The Coolidge examiner., 1934-01-05
CHAPTER XIV
In RETROSPECT

In Retrospect
OE0R the life of me, Mr.. RAN
l. kin. the whole thing sounds
too Incredible" Mr.. Warwick said,
shaking his head. Except for your
proofs, | wouldn't believe It pos
sible that a woman could live so
long disguised as a boy In young
mems dormitory. And get away
with 1t, undiscovered"
The detective settled himself
comfortably in his chair and light
ed a cigarette.
1T wasn't actually for such a
long time. Mr. Warwick" he re-
turned, drawing on 1t. Mrs. Jor-
dan wasn't running the risk Of be-
ing caught a moment more than
she had TO. She started to play her
part at the opening of school In the
fall. when she came east to ma
triculate. prepare her schedule and
arrange for room in the dormi-
tories. She wanted one as close to
Stuart as she could get. without
being in constant danger of en-
countering him. Luckily, she OBJ
tanned II in the adjoining building
and on the same floor; that Is quite
important. But you'll find she only
remained two weeks in October,
when her convenient illness forced
her 10 drop out until the second
term. Then she returned to Phila-
delphia on January thirty-frst, to
be always on the scene during rush.
ing season and the approach of fra
the time she dropped out of sight
as Laura Jordan; she gave up her
apartment In St Louis on January
twenty-ninth. and Myra Prentiss
took her place at the Fenton hotel
for the month of February. | failed
10 connect the two events in spite
of the obvious coincidence. on hear
ing Miss Prentiss' confession"
But in such quarters" the su-
pervisOr continued, "the students
are thrown together and live a more
or less communal! life. You'll have
70 explain how she managed to min
gle with them on some degree of
intimacy"
That's just 1t, she didn't" Ran
kin met his observation. "The first
time | visited her room. the char.
woman told me how aloof Randall
was She said he never invited his
neighbors into his room or joined
in the rough-house they INDUCED
in. One typically feminine trait she
mentioned was his neatness in
keeping his room in order himself"
"Still. there were contacts Mrs.
Jordan could scarcely avoid. Es.
pecially in the washroom. no mat
ter how cautious she was to es.
cape embarrassment"
The detective shook his head.
mo. her practice of staying in bed
late eliminated most of them. Re
member, beside those In the lava
tories, each room has its individ
ual washbasin. It's small point
but 1t meant the difference between
success and failure in her imposi.
ton; without 1t, her scheme was
impracticable. She could wash and
dress fully In her own quarters
And use the washroom, too. lust
as conveniently as the other stu.
dents"
Mr.. Warwick drummed thought
fully on the top of his desk with
a pencil
well, how about in classes, Ran.
KIM" he inquired. "She couldn't
very we'll help being thrown in with
them there and meeting the profes.
sOrs as we'll"
"She simply failed to attend them
at all. sir" Rankin replied. "As |
understand it, the teachers receive
no check-up list of who has been
assigned to them; they don't know
their pupils until they present
themselves at the beginning of the
course and personally hand in their
names.
(To BE CoNTINUED.)