Evening star., 1940-10-19

canoe When Nurse AUDREY r1dIIlllIon
hastened into the room in evident
distress to report that the key to
her medicine kit had disappeared
and the bag itself had been rifled OF
a hypodermic syringe and guam
tity of the insulin which she had
kept on hand for treating Stephen
Ballard
1t was not until the next morning.
however, that Inspector Storm re-
ceived the information which proved
to be the keystone in his solution
of the case. 1t came in telegram
from Harlan Lorrimer, Stephen Bal
lards lawyer. and proved what
Storm had suspected from the first
that the contents of the codicil
were vitally important to true un-
derstanding of the mystery Of Hur-
ricane Cavern.
Things are beginning to break
our way at last. Storm told Sheriff
Humphries. I'll be over at your
Office in about Is minutes to tell you
all about it In the meantime would
you have one of your men make
arrangements for a little party in
Hurricane Cavern?"
It's as good as done" Humphries
assured him. do you want Myra
Watkins and that Paige woman,
too"
Every one who was there that
morning" Storm saia And you
might as we'll bring Eulda Svenson
along. too. for good measure
They'll all be there Humphries
assured him.
Storm Takes Charge.
AS soon as the party had assem-
bled in the Giants ballroom, In
spector Storm took charge of the
proceedings. He began by giving
them a brief resum. of the case,
step by step, as it haG come to his
attention. But the part of the speech
which caused the most general as
tonishment was his disclosure of the
secret passage.
It wouldn't have believed it pos
sible," Ken Brewster said in amaze
ment, "and I thought knew every
inch of the cavern by heart" With
his poised and measured tread. he
stepped over to Stolms side and
peered into the inky blackness of
the passage. Does that mean that
the murderer used this means of
getting into the cave?"
Its a possibility that we can't
overlook" Storm answered. How
ever, under the circumstances, I
hardly think that was the case"
But he saw Joan Ballard'S face
whiten and her hand tremble on
Paul Kenyon's arm.
Storm turned and walked back
into the circle of light. The case
was further complicated" he con-
tinued "by the fact that there was
not one murderer, but two. AS I
studied the events from the begin
ming, 1 saw that Jerome Billiards.
murder did not fit into the psyche
logical pattern of the others. In
the first place, ne was killed-prob-
ably while he was sleeping-by a
person who administered the drug
intravenously and with great deX-
terity This led me to the conclusion
that the murderer had some special
knowledge of medicine"
The Nurse Is Cleared.
Every eye in the place turned to-
ward Nurse Hamilton. Under the
intense scrutiny, her face became
white as the uniform she was wear
ing But she neithe, spoke nor
moved.
"No, it was not Audrey Hamilton" :"
Storm said. dispelling the accusation
in the hostile stares directed at the
nurse Remember that she is not
the only one here who has studied
medicine The murderer of Jerome
Ballard is one who took advantage
of the mystery surrounding the
other deaths to achieve his own
purposes. Under the peculiar cir
cumstances of Stephen Ballard's
will he would have profited by the
death of any or all of the other
legatees. And years Of brooding had
led him to believe that the Ballard
money was rightfuliy his, since it
had been recouped by means of his
mothers fortune"
With sudden intensity he turned
toward the young man who was
standing beside him. Leslie Bal
lard, I charge you with the murder
of your foster uncle, Jerome Bal
lard!"
You can't pin anything like that
on me-" Leslie said, his handsome
face waxy white.
"Oh, yes, we can-and these, too,"
said Sheriff Humphries, swapping
pair of handouts on Leslie's wrists.
You should be more careful, my
boy, about leaving your signature
around when you commit murder"
What do you mean-my sigma
ture?" Leslie's voice was harsh with
fury.
Simply that you weren't quite
careful enough in wiping off the
hypodermic syringe before you hid
1t in the cistern," Humphries an
swered. I'VE found latent finger
print on it-not a complete one, but
enough of one to convince any jury
in the state"
Murderer Too Shrewd.
jerome Ballard's murder was
very unwise and coWardly proce-
dure," said Inspector Storm. But
the person who inaugurated this
series of murders was far too shreWd
to leave any fingerprints behind him.
b His crimes were cleverly conceived
and daringly executed. We shall
MOTHERS REMEMBER!