The Washington times., 1936-03-24

room by Officer Atwater, SER
geant came in.
There is q woman to see you,
Inspector"
"Who?"
"MrS. Sardoni."
"Show her in"
AS she entered, she met Mrs.
Darlington face to face. The
Italian woman paused in the door
way, lifted her arm with pointed
finger in almost q theatrical
fashion.
There she isl" she exclaimed.
"Who is this woman?" de-
manded Mrs. Darlington.
O'Brien made a brief introduc-
tion. Then the Carringtons pro-
ceeded on their way. Mrs. Sar-
doni regarded the other woman
excitedly, scarcely waiting for the
door to close before whispering,
THAT Is the woman-that Is the
one who quarreled with Miss Sin
clair the week before she was
murdered. I saw her picture in
the paper and I came at once to
identify her"
VERY good of you. I intended
asking you to come down 'tomor-
row. Now suppose you come into
this other office"
AS the inspector led the way,
Mrs. Sardoni followed him, talk
ing volubly and dramatically all
the time. Officer Atwater came
back shorty and told me could
go, but to come back and see
O'Brien whenever convenient.
On the walk home, I cannot say
whether I spent more time worry
ing over Allen or Speculating about
Mrs. Darlington. My mind was
about evenly divided between the
two. I was eager to build up a case
against anyone which would re
lease my brother from any suspi-
cion, and I certainly had good
material to work on in this WON.
ans testimony. It was uncanny
how much Mrs. Darlington resem-
bled the picture which Helen had
drawn in her imagination. The
quality that struck me most was
her being so deliberate. She was
the type all right that would think
things out, perhaps on the basis
of her emotion, but who would plan
exactly what she was going to do,
then act. She had been tremen-
dously angry with George, she ad-
mitted; that she must have been
equally hurt and shocked by his
interest in Connie, must have also
been true. Yet she had not taken
all he said at its face value before
coming to see Connie, to get ner
angle on the case.
If she had been so deliberate In
the mixture of emotions she felt st
first, why would she not be equally
so afterward? At the end Of her
stormy interview with Connie, she
! had felt positive that the girl waS
the cause Of breaking up her home,
that all Georges statements which
she thought might be attributed to
anger were undoubtedly true. She
left Connie in a great rage, and I'd
venture to say, in great humilia'
tion. Would her type not deter.
mine suddenly upon what she
would do, plan the details, and
carry them out boldly? In other
words, granted that at first she
decided on a divorce, she had re-
turned to Georges home until Sum-
day, we knew from his testimony
earlier. Apparently she had told
him nothing Of her visit to Connie,
but waited to see what would re-
suit, not acting hastily.
When, however, he left again on
Sunday, would it not be possible
that she was convinced Connie had
won him, and determined to act?
But just as she had waited until
Sunday before leaving him. might
she not have also waited from Sun
day to Thursday to complete her
plans? Could these plans have
been the murder of Connie, In.
stead of mere divorce?
Ito be COntinued)
Copyright. 1888. by King Features
Syndicate. Ine.l