The Coolidge examiner., 1933-10-20

went upstairs myself 10 my room
to put my favor away. 1t looked
unoccupied or I'd have knocked be-
fore entering; the light was out
and the door shut. But the instant
| switched on the light, two people
jumped up hurriedly from my bed
where they had been sitting and |
saw they were the boy and Mrs.
Fletcher"
Exactly which is your bedroom.
Mr.. Connelly?"
THE second one along the back
hallway on the third floor, Mr.. Ran
kin"
"All right" The detective nodded
affirmatively. go on with the in
cldent. What happened after you
discovered Stuart and Mrs. Fletch-
er in your room?'
Nothing much could happen, sir,
could 1t? | don't know which OF us
was most embarrassed. So ex-
cused myself for interrupting, set
the favor on my desk and made my
exit as quickly and gracefully as
| could"
Rankin's tone became searching.
Leaving them to follow you and
join the others downstairsT
They stayed right on in my
room" Connolly replied. Il waited
while on the second floor landing,
expecting them to come out. But
after ten minutes, | figured 1t was
none Of my business anyway and
gave up watching for them. But
they still hadn't returned to the
dance floor much later in the eve
ming"
Harris Connolly had nothing fur
ther TO relate and the detective dis
missed him. The next information
J touching on his inquiry came from
| Paul Whitaker, a handsome alert
boy. In a sense, his tale supple
mented Connelly's. taking IL up
half-hour later. At one-fifteen, the
lawyer had singled him out during
the dance and asked If he had re-
Gently seen Mrs. Fletcher about. In
the lawyers elaborately casual
manner, Whitaker had caught a
hint of trouble brewing.
''In his manner?" At this. RAN
kin fixed his eyes intently on the
boy. Exactly what attracted your
attention? Was 1t the way he
spoke?"
mo, not so much that. Mr. RAN
kin. though he sounded kind OF
harsh, as II II was hard to control
himself. Yet he seemed perfectly
calm. What made me wonder was
his look. If you understand me- 1t
was like a frown, only worse; his
mouth was drawn into a rigid thin
line and his eyes burned"-he
hunted a wOrd-"well. ruthlessly,
could almost see the veins on his
head throbbing"
You would say, undoubtedly,
that he was angry?"
Il suppose he must have been.
NOnly 1t was a deliberate, imperson.
al sort of anger, like fire smolder-
ing under the surface. Then | re-
membered hadn't seen Mrs. Fletch-
er anywhere for an hour. vOlun-
teered to find her but he refused !;
he said he would do IL himself with
out any trouble. By that time, |
was pretty certain something was
up, and when he left me, | began to
trail him. couldn't help wanting
to learn why Mr.. Fletcher was up
set"
Your interest may prove very
valuable, Mr.. Whitaker" Rankin
encouraged him gravely. Now,
what did Mr.. Fletcher do? He
searched for his wife. of course?"
VERY thoroughly, sir; he looked
into every room along the halls, re-
gardless of whether the door was
closed or not. He had to excuse
his intrusion TO the people inside
several times. At first he had no
luck. If you can call it that; and
began to think Mrs. Fletcher had
left the house altogether. But
when he reached Harris Connelly's
room, he suddenly entered and shut
the door behind him. AS soon as
he shut it, slipped into my own
den. next door. figuring | might be
able to hear what happened"
swell. how much did you over
hear?" Rankin inquired. Gould you
make out what was being said?"
"Not at first" the student relat-
ed. "As | closed my own door,
Mrs. Fletcher was talking fast and
earnestly, as if explaining the situ-
alton. She said something about
being tired of dancing and having a
headache; and then Mr.. Jordan
was kind enough to keep me com.
pany while | rested Then | knew
1t was Stuart with her. though he
didn't utter a word the entire 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
chaperon is down stairs. Vera?' And
he spoke in such firm. almost