The Wilmington morning star., 1940-01-08
prEp L0RTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER FORTY-E1GHT
When Tinker threw me to the
ground, my head must have struch
Z rock, for I knew no uhlil
I opened my eyes to find myseil
lying on a davenport in the Hill
House lounge, around me a circle
of anxious faces. In e eyes
was an expression which sent tne
hood leaping joyously in my veins.
Thai look was one 1 had hunSereo
to see.
Gently they told me that just
rs CAPTAIN Lancy and ChleI for'
rest. accompanied by troopers, ar
rived to make an arrest, Tlnkers
furious outburst brought them oil
IN the scene to find me unconscious
Coral dying and DR.. Paul Ruther-
ford dead. His throat torn out by
the powerful jaws of the dog VINO
in his slashed shoulder bore mute
evidence that his onslaught was all
that saved me from Coral's fate.
An hour later, Captain Lancy
and the chief entered and, after near
ing my story, told us-only poor
Pauline and her mother were ao-
semitic sordid truth underlying
the tragedy of Hill House.
Captain Lancy's face was a
and grim. Miss Easton IS dea
he said gravely. Had we been d
few minutes earlier, she would no"
he alive, and Miss Gordon would
not have been subjected to the at
tack on her life. Had it not been
for the dog
That brought it back so viVldly
that I clutched Meals arm in gen
uine panic. His understanding: 'lts
all over, dear" restored my self
control. and I listened intently to
every word.
Part of what 1 tell you, I have
lust learned from Miss Easton'
Lancy went IN. 1--WE we're sure thai
DR.. Rutherford killed Mrs. Peake,
but proof for which we We're
ing was so delayed that we arrived
too late to prevent the second ira
gedy.
DIR. Paul Rutherford was one OF
the %cleverest, most cold blooded
murderers | ever have tracked
down. When l tell you that he was
heartless enough to give doped
whiskey to his own mother merely
to draw everyone away from Hill
House and enable his %acconp!ice to
search the house, you will unGer-
stand why ! say hat l am glad his
career is ended before it was fairly
begun. But l will go back to the
beginning.
I'VE suspected DR.. Peake, Bruce
orion, Alan Murray and Joseph
Barry before we realized that we
must look to Dr.. Rutherford, who
from the first tried to blind us with
much useless information. His posi-
tion here as a close friend. and ap-
parent lack of motive, deceived US
at first. Yet it was obvious that
he could most easily dope and dis
pose of the whiskey. 1t vas not
until we investigated Joseph Barry
that we discovered that Dr.. Ruth
erford was more closely linked
with Coral Easton than either Dr..
oeake or Joseph Barry. himself.
During the second search of
I'LL House we learned Barry is a
devoted philatelist. In one Of his
stamp albums were several en-
ve'ores addressed to Jose Barrios
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In his
trunk was a picture of himself with
white hair.
Miss Gordon related a story
which Miss Dutton told her. Name
ly, that Joseph Barry had had his
hair re-dyed in a beauty salon in
Hyannis. By wiring Brazil we
found that Joseph Barry and Jose
Barrios were one and the same.
That, in Rio, Barry was associated
with a Coral Estes; in America.
with Coral Easton. The two names
applied to the same woman.
Continuing the investigation we
found that Coral Estes or Easton
was a close friend of DR.. Ruther-
ford's before she met DR.. Peake.
Dr. Rutherford posed as a wealthy
man, and undoubtedly was one up
to a year ago. But he had dissi-
pated the money which his father
left him, also his mothers and sis
ter's shares, which he handled, and
was in desperate financial straits
when he met Coral Easton.
I'VE knew that the blow which
killed Mrs. Peake was q powerful
one. as it required considerable
strength to penetrate through the
layers of fat to her heart. DR..
Rutherford habitually carried a
small scalpel in his pocket, an ideal
weapon for the crime. Coral Easton
was a slight, unathletic woman. DR..
Rutherford was our choice for the
murderer.
"But we could not step up to him
and say: You answer all the re.
quirements for the murderer He
would have laughed in our faces
We had to provide a motive, an6
this we were not able to do unit
today.
when Alan Murray told us thai
Miss Ivy Newcomb was saying
Let - her - book - Selma we be
lieved that i'll her d~isjonted words
was hidden the secret of why Mrs
Peake was killed. We interpreted
her meaning to be "A letter from
Selma MRS. Peake) in a book We