The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-09-22
CHApTER VII

chocolate fudge cake on best plate company touches since Larry had accepted the invitation to stay for dinner.
 Even while she hurried around the warm kitchen sniffing the tam talking odorS of cooking food, listening to the voices of the boys discussing the latest automotive news with Larry, broken fragments of her own conversation with him on the way home kept beating a refrain in her brain.
 "Those boys in the know could fix just about anything" Judges and prosecutors can be influenced by the right powers" Even a pretty pair of eyes like yours" , Subtle remarks, innocent enough yet charged with hidden meaning.
 The next two hours passed duly. Even Larry's early leave-taking fail- ed to arouse her from her inner concentration.
 Have some work to do," he ex- plained, "and I guess you'll want to get at those notes you spoke about"
 She nodded. "Yes, I must finish them tonight"
 She welcomed the work. burying herself in it until sleepiness clouded her eyes and made her fingers weary. The next morning, though, she was glad to see them all typed and ready for the day. Best to start with a clean slate. If only all things could be wiped of ones slate, she thought.
 It was on the bus crowded with office workers bound for town that she saw a morning paper over mans shoulder. Automatically her eyes scanned the lead stories. Then one stood out, headlines seemingly written in fire. Isolated words leaped at her.
 "Hit-runner caught" "Witness returning from weekend away gives police necessary clew-," Salesman arrested" "Car traced by loosened fem&er," "Kent refuses to discuss charge"
 
 Somehow all these past hours she had known that eventually these would be the words she wuuld read. She had said them over to herself subconsciously, yet now their actual printed presence hit her like a physical blow.
 And Larry's attitude these past few days; that was what made her mind whirl madly. Over on the other side of town-his calm state- ment made so easily. His quiet ex- plantation of the rattling fender the night of the dance, and his equally unperturbed explanation of the new car yesterday afternoon.
 Larry, her flance, the boy she loved, the boy she was to marry in @ few months. Larry whom she felt she knew so intimately, whose every thought she felt she could under stand. Desperately she tried to un- derstand him now.
 Fear, blind unreasonable fear must have driven him to such ac- tion. The accident with the fright ful feel of bodies flung aside, the ghastly cold facts staring out at him from papers, the hue and cry of the police search-those must have been the things that had driven him to lie and plot so frantically. And yet again the calm, concise explain ations had fitted so perfectly at the time. Her thoughts whirled again.
 Automatically she entered the of flee, hung up the hew felt hat with its brilliant feather, put her brief, jaunty jacket on the hanger, fiuffed her hair and powdered her nose be- fore she realized her hands shook and the rouge on her cheeks stood out in two round spots.
 The hands of the clock over Judge Kellys bench pointed to 9:30. Of- ficers came and went, starting the wheels of justice moving on another day. Prisoners were led into the box, and she saw Tom flip over the file cards on the desk to gather rough idea of the days cases.
 She took a drink of water, clutch ed her pads and pencils with cold hands and went to her table.
 It was nearly an hour before the jpudge called a recess and in that time she had captured a sernblance of boise. The few moments of free time found court gossip turning to thu prospect of an examination of Kent. Morning papers had arrived and Sweeney read snatches of the story to big Sergeant Lewoski.
 Examination probably tomorrow" he said. "The judge wants to go to Metropolitan hospital this afternoon to take testimony from an injured man who has been there couple of weeks. He's trying to clean up some of these old cases"
 "0ives this guy Kent time to line up lawyer, too," the sergeant said. Hell be dumb enough to try building up some screwy defense"
 Tom nodded. Sure. We know that Only this time the guys got to have swell one. Every addition hour between the time of the ac- cident and his arrest made 1t worse for him. The time will take explain Ing, I'll be glad to work on this Only hope the boys from the A. I. have something to really give me, Looks as though they will; this story says they found his car in a little repair garage with the fender still damaged"
 Pat couldn't trust herself to talk to Tom that noon. He bent over her when the judge declared time o1 for lunch and Rrinned with an