The Washington times., 1936-03-21

MuTQSEeC OT uOG, 1lS Is gang
ster."
mot quite. But Of course, he
carried a gun"
And he has bad companions
Dad said"
well, we've always known he
was a bad egg," admitted Helen.
I took a hand in the discussion
then; I don't know why, for I
usually try not to say anything
against anyone, even when I have
proof. I guess I just wanted to
forget about Bruce.
LAS a matter of fact" I stated
with some authority, "the case
against Melvin is as good, if not
better than that against anyone
else. He had a motive because
COME refused to sign his parole.
SIe was known to have called on
her at $3.50 that night, to have
quarrelled with her and left an
cry indeed. He had a gun"
VERY true" Helen assumed her
superior air, ''but the gun was
not the one that fired the fatal
shot, so they say. And even if
1t were, it would have to have
g Silencer on it; if he threw that
part away, why didn't he throw
the whole gun out?"
"And BESIDES" Patsy joined
her, Mr.. Perkins saw her alive
after Melvin left"
"Of course, Melvin couldn't
have come back!" was my Sar-
castle comment.
There hasn't been much about
Perky lately" Helen said ignor-
ing me.
You know" Patsy lowered her
voice to whisper, between you
and me. he's the one I'd pick" /"
1T looks to me-" I commented,
cas- if the police agree with you,
at least partially. They are un-
deeiIeG between Perky and Bruce
Lloyd"
At last I had broken the ice.
Both girls talked like mad after
that. Bruce was the one they
were all really interested in. Al
though, of course, they didn't
know him as we'll as I did, and
they didn't have that personal
contact I had had, still they
had sort of adopted him as an
ideal, too. We figuratively wept
on each others shoulders over
his disappointing development.
We got real chummy again and
forgot our differences.
Of course, they had picked
up lot of rumors and a lot Of
ideas about him and about this
Bernice Carter. No one seemed
to know who she was, but every
one had some opinion Of her,
none Of them good.
Helen dooked around the room
and whispered to Patsy and me,
"You know I overheard Dad and
Mama talking last night, and
they said that they didn't think
this Carter woman was all she
ought to be. Mama said their
running away together like that
proved 1t. Dad said something
in French, one word of which I
think was 'cherchez,' you know,
meaning look for couldn't
get the rest"
II know that one," Patsy whis-
pered back. cts 'cherchez Ia
femme It's the same as saying
look for the woman in the
case"
II suppose Dad meant, then"
went on Helen, that he thinks
Bruce committed the murder and
that this Bernice was the rea-
SON."
Something like that" agreed
Patsy.
There's more than that to it,"
I said sadly. "All these older
people don't want to tell us what
they think; so that means it's
bad. They think we're awfully
dumb, I guess. Anyway, the
whole mess is-is-sordid!" and
I'll have to admit I was crying.
Helen patted my hand. She
continued the conversation on a
different track. "You know" she
said, "they have completely dis
appeared into thin air. They
were awfully clever about it. I
heard that the police found the
driver who picked Bruce and
Bernice UP at the hotel Saturday
night. He drove as far as Viii
Its. There the bus stops for five
minutes, while there is a change
OF drivers. He saw them go
across the street to can d v