The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-01-24

of life make daily use of cosmetic darkeners, for they know the value obviously mistaken about the time. I knew that because Daisy Connor, the maid, had checked up on the time when those telephone calls | came.
 "Then when I found out King had been trying to blackmail you' | Che looked at Juliet) "it came to me he might have played the game more ways than one. I asked Mc- l Neal to check up on Coleman's bank account. we found out he'd | been withdrawing large amounts regularly during the last year. Amounts much larger than he'd ever drawn before.
 l That fitted in with the black mail idea but. as for the murder, I hadn't anything at all to go on | except my hunch. I couldn't prove Parker Coleman killed Tracy King | because he'd been blackmailing | him. I couldn't even prove he had blackmailed him.
 "I kept thinking about the gun l Coleman used-if he had used it. | and what he could have done with 1t. What Juliet had said about a window box kept sticking in my head. It seemed silly but I couldn't forget it. And then when I met Mathew Hollister on the street yes- terday the whole thing came to me like flash.
 II figured if I could convince Coleman we had enough on Hollis ter to pin the two crimes on him, except for the missing gun, Cole man would supply that. Oh, I gave him every chance! I knew that If I was right about it he'd bring the gun with him when we went to search the apartment and then hide it.
 "McNeal had the two policemen waiting, ready to come in with Hollister after we'd been in the apartm ent half an hour. There was one thing I hadn't figured on. l though I'd find the revolver In the most obvious place---a desk drawer or something like that. If I came across it too soon I was going to stall, As 1t was, I'd barely picked the thing up before the policemen got there" v
 "But why," Juliet France asked, "did Parker Coleman"
 Because King had been black mailing him, just as I had sus- pected. Coleman wrote out a full confession and signed 1t. read 1t just before I came home. The man in the old wedding picture was Parker Coleman's father, King had the picture and some papers to prove Coleman's father had gone through bigamous marriage with Kings mother. Oh, 1t was all long ago. I guess it was true all right or at least Coleman thought it was. King showed him the papers, told him that if he'd come across with the money he wouldn't make trou- ble. Otherwise he'd go into court to fight for it. Coleman paid to keep him quiet.
 "That was all right but when Parker Coleman came back to Ire mont two weeks ago and learned that King was going to marry Den ise Lang 1t was too much! He went to see Denise to find out if the en- gagement was really true. Then he went to find King"
 Again Bannister looked at Juliet. Tt must have been a few min utes after you left" he said.
 The girl shook her head. "No," she said. "I'll tell you what really happened that night. I went to Tracy Kings apartment to get the letters you know about. They weren't letters I'd written. My sis ter wrote them. Tracy King had | threatened to show them to her husband if she didn't pay him $5,- | 900. Helen was nearly wild about ! IA ha oI nnt1Id dO "I told her I'd get the letters back. I came to Fremont. tele- phoned to Tracy King and he came | him think I had the money and he said if I'd come to his apartment that night he'd give the letters to me. I Went-but I took a revolver. | I was going to make him hand over the letters or threaten to shoot.
 | "I hadn't been in the apartment more than few minutes before the telephone rang. Coleman must
 have been hiding in there. l heard the shot and ran to see what had happened. Tracy King was lying on the floor and there was blood on
 his face.
 1T was so frightened I forgot the
 letters and everything else. I ran out into the hall and shut the door. Then l went downstairs and out of the hotel. You know" sine said, looking at Bannister," what hap pened after that"
 He nodded. That's the way it
 was," he agreed. "In Coleman's confession he said he was hiding In the bedroom when King came
 home. He hadn't made up his mind
 exactly what to do when you got
 there. He was listening to what you were saying when the tele-
 phone rang and before he could
 hide again King appeared In the doorway. Coleman shot him and hid in tho clothes closet. He saw you como to tho doorway and then turn and leave. Iie took his time after that, went through Kings desk and found the papers about his father. He found those letters signed Helen" too .and took them
 with hln, Aftorward h0 burned them, He wiped everything he had touched to be sure there was no finRoYprints. IIo was careful about everything g--buL one person snW him, Melgina IiOlliBtori lIe may OF may not have known lf then, bllt
 1 was fool enough t0 tell hlml I'll always nave that on my conscience, 1 actually asked him Co talk tO Mel. | Ylnn and See lf no eOnld lln1 out Nh0theP Hha know something that ehO WHH k0aplnR from the DOIio0, I lfl.a laan fkaA Alalulaa hnI naas.