The Wilmington morning star., 1940-08-25

Jop ne old mere was TO remove
the panel and hook up the device
that would permit it to slide open
and shut. He had probably taken
careful measurements and done
most of the work at home.
THE thing tn a undoubtedly
required the most time here was
placing the gun in precisely the
position he wanted so that a single
bullet would do its job quickly.
The gun was hooked up with a
photo-electric cell by means of a
relay. The cell was also connect
ed to a small electric motor which
would start simultaneously with
the shot and by means of a pulley
arrangement would shut the door
OF the panel"
Appleby interrupted. But if he
used a photo-electric cell, there
would have to be a light source
somewhere on the other side of the
room, wouldn't there?"
Yes, but not the ordinary kind.
That vas where Barbour was in
genlous. Actually, the light source
was installed right next to the
gun and hiden with it. When the
panel was open, the light was re-
Elected in the. tall mirror directly
across the room and made contact
with the cell.
so last night, probably as ne
and Sayler were leaving the room,
he made the simple adjustment.
On some pretext or other, he must
have gone over to the bookcase,
removed the book and jerked open
the panel. That was all there was
to it. Sayler returned to this room
alone. He walked straight to his
desk. Barbour had known almost
the precise spot where he'd cross
the beam. Take a look at the
rug, and you can see that a path
has been worn in a direct line
between the desk and the far door
way. When Sayler crossed tn
beam, the gun went off.
At the same time, the electric
motor quickly closed the panel.
This made. another contact and
shut off the motor. Had every
thing gone well, no one would ever
have found it until the house was
ripped down eventually.
when all of you came in to
find the body, Barbour went over
to the window. Remember? He
had a chance to slip the book
back-but not quite carefully
enough. And he also opened the
lock to make it seem that the
shot had been fired from the out
side"
No one spoke. There was moth
ing to say. After awhile, Hazel
Leighton rose and said in a queer
voice, 'I'l go now, Lieutenant, if
I may"
"I'n take you," Winslow Mar
dell offered.
go ahead" O'Leary said. cts
all over. There'n be no more muir
ders."
Slowly the servants shuffled out.
The uniformed officers led Riggs
away. Only Rhoda Waters a n d
Dale Appleby remained in the
room with O'Leary and Carroll.
Gales.
We'll take you home. young
Herhand was resting firmly into
lady," O'Leary invited. "You had
better get a good nights sleep.
You'll want to be fresh as a daisy
when you get that license tomor-
row."
Dale's fingers closed more tight
ly around hers, and Rhoda smiled
uncertainty.
"The lieutenant's right" Dale
agreed. UNLESS you've changed
your mind"
Rhoda gasped. "Oh, Dale, no."
She kissed him ardently before
she remembered the detectives.
Carroll yawned shamelessly as
he drove toward O'Leary's home
fter they had dropped R h d a
Waters at her apartment.
"One thing bothers me, Chief"
he said. You examined that gun
this afternoon, didn't your"
OLeary was leaning back on the
front seat, his head perched hori-
zontally on top of the upholstery.
Sure" he said.
well, then, you knew damn well
there was another bullet there"
Maybe I did," said O'Leary,'
noncommittally.
Sergeant Carroll took his eyes off
the road long enough to regard
the lieutenant with a queer ex-
preston. Chief, I got a bunch you
had an idea what Barbour was
going to do when he found that
Jig was up. And I got a bunch you
went right ahead and let him do
it,"
Justice" said Lieutenant
O'Leary irrelevantly, as he stared
at the stars, sometimes takes a
strange turn. And sometimes you
have got to give it a little push" 2
THE END