Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1935-10-11

tress."
The detective waved his hand
positively. "That's just the point,
Mr.. Keith" he contradicated, "they
were nothing of the sort. I've al
ready told you why they hated each
other; from the very beginning
they were enemies"
"But what of their friendship
in Florida, and Barbara's many con-
tracts with him since" the manu-
facturer queried. She did go with
him to that bedroom at Sunset Inn,
and two weeks ago helped him OBJ
tain the evidence of Mrs. Rowland's
infidelity. And she was willing to
testify at the hearing"
eyes, that is how it all looked
and what Rowland doubtless in
tended. There were two possible
reasons to account for Mrs. Keith S
willingness; one, a genuine at
t~chment; the other a very fine
real dread. Like you, I was misled
by the obvious belief that there was
some intimacy between them"
For a moment the other covered
his face with his hands. Poor Bar
bara," he murmured sadly, 'she
must have suffered much from him.
If she had only chosen to confde in
me, instead of keeping her story
a secret. Pm afraid l have been
most unjust to her"
1t was two days after Allen
Rowland's arrest that Rankin visit
ed Mr.. Keith to discuss with him
the ultimate solution to his wife's
death. The two men sat in the
manufacturers private office.
Rankin lit a cigarette. 1.-THE de-
velopment of the crime is quite
plain" he related, "if you follow it
in proper sequence. From the time
Rowland-or Dennis, as he was
then-escaped from Fort Wayne,
and Miss Webb was arrested, they
never crossed each others paths I'M
til two years ago."
"And when did you first dis
cover Allen Rowland was the man
you were after?" Mr.. Keith quer-
led.
"Not until I recognized his
photo in D@nis' service record in
Washington-the picture of him
in the marines as Steve Harmon"
the detective answered. "The des-
cription | had Of him didn't put
me on his trail, despite its similar
ity to Rowland. Dennis was thin
and had dark hair. In the last six
years, he had filled out, with a real
ly physique and had bleached his
hair. Still, even without the photo,
| would have discovered his identi-
ty, when 1 got around to campar-
ing his finger-prints, with those |
had collected back here"
81 suppose there's no doubt
you'll make a successful case against
|him?"
"Oh, no, a conviction is prac-
tical1y certain" Rankin said firmly.
"You see," he proceeded, Sthe most
elusive factor in the evidence
against him was that of motive;
incidentally, it was the second
protection against being suspected.
His apparent relations with Mrs.
Keith let him out completely. As
her lover and protector, he would
have no reason to harm her; and
all his actions seemed to clear him,
as being sincere and really devoted.
But now that Rowland is revealed
as Dennis, it is easy to establish the
true situation and his motive for
the crime. And there'l be no diff
|fculty about the question of OPP
portunity, either. More than likely,
we'll manage to trace to his pos
session some of the money she paid
him and that will prove him a
blackmailer. And to top it all, he
left his fingerprints in DR.. Brant-
mans office, On the bottle from
which he stole the chloroform for
the murder"
The manufacturer nodded. eyes,
that clinches the case, I should say.
But what about the others, Ran
kin? What do you expect to do
with Campbell, for instance?"
In reply, Rankin frowned and
shook his head in evaporation.
"That is a big disappointment to
me, I'll admit, Mr.. Keith; I had
counted on a really big killing in
convicting such a VIGOROUSLY sue
cessful criminal. But he had no
connection with your wife's death.
And since Riley was silenced, I