Carbon County news., 1936-06-19

being nuts about anybody cam
you see that's why he went into re
verse when the boy disappointed
him?"
He opened the right top drawer
Of his desk, probing its inscrutable
tumble for something to play with
"You had a close call. thongh. Rid
der knew what he owed you. Peo
pie forgive what you do to them
but rarely what you do for them.
you've done an awful lot for me
all right"
"Nonsense!"
The top drawer hadn't yielded
anything promising and Peter
picked up his little red magnet.
TITS all ended WELL" he re-
marked; seven for Luis Morano.
He cheated the chair, and that's
what he wanted to do"
II thought you were so sure of
his innocence"
"His innocence Of this crime,
yes," Peter answered.
Then he rose and touched the
magnet to his thermometer.
"When are you sailingT"
"wednesday"
Good luck" Barry said, extend
ing his hand across the desk.
Peter turned to take it, freeing
his own hand by trying to slip the
magnet over the hook from which
the thermometer hung.
The magnet promptly fell into
the open desk drawer.
Damn" Peter exclaimed, prob
ing again.
He retrieved, it at last, from
somewhere near the bottom of that
astounding accumulation of rubber
bands, pen-wipers, and what not.
Clinging to the metal, held by it's
magnetic attraction, was another bit
of metal
As Peter dropped the magnet onto
his desk, that other bit of metal de-
tached itself, and fell almost at
Barry's feet.
Barry picked it up, looked at it,
looked again, and then looked at
Peter.
Peter was staring at him.
Barry took a notebook out of his
pocket.
"a $685." he said. "Yes, that's
Kelly's latch-key."
Peter nodded.
II must have thrown it here
weeks ago and forgotten it."
"T'd throw it somewhere else
noW," Barry advised. Somewhere
just a little bit safer. Well, good
luck, again, and good-by."
He had reached the door when
Peter said: "Wait a minute"
Barry waited.
"How long have you known?" =
"That you killed Mike Kelly?"
Barry asked. "Since last Thurs
day. was on the train coming in
from Southampton, and I'd just
read Of Morano's death. One of
my suspects was guilty. I thought.
Peter Winslow can't laugh that
off,"
He was back in the room now.
II remembered" he went on, chow
you did laugh when I suggested Mo-
rano. And how sure you were that
was wrong about every one else.
But you never said anything that
might've started me on the right
track. On the contrary, when l
asked you if there was a Mrs. |
Kelly, you answered, Yes. She
sued for divorce recently and with
drew the case You'd just read that |
in the Herald Tribune, and the
same sentence revealed that, at the |
time of the murder, Mrs. Kelly was
in Harlem. But you didn't men.
tion that. Why? Only one explana-
tion occurred to me, and that was |
your willingness to keep me on the |
trail Of some one who couldn't pos.
sibly be convicted"
Barry sat down again, the other
side Of the desk.
"Go on" Peter urged. I'm very
much interested"
He was sitting, too, now.
"My interest" he continued, "is
strangely impersonal. Almost wholly
professional. think it is. That's
very curious. I'm just a criminal
lawyer interested in a crime"
His WEAKNESS explained that,
Barry thought. AS Hambidge had
been, and Morano. and Barry him.
self when talking with Ridder, Pc.
ter Winslow was "glad it's over"
"As a criminal lawyer" Barry
said, "and a shrewd one, you'd be
to know how much you
overlooked. Bits Of evidence that
fitted like jig-saw puzzle the mo-
ment suspicion started anyone put
ting them together"
"As, for instance"
Barry smiled.
"You told me Morano phoned you
at one o'clock the morning of the
murder 'to say that one of his girls
vas in JAIL and would you take
The case But Peggy wasn't in Jail.
1t one o'clock. She'd been released
hours before, and Morano knew it.
knew that he did nhonn vou What