The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1933-08-18

mo, no." the woman protested
vehemently. "He had absolutely no
motive for killing Stuart. There was
nothing improper in our friendship,
swear; what I wrote proves that my
interest in him was perfectly inno-
cent"
'But unfortunately, Mr.. Fletcher
couldn't tell that" Rankin declared.
HE was guided by the apparent evil
dence of your unfaithfulness. 1t must
have. seemed to him that. :"
"But he never found us together
When he got back, he only saw me
and had no idea my companion was
Stuart!"
The detective was swift to seize
on her first acknowledgement of the
true facts; nevertheless, his question
held note Of uncertainty.
HE didn't know Stuart? How
was that possible? He had plenty of
cause to remember him from the
dance"
Too late to retract, she manifestly
regretted her panic; but having made
the tell-tale admission, she saw she
had no choice but to explain It
"No, what l mean was that Edward
saw him only from distance; Stuart
slipped away without encountering
him, before he arrived. So that he dis
covered me all by myself. That Is
why I am sure he couldn't have har-
bored any real anger against him,
Mr.. Rankin"
Rankin disregarded her conclusion.
where did all this happen-your hus-
bands interruption and the boys es-
cape" he queried. "You brought him
back here. / suppose, after you picked
him up at the farmhouseY
'Yes, we went upstairs: Stuart
and were In my boudolr, part
of the time" Mrs. Fletcher paused,
discomposed for an instant, then hur-
ried on as If in self-justification "Of
course, that was just to give US a
chance for a confidential chat;
wanted to learn something about him"
"Just what made you so confident, I"
Rankin inquired astutely, "your hus-
band would not return home Monday
night, and the rendezvous would be
safe?"
Because he never did come back
on the evenings he went to town for
the meetings Of some real estate
board" Mrs. Fletcher replied. "He
attended regularly, once month. And
they always ended so late that even
with a machine-that night, he drove
the limousine in-he remained at some
hotel"
but for once he changed his mind"
the detective commented grimly. "At
what time did he arrive, Mrs.
Fletcher"
ut was about quarter past two in
the morning, when Stuart and were
just about to leave for the fraternity.
He couldn't have returned because Of
any suspicion Of our plans, I'm almost
positive; 1t was just an unlucky acct
dent"
"And what occurred then?" Rankin
wanted to know. "Your letter init.
mates there was more to 1t than Just
Stuart's escape before Mr.. Fletcher
caught him."
The lawyers wife plunged into her
narrative. Unfortunately, I had
parked the roadster at the turn in our
drive while we were inside" she re-
lated. ut would have been foolish to
garage 1t, since we intended to use It
again. And Edward must have no.
ticed the lamp lighted in my room.
when he drove in from the highway In
the limousine. That and the parked
car made him stop his own machine
below the turn, out Of sight, and en-
ter the house quietly, so as not to at
tract our attention.
"We didn't realize he was anywhere
about, until he opened the door in his
room and knocked thunderously on the
connecting one between our chambers.
He had heard Stuart speaking from
the hall, and demanded to be let in at
once. For a moment, we were par
alyzed with establishment; If the door
hadn't been locked, could never have
got Stuart away In time. instructed
him quickly to 60 through my bath
room and down the servants stairs to
the rear entrance; then he was to
take the roadster. before Mr.. Fletcher
could interfere and drive himself back
to town. Otherwise, he would have
been rash enough to prefer facing my
husband. The racket Edward caused,
rafting the door-knob and wanting to
know who was with me, covered his
escape"
"Still, Mr.. Fletcher did know" Ran
kin pointed out smoothly, shat a man
was locked in your bedroom with you
at two O'Clock in the morning. He
could scarcely avoid interpreting the
fact in its>worst light"
The woman agreed reluctantly.
yes, suppose not; especially since
Stuart forgot his cap in his hurry and
left it in my room. It was an old cap