The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-04-09
Reputation

CONTINUED From Page 81
father for a position, she ad-
mitted.
Mr.. Reid looked surprised.
you are acquainted with my
son - he demanded.
4 met him last night" Gail ref
Piled. but Chris said easily, Miss
Meadows is a good friend of Bill
Morgan's. Dad"
The older mans amer
changed.
"Cy Morgan's SOM Well, why
didn't you say so in the first
place >"
Il didn't know II would make
any difference" the girl confessed.
We'll naturally. we have to be
exceptionally careful whom we
hire in a store like this John
Reid murmured He paused and
during the interval Chris flashed
her a smile which seemed to say,
We're together in this"
Il think I can say the position
is yours. Miss Meadows, Mr.. Reid
conceded graciously. You may
start work next Monday"
She thanked him without effu-
sion and found herself on the
street with no idea of how she had
gotten there. Not until then did
Gail realize the terrific strain of
that interview. II CHRISTOPHER
Reid hadn't come to work that
morning II she hadn't lust
happened to meet him the night
before
On such slight thread had her
hopes been hung But she had
the job. That was the important
thing. And suddenly her spirits
lifted.
She was late but she must take
time to call her mother. She could
hear the relief in Annals voice as
she replied, Good work, daugh-'
terri Five years was a long
time to wait, but now at last their
chance had come.
The remaining days of the week
passed quickly. Calls resignation
was accepted with regret. IF it's
more money you want" the lawyer
said.
1T isn't that" Gail evaded The
work is too strenuous. I need a
change"
She knew he was puzzled, but
she had never confided in him and
she could not do so now. Monday
found her entering the Reid store
as an employe.
Reopened Old Wound
But Bill had been right. 1t did
reopen the old wound in her moth
ers heart. Not for months had
Anna been so depressed. Again
and again she rehearsed the steps
leading up to her husbands death
becoming more and more vim
dicative.
He would have died before he
would have done such thing" the
broken-hearted widow declared
He could have murdered easier
than he could have stolen. And
as for that detectives story about
a blonde woman being involved
There never was another woman,
blonde or otherwise, in Robert
Trenton's life"
He had been framed, she in
sisted by someone INSIDE THE
STORE" and Gail agreed with
her. But she found to her sur
prise that among the employees
who had been there five years, any
one of them might have been the
guilty one.
She made list for her mothers
benefit admitting that the task
was going to be far more difficult
than either of them had suspected,
The present manager, Tobias
Wentworth, a disagreeable Off
cious person, might easily have
had the motive of wanting her
fathers job. The bookkeeper.
Helen Stiles, an exotic black
haired woman of 35, behaved in a
manner.
She made friends with no one in
the store and although she had
worked there for 10 years no one
knew anything about her.
Then there was the stenog-
rapher Hazel Stone, with brassily
blonde hair who continually boast
ed about her fatal attraction for
men. These three must have
known Calls father as well as the
janitor, a mild laxative little
man who did not escape Calls
scrutiny and was the last name
on her list. 4
There was to be another but she
did not add it until she had worked
at the store for almost a month.
ITO Be Continued)