Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1939-01-27
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
BY NJ E. CORNE

! LAY ON my bed, my eyes
closed. For over an hour I had lain,
not moving my body at all. But if
my bones and muscles were mo-
tionless, my brain was not. It spun
around and -around in an endless,
tireless circle, around and around,
like the words of silly song.
Downstairs in the library Il had
left it at Macs insistence) the in
quiry was still in progress. Chief
Ellis was questioning the servants.
Mrs. Greedy had come in as 1 came
out. had not wanted to leave in
the middle of things, but Phil had
promised faithfully to recount the
details, and so I had left.
! Now 1 could stand the inactivity
and uncertainty no longer. I sprang
from the bed and went to the writ
ing desk. picked up a pencil and
some paper Perhaps, thought,
if made list of suspects, of mo-
tives and opportunities in the case,
it might help to quiet my shattered
nerves and to set things straight in
my mind. Story book detectives al
ways made such lists, I knew, for
I had read about dozens and doz-
ems Of them. I wet the tip of my
pencil and poised it above the pa
per. wrote my headings:
MURDER OF MRS. W.
MURDER OF MRS. H.
OF course 1 had no way of know
ing positively that Mrs. Wither-
spoon had been murdered, but this
I took for granted. Otherwise
could see no necessity or reason for
the apparent senseless poisoning of
Mrs. Horace. In my own mind I
was convinced that we had not one,
but two, murders to solve, and that
the second was but an appendage
of the first.
When I had entered my sub
heads my page appeared thus:
Family
MURDER OF MRS. W.
DAPHNE
Motive: To avoid marriage with
Count Orsini and at the same time
TO collect inherited fortune.
Z Opportunity: No info.
) suspicious Circumstances:
Threat to mother afternoon of ball.
MURDER OF MRS. H.
Motive: To insure mothers ST.
lence.
Opportunity: No info.
suspicious Circumstances:
Had suggested perm. Visit to salon
during perm. Midnight visit to
salon. Refusal to marry anyone.
Attitude when questioned by po-
lice.
rested my pencil and stared
'blankly into space. Set down in
black and white the evidence, or
lack Of it, seemed hopefully mea-
ger. Had I been exaggerating
.Daphne's danger? Regretfully, I
SHOOK my head. The assumption of
the girls guilt rested not so much
with known facts as with her Pc
Jculiarly withdrawn manner, which
suggested wider knowledge than
ashe admitted. continued:
i Murder of Mrs. W.
RICHARD
Motive: To secure money refused
to him by Mrs. w.
! Opportunity: No info.
I: Suspicious Circumstances:
Relations (?) with Toots. Missing
jewels.
Murder Of Mrs. H.
/ Motive: To insure mothers ST.
Lance.
/ Opportunity: No info.
T. Suspicious Circumstances.
Telegram. Toots. Attitude when
questioned,
J I paused to reread what l had
written. 1 had not. 1 realized. pre-
scented completely comprehensive
case against either Daphne or
Richard. Countless pieces of the
lpuzzles I had omitted. And rnany
iof the bits l had assembled could
well and easily be explained.
: Suppose that Daphne were pro-
'tecting her brother? Would this
hot account for her strange ac-
tions :? And likewise for Richard
were he shielding his sister? But
did not this very assumption pre-
sumo the guilt Of one or the other I?
oh, 1t was a hopeless mess! I
sighed. went on.
Murder Of Mrs. W.
MIR. HORACE
Motive: To secure fortune to