic evening
for them"
"Was Jordan present at the meal
and throughout the EVENING"" Rankin
asked.
Ted Stanton hesitated doubtfully,
but his roommate reDlipd with con-