Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-01-08
[7EeB B! @)(}!} !! Q @lg$E}SI} Y
II ~

pac1fy the maids, VINO mao Dee1
scared by the noise. He poured
out drinks and Selden insisted or
his joining them.
MRS. Thornton, the housekeep.
er, has gone to Lady Sewerage
She insisted on my unlocking the
communication door for her. She
sWears she knows who the muir.
derer is and that she is going tc
tell her ladyship."
Good" Selden said. "She will
probably nominate you, James"
The butler did not answer, star
ing at the floor with a wooden
face.
"She went to London a few days
ago, James, didn't she?"
MRS. Thornton James gave
a start. Eyes, she did, and has
been making hints and insinua-
lions ever since. 1 shall ask Lady
Severinge to dismiss her. She is a
busybody and mischief-maker."
II heartily agree. l have had
some experience of her."
Reid interrupted them. "But dc
you think, Selden, that the MUIR
derer came in tonight by the way
1 mentioned?"
II am sure he didn't. l was on
guard there myself"
"There must be another way in,
then. Do you think it possible
that there is some secret passage,
such as one reads of in books,
from the crypt, and under the
lake ?"
Selden smiled. when we found
that the coffin there had been tam
pered with, after the murder of
Sir Henry, 1 took the obvious
course of examining the crypt,
with just such an idea as you had,
but there is nothing of the sort.
1 hardly expected to find one, be-
cause if there had been one in old
days the water from the lake
oozing through would have caused
a collapse long ago."
James gave gesture of despair.
"Then give it up, sir; but it
seems that the children are not
safe anywhere in the Abbey"
'They are not, James, but we
are not going to remove them to a
safer place. My difficulty is that
I have not been playing the game
with Hutchins, for he has been
searching for. them, and I have
been hiding them, and couldn't
tell him-that's the trouble"
"Why not?" Reid asked.
Selden's face was grim. BE
cause" he said, emphasizing each
word, "if I had done so he would
have had them protected by the
police, and then there would have
been no further attempts to alb
duct them"
Reid sprang up. "Do you mean
that you were using them as a
bait to catch the murderer of Sir
Henry? IF so, I am not going to
be a party to that"
STEADY, Reid! Sit down and
don't get excited. If these assas-
sins-for am convinced there are
more than one-are determined to
get hold of the children, and we
have them effectually hidden, or
protected, they will bide their time
and sooner or later they will get
the chance. Isn't it better when
we are all on our guard, you and
James here, and I, to see if we
can't get them? I may even be
called off this case. You must
really be guided by me-"
But don't see what the object
is if it's the same people. Are
they going to put their heads into
a moose for blaclmail or ransom
it sounds too absurd?"
Selden gave a quick glance at
James, and saw that a struggle
was going on in his mind. He
spoke quietly, but every WORD
seemed to be like the stab of a
knife into flesh.
There is no question of ransom
this is murder. Nothing short
Of that will satisfy these fends
Remember, this has not been the
work of a day or month"; has
been planned for years."
| "But why murder? What have