Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1940-04-13

Z clue behind him. NoWs our
chance to search that room again.
But the lights"
"ThcrcS Il SWitchboX in the nan
near the kitchen door. Well prop
ably find the fuses there"
I struck Il match. We found the
switch box without difficulty.
There were extra fuses, easily IN
serted, and the lights went on
again.
Here's a note" Louise eX-
claimed, picking up piece of pa
Der on which the extra fuses had
been lying. She opened it, read'
and gasped. Bill! Read it,"
The note was written in a
sprawling handwriting I had seen
before. II thought you were Off my
trail" it read. This is a last
warning!"
There was fright in Louise's
eyes. WHO wrote it,"
The man who kidnapped me. l
thought l recognized his shape
when he came out of Tonys room.
This clinches it,"
THE murderer! What are we
going to do"
Were going back to that
ROOM" I grasped one of her slim
arms and almost ran to the stair
way. \ minute later we were in
Tony's room. 1t was a shambles.
Clothing had been pulled out OF
the closets and thrown on the floor.
Drawers OF the dresser had been
cmnt!cd out on the bed, which had
been denuded Of blankets and
sheets.
I'm afraid" l said, that a
pretty thorough job has already
been done" .
We searched for fifteen min
utes. There seemed to be nothing
in the room that we might not
normally expect to find there. I
went through all pockets of Tony's
clothing. They had been emptied-
except for one small piece of pa
per Wadded into the seam of one
trousers pocket. I smoothed it out.
There was nothing written on it
but a number, 1872" I frowned. 1t
was familiar. Unless was mis-
taken, it was the number that had
been written on the back of card
found in Alfred Markham's pocket
after ne was killed.
{To Be Continued)
up with a bang.
"Td forgotten completely to ask
him about the report from the bal
listics expert.
I knew that from news stand
point Belzer was right. The fact
that the man who had been ar
rested on charge of numbering
Alfred Markham possessed a set Of
of which fitted the de-
scription of the weapon used-was
a news story in any mans Ian
guage.
If I could only discount that
story in some way! But Belzer said
he had the knives. He'd probably
turn them over to the police in the
He had the knives. Where
would he be more likely to hide
them than in his own room! I
jumped up, expecting to find them
on one of the chairs, under the Ia
BILE, under the bed. No. I opened the
closet. Yes! recognized the card
board box instantly, half hidden
under some dirty clothes on the
floor. Belzer was an untidy house
keeper.
With trembling hands I lifted
the box and set it on the table.
Opening the lid 1 found the knives
untouched. Belzer, I de-
cided, had not wanted TO take any
chance of disturbing fingerprints.
That meant that l had all the
knives. If could get rid Of them,
Belzer would have no proof of his
story.
knew there was some law
against destroying evidence, but I
didn't care. I was desperate, and
here was my chance.
I replaced the lid and, like q
criminal, wiped with my handker-
chief everything my hands had
touched-the door knobs, the tele-
phone. I wasn't going to be ar
rested for burglary if I could
help it.
Tucking the heavy box under one
arm, I tiptoed into the hall and
closed the door after me. There
was no sound in the house. de-
scended the stairs, halting breath
lessly, when someone suddenly
opened door in the lower hall
and walked directly below me. He
went into the front parlor without
looking up. I ran down the rest Of
the steps and out the front door.
Then I tried to saunter casually,
in case anyone was watching from
the street.
There was no street light in
front of the house. I welcomed the
dark shadows of the trees and hur.
ried westward, toward the river,
ITO Be Continued)