The Daily Alaska empire., 1934-07-19
Chapter 53) x~ RECONCILIATION

HARPER put Aline Croyden's l l ring away in the pocket that held the little key to Richard Croy. den's piano. The artists renuncia. tion of his beloved instrument had been a poignant gesture. Indeed. justly or unjustly, the dead ride hard! Harper meditated sourly to himself as he mounted the stairs to spread his thankless news through the house. He tapped on the door oI Mrs. Dufresne's room, deciding that she was entitled to be told first.
 After that painful interview he sought out the master of the house and found him in the upstairs IL brary, the scene of his mocking chal. lenge of the evening before. Pierre Dufresne was staring moodily out the window when the detective en- tered. His face. too. proclaimed the stress and strain of restless hours tha. should have been devoted to sleep.
 In plain, unadorned phases Ser geant Harper told the story of the murders. AS he talked. Pierre Du- fresne paced up and down. exclaim- ing, interrupting with questions, struggling over details with a brain fagged from its own unjust but hard. spurred woes. At times he could hardly credit the tale.
 Wait! Wait!" he cried, poured himself a drink and downed it at a gulp. Then he resumed his nervous pacing. firing questions again and again at the detective.
 When he had finished his story. Harper said. Now. Mir. Dufresne. perhaps you will explain your own movements after you got out of the Austerlitz? l know you had every intention of murdering the man whom you suspected was meeting your wife in this house. What hap pened?"
 Dufresne flung himself into a chair. "You were right, Harper. 1 got out of the Austerlitz as you de- scribed. Between the alibi had pre- pared and the letters 1 had written to myself felt quite certain that 1 would never be suspected, no mat ter what happened.
 q took a taxi and got out some distance from here. had been keep ing watch on that sand-urn and l knew a meeting had been arranged for that night. I walked past the house. There was no light, no sign of life, and there were no foot. prints leading up to the door. hid behind wall, watching. It was quite dark.
 q waited, but nothing happened. I was furious because I had been outwitted again. Then saw a police. man coming along the street. He was the first person I had seen in the street at all. To my astonish- ment, he turned in at the gate as though he had business here. i
 "He went up the steps and en- tered the house, although l couldn't see who had opened the door. was greatly puzzled. watched and wait cd, but the policeman didn't come out. I don't know how long I hid behind the wall, but it must have been quite a while, for I began to get stiff with cold.
 Suddenly, the front door began to bang in the wind. When that kept up I grew frightened at the pros. pect. I knew that something un- usual must have happened and wanted to keep clear of it. How could I have explained my absence from the hotel? So left my hiding place and walked until I caught a taxi that brought me back to the center of the city. I had not been in very long before you arrived.
 "When you brought me up here to view the bodies I couldn't under. stand hals of what saw and heard and I've been trying ever since to figure out what really took place in that room."
 HARPER nodded. "That shows l l what totally different meanings can be drawn from the simplest things. The notes left in that urn were construed in a different man. ner by every one who found out about them.
 "Only Mrs. Croyden and your wife knew the real truth about them. At any time frank discussion would have cleared it all up. Instead, 1t was allowed to fester in secrecy. Richard Croyden. the real victim of the whole intrigue. didn't know of their existence until much later."
 The detective looked Pierre Du. fresne squarely in the eyes. q am going to lay aside my role as police officer for few seconds" he stated, "and take the liberty of talking to you as man to man. You may resent what am going to say but shall