Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-09-17
NSTALLMENT VIII.


Il on the light. She hadn't been
able to 90 to sleep and it was useless
to try any longer. She paced the floor
for a time. AS she turned on one OF
her rounds she saw Rita standing IN
Fthe bed room doorway in wrinkled pale
pink pajamas.
Rita was rubbing her eyes. She
cyavned and finally crossed the room
. and curled up at one end OF the
couch. II suppose" she said, you've
been reconstructing the crime"
Something like that" Ann adj
mitted. why did we have to walk into
such a mess, Id like to know. II
we'd come day earlier or day later,
or If Bill hadn't met us at the sta
ton and Mollie hadn't had welcome
party and invited Selma.
Ann was walking again, restleSsly.
It was not so much what she knew
that troubled her as what she did
; not know. for no sooner had they dis
. covered the wire around Thurman
z Wells neck than Senator Runbrecker
had announced that every one but
. himself and Carl would leave the scene
> Immediately. Bill had protested at
: first, but had finally agreed that II
: would be worth the risk to save the
girls the embarrassment of seeing
their names and, possibly, their pic
lures spread over the first pages OF the
newspapers. So Deane RunorecKer
had gone off with his sister, Rita had
craWled into Bills car without waiting
for an invitation. and Ann had gone
with Lee They had presented a
sad spectacle, still soaking wet and
thoroughly miserable in both mind
and body.
Who murdered Thurman Wells? ..
. How had he or she managed 1t so
quickly. and under their very eyes?
Who was the man lying on the
. bottom of the Rejecting Pool? O..
, Had the police made an arrest?"
Rita stretched out on the couch and
= pulled pillow under her head. Does
= it mean anything" she asked langu1d-
;, ", that Lee Monday slipped out on
Selma and was next seen clinging
: to your arm?"
Z Ann halted in the middle of the
room. She welcomed this question as
she would have welcomed any other
: that broke the train of her depressing
thoughts. Lees all right, Rita. He's
human and decently modest and-not
at all what I'd imagined him"
That" said Rita, sis what wanted
to know. Well, happy landing, dar-
ling
Ann awoke at high noon to find
Rita missing, but while she dressed,
the living room door opened and Rita
dashed in, breathless, a paper under
her arm.
1T was all a lovely detective story,
"Rita cried. waving the paper. The
body in the pool was dummy and
Thurman Wells wasn't murdered"
: What" Ann asked, puzzled, ARE
you talking about?"
Rita came into the bed room and
. spread the paper on the bed. Read
1it-and reflect on the far-reaching
influence of United States Senator"
!. Ann bent over the paper, her eyes
rowing over the page until they came
to rest on the one-column picture of
Thurman Wells Then she saw the
incredible heading:
{ SENATOR'S SECRETARY
ENDS LIFE IN EFFORT
TO INJURE EMPLOYER
Thurman Wells Reports Own Death.
Then browns Self In Re-
flecting Pool.
LEFT MYSTERY BEHIND
Police Unable to Explain Presence Of
Dummy Corpse" Found Be-
side Dead Man.
"Suicide-?" Ann said vaguely
"They can't get away with that.
Thurman Wells was murdered-n
: cold blood"
But when she had read the full re-
eport, she was not so positive. :. . the
Telephone call that had brought them
sall hurrying to the rejecting pool had
. been traced to the phone In Fuhr-
eman's apartment. In a drawer not
80 feet from that phone had been
: found piece of copper wire exactly
: like that twisted around Fuhrman's
neck. And on a table in Thurman
Wells bed room had reposed more than
a dozen detective story magazines and
+ a copy Of the suppressed book, THE
Fine Art of Self Destruction"
Rita put a finger on the paper.
"Listen to this, Ann:
&" In the dead mans apartment the
police found note which read: "You
know too much to live. If you are
not back at work Saturday morning.
I'll put you where you can't talk. !"
: It was signed, "Runbrecker." Police
said the note was obviously forgery.