Evening star., 1933-07-14
CHAPTER Xxx.
DANGER FOR LORN.

AN only that I am wait
ing for my brother to
come" Sue answered. :
"I know 1t seems-unusual-that l
should tell them nothing and you-so
much" she said But you-you are
She stopped as If seeking words, and l
said:
1T shows that you must have had
some faint distrust Of them You
haven't wanted to admit 1t, perhaps,
but it's there"
mo, no" she said. THE Lovschiems
are my friends
YOU haven't given this-token-into
the Lovschiems' care?"
"Oh, no. They know nothing about
it at all. I will show it to no one until
I see my brother Francis and match
his own with it. He must be convinced.
And that abduction last night.
don't like dragging up the subject, put
it's very serious matter"
me aWfully You need not tell me 1t Is
serious" She paused and looked at me
meditativeE, her slim fingers across one
black velvet knee. II wonder what you
thought of me last night. You must
have thought was quite mad"
"Dou you want to know what
thought I said slowly. Il thought
you were very sweet"
1 had spoken gravely. and she had
listened as gravely. For an instant the
air between us was alive and trembling
| and aware. and our glances clung to-
gether. Then there was a knock on
I the door. :
| It was Lorn. Of course. He was un-
excited, matter-of- fact: he entered,
gave one look at Sue. said, Good
! evening" and took the chair offered.
| I've been telling Mr.. Sundean why
I fear that my affairs have had some
connection with the murder last night. y
Sue told him thoughtfully. Il fe': IT
only fair to do so, since he was unfor-
tunate enough to become rather in
volved in the affair. I'm sorry to go
against my brothers wishes in the mat
ter, but I felt obliged to do so in this
case.
Lorn made an inexpensive gesture.
| Your brother merely expressed his
wishes as I understand it. Miss Tally.
I don't know that you are obliged to
comply with them"
| Il prefer to DO So" she said rather
stifay,
Lorn went on more pleasantly: Well,
at any rate. we managed to get Mr..
| Sundean out of Jail"
What about the poison, Lorn?" I
asked
| "Poison!" cried Sue.
The man there in the corridor last
night actually died Of poison said
Lorn.
"Bu.." I interrupted, "how on earth
was the man poisoned? And If poisoned,
why was he also stabbed?"
They are having the traces an
alyzed." Lorn said precisely. Il don't
know just what kind of poison it was
not definitely. that is, But the point
is that he wasn't shot at all. And as to
the little clock sword" Lorn's curl
ously hazy gaze seemed to be fastened
on the clock-"they are inclined to
think that death had actually occurred
before the clock sword was driven into
his heart"
Sue cried out something, and Lorn
continued dryly: They are rather
could have been administered-the man
might even have been suicide, you
know 1t will take some time to prove
all this. and some expert opinion.
Which is why you were released for
the time being. Mr.. Sundean."
I did not like his expression for the
time being" But since he'd done me
very good turn indeed I ignored it
and said:
Curious that you should have hit
upon the method but not the means"
We'll" he said with an undue effect
of modesty, lit struck me that the
little clock sword was an odd weapon
to use It argued an amount OF i'm
pulse in the matter that was out OF
the ordinary. But I didn't expect 1t
to be poison
Poison = that implies deliberation,
doesn't it?" said Sue.
"A certain preparedness, at least"
said Lorn dryly. Now then, Mr.. Sun
dean. Miss Tally suggests that your
man in the courtyard and her abductor
and the murderer are one and the same
man. What's your opinion?"
ITS entirely possible said. Any
things possible But, of course. there's
possibly identify the man in the court
yard Miss Tally didn't even get look
at her abductor, and neither of us saw
the murderer"
There isn't any way in which you
could arrive at some means of ldenti-
flying the man in the courtyard"
mo. He was only footsteps and a
revolver and once bit of cloth. But
1 feel. I don't know why that it's pos
sible that the murdered man was the
man who carried Miss Tally off earlier
in the evening"
"Ah" said Lorn. How about it, Miss
Tally?"
Il don't know" she said. Her face
was white and pinched-looking at the
recollection Il thought of that. too.
But I couldn't tell. If he were the
same man, though" she said doubt
fully, why should he have been killed?
Who killed him?"
I remembered the flying figure
against the light from my opened door;
1 remembered her slim fingers holding
the little dagger. I remembered its
being replaced on the clock.
There are a dozen answers to that"
said Lorn quietly. THE most obvious
one is that, in that case, he was mur-
dered by a second person who would