The Washington times., 1938-03-26

lips. He lighted it, slowly lookin
over the Pickering blaze at MAJ
celia.
by the way" he said, II toll
the McKenzieS we'd have Dime
with them tomorrow evening. Yoi
hadn't made another engagement
had you?"
"Hans!" Marcella cried. you've
got to listen! I'm asking you for
divorce. I'm asking you to let
me CO."
won't your mother be Q bit
wrought up, my dear? After all,
our marriage was originally her
idea. Though I'll admit her de-
scription Of you that day I met
her in Paris convinced me that
our paths, by fate, were destined
to converge to this marriage"
II can make mother under
stand. know I can"
BARON TO BOXER
"And you can reconcile her to
the fact that you want q divorce
from a baron so that you can
marry prizefighter? Hardly. In
fact, I think your mother will
quite definitely sicken at the
thought"
He paused a moment and ex-
hailed a long plume Of smoke. He
studied it, his lids dropping, sn1il-
ing at his thoughts. "As for
letting you go, I shan't, Of course.
And you'd find it rather difficult
trying to divorce me. You haven't
any grounds, you See."
Marcella turned a way from his
silent amusement. Sometimes,
Hans" she said miserably, II be-
lieve you'd enjoy numbering me.
Little by little-inch by inch
glorying in the slow, drawn-out
torture Of it,"
my dear, what a CHASTITY
thought" He leaned back against
the wall, tall and dark and o lit
tie sardonic laughing.
cts true!" cried Marcella.
'There are other ways to murder
a person than by sending a bullet
through the heart. That's the
kind way. Clean and complete
and quick.
But this. this horrible thing
you're doing to me. day after
day.. slowly. -" Her voice broke
off and she buried her face in her
trembling palms.
Two months of living with Hans
Won Dreyfuss had revealed char
acteristics of his which sickened,
then Mortified. He was, beneath
his perfectly civilized exterior,
primitive and cruel and strangely
brutal. He was always saying
things, doing things, just to watch
her emotional squirmings.
MURDER FASCINATING
1T find murder" said Hans,
still smiling, "a very fascinating
subject. There are so many SEEM
ingly fool-proof methods. It's a
sort of game, really, when you
once stop to think about 1t.
"You need only to realize the
large proportion of murders which
remain unsolved, even with the
police and the detective forces Of
the country spreading their nets,
to say nothing of the vast num-
Der of such crimes which never
come to light.
"Simply because they don't come
under the head Of murder. For
instance, you read that Mr.. Jones
accidentally shot his wife while
cleaning a gun that he believed
unloaded. Or that Mrs. Smith
died in her garage from nlonoXide
gas. Or that Mr.. Brown takes
poison by mistake. Have you ever
stopped to think that maybe they
weren't accidents. 80"
Marcella stared at Hans. She
said. quite steadily: you wouldn't
murder me, Hans"
"Of course not! Why on earth
should I? There would be moth
ing gained by killing you, Mar
celia" he laughed, shortly, "and
there would be a great deal lost!
You're an heiress, Marcella. Some
day you'll come into vast amount
of money"
MarceIla got up. Her fingers
were rigid over the back Of her
chair. Her breath was hot and
short in her mouth. I'm leaving
you, Hans" she said, deadly even.
I'm going to, whether you agree
or not. Whether mother agrees
or not. I'll find a way to divorce
you"
IT think" said Hans, smiling,
chat perhaps we haven't exhaust
ed our little topic Of murder. You
see, wasn't quite through. was
wondering if you'd think a man
justified if he found out that an
other man was breaking up his
happy home :"
THE SUBTLE WAY
"Justified-to do what?" she
heard herself interrupting.
"Oh, not cold-blooded murder,
my dear. Only a laundering idiot
would put himself in a position
where the electric chair threat
ened him. But there must be Q
subtle way to remove an enemy.
"Say, some sort Of accident that
would be convincingly real. For
instance, I had occasion to observe
two men in love with the same
woman. It was in the Alps. many
years ago. They started out to-
gether one morning, those two
men.
To BE Continued