The Coolidge examiner., 1935-05-03
CHAPTER xI-coa,inuea
.aN~<-4' y 3 Z sf.'..'--


i4aaE Ills tone vas that % an
equal This ls not to be az in.
tcrrosaiinn. It's a conference 10
which we nerd your help"
Lang inclined hls bead wiih a
mgrmurei THANK you and took
o1e % the cigarettes. which vanc.
ixh;sd for him.
Vance returned 20 his chair aud
tIang mf Gowu
"Nr Lang" Vance began. Il
thluk that sVpreheud the position
90 which you have been placed By
the unfortunate events which have
taken place in this house. and also
thlak you realize that have DOT
been entirely Ignorant % your pre-
dlramcuL lou have acted. might
cay. IN very much the same way l
myself might have acted. had our
positions been reversed Bot the
tlne has cone when frankness Is wis
dom-and hope you trust the sun.
cieutly 90 believe me when tell
you that no possible danger can
ceSe - you. You are no longer 10
jeopardy. There Is uow no pos.
sihlliiy % Misunderstanding As
matter o, fact. have not misunder.
stood you from the first"
Lang again bowed hls head. and
said.
4 should De most happy 90 help
sou. u I might De assured that the
truth would prevail In this unhappy
bouse ani that I would not be ac-
cused of things % which some one
desired ! should be accused"
\ can assure you of that. Mr.
ilang.T Vance returned quietly
Then be added significantly: Mr..
Wredc Is dead"
"Ah e. the man murmured THAT
T1ts a d.nerea, aspect on matters"
~oh. quite Mr.. wrede was killed
b. a dog be had abused
-Iao-Tru has said" returned
LianE. that be who abuses the
weak Is eventually destroyed by bis
own weakness"
Vance inclined bis head in polite
agreement
~wll you tell us what happened
--or. rather. what you saw-when
you returned 70 this house between
eight aud niue Wednesday nlghiF"
LANG hesliaied before be spoke.
draelnS deeply on the cigarette
Vance had given him.
IL was exactly eight" be began
tn al even voice. when | entered
che Kitchen I heard voices here In
che library. Mr.. wrede and Mr.
Archer Coe were talking. They were
angry. tried not TO listen. but
their voices rose until they pene.
rrated even 20 my bedroom. Mr.
zoe was protesting violently, and
air. wrede was becoming more aud
rnoTe angry every second. heard
a scuffle a startled ejaculation. and
q noise as II something heavy had
fallen to the iioor. A brief silence
ensued-and | thought detected a
tinkllng sound ike broken china.
Then another silence. few mo
nenis later heard some one pass
-iealihlly through the kitchen. and
a. out the rear door waited In
my bedroom for perhaps fifteen
minutes. asking myself II should
interfere with matters which did
7ot concern me. and then | decid-
ed that. IN loyalty 10 my employer.
I should investigate the situation.
so | came forth and looked In
the library here. The room was
empty. bur the small table In front
og the davenport was upset.
yut II on It's fet: then returned 10
the kitchen aud read for perhaps
an hour. But something seemed
10 trouble mel did not Ike the
fact that Mr. Wrede had not gone
out the front door. but went out so
stea,tnily through the kitchen.
went upstairs 10 Mr.. Goes bedroom
and knocked on the door. There
was no answer. tried the door.
II was unbolted: and when opened
a.. I saw Mr.. Coe seated In bis
chair. apparently asleep. But ] did
not Ike the color OF his face.
went to him and touched him. but
he did not move-aud | knew he
was dead came out OF the
room. closed the door, and returned
70 the kitchen.
Il asked myself what was best
for me TO do. and decided that since
no one knew | had returned 10 the
house I would 90 away and come
back much later that night So
went-to some friends OF mine,
When l returned az about midnight,
made unnecessary noise. so that
anyone In the house would hear me
returning. After n while | came
again into this library and looked
round very carefully. for | could
not understand what had happened
that night. | found the poker lying
on the hearth. and there was blood
on Il. also found the dagger In
the large Yung Cheng Ting gao
vase on the table there. / had a
definite feeling that both OF these
articles were left here for some
special purpose. and Il occurred 10
me that II q murder had been COM