The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-09-20
CHAPTER V

&0b AVAV AVob ukaAA NNSA ASAA VI goodhy and turned back awkward N to find Larry. He was still talk ing to Dottie Barnes, but he came toward Pat when he saw her. "Thought I'd lost you, Who were you withp"
 She suddenly was tired of the party. sweeney, assistant prosecu- tor assigned to the court He was here playing golf this afternoon"
 Larry's eyes narrowed, Acted like an old friend"
 He's very nice" she said, "Al- ways helpful and considerate,"
 They danced and moved around with other couples for the rest of the evening. Going home though, she felt depressed, She supposed 1t was her own fault, People had been nice to her. She hadn't been .walltiower. Larry's friends had taken them into their groups, yet she had experienced no sponta- neous pleasure,
 The quiet of the early spring morning settled about them as they drove back to the city. Only a tinny rattle at intervals broke the monotone of the motor.
 Something must be loose on this car, Larry" she said, sleepily' T noticed 1t on the way out, too. Is your fender hitting somethingP"
 "Nothing's loose on the car. The hood wasn't locked tight when l had oil put in, That's all"
 But the increased noise was not that of the hood, It grew louder when they went over the bumps in the country road, Are you sure, Larryp It sounded like the fender or bumper then"
 Another car must have nv us when we were parked at the club" he said quietly.
 She was drugged with wearl- ness, untaetfully persistent, we were last in line" she reminded him, "The same car was next to us when we came out. I remem- Der because it was e gray roadster And l heard the noise on the way out,~
 T don't sec why you get so worked up over car rattle' nc said pettishly.
 She sank back In the car, awake nos and with that unworded feel. ing of fear creeping Into her heart again. M m. late this afternoon, Larry3" she asked, As soon as the words were Npoken she wished them unsaid' Yet somo secret fear made her ask, .
 Ho was there at B." She sensed his sudden alertness. T know he added quickly, "beeause ] called in. As I said, I was out OH afternoon"
 Ter throat was dry, aching With the tightening of her nerves, This suspicion was building c hign wall between them; barrier built because of her unreasonable imagination, her stupid suspicious.
 "The judge spoke of going over to see him," she lied desperately Larry mustn't know she thought of him with fear and suspicion She had no cause to think Of him as anything but honest, upright kind. humane,
 And yet tho picture Of those cars knotted at the wet corner, the coupe flashing in ana out ahead, the crumpled figures on inc pavement was indelibly etched on her mind. Larry hnd been on the opposite side of town. The car Nhe thought was his belonged to another, The man at the wheel with his hat and coat like Larry's was another. Larry knew thet Abbott was at the oiiice at quit. ting time because he had phonea in, and not because he was there himself instead of ct High Hiii as he said. The fender, loose ana rattling. was caused by another car while parked at the club. It wasn't the result of body being struck and flung aside.
 Her lips as they kissed him good night were clinging. She must make up to him for those un- snolsen fears, those shameful sus- picions, yet as she tossed on ner bed during the graying hours ol the Sunday morning her sleep waS troubled.
 ahe wakened to the commensurate, nrosaic routine of a rest day. sun daya could always be filled some how. There was her trousseau 70 think about, weekday purchases 70 nit in the big cedar chest linens 70 unfold and finger happily a ousNy
 It was afternoon before sne found time to read the Sunday pa ners. and the front page story With pictures set her mind back in the frantic squirrel cage of supposi- tions again. .,
 aMother dies in hit-run acci, dent" The details were aii available now. Mrs. Mary Cil- Iespie, S8-year-old mother or iour children, wife of a factory worKeI dead. Her back broken py tne racing car that knocked her down In ar, unprotected traffic zone. m fine biz. drear municipal hospitai her 6-vear-old- daughter, Jean' fought desperately for her own life and suffered from a broken ler and fractured skull. Police were seeking the driver of the car that brought grief and heartnreak fo inc Gillespies. They were saio to have received some valuable l,,sormation from two witnesses,