The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-11-01
CHAPTER xXIy

I kOb GllEIG III LllAlG tO HShl bAlc shot. but 1t was some time before managed to gather enough of the details to complete the picture.
 Maudie had left in such q hurry that I couldn't possibly chase after her. had been so busy getting Jeanie away I hadn't had time Co change from my pajamas. WheA Maudie made her dash I had Co change into dress, slap some powder on my nose and then fight with McCool who didn't relish the idea of being shut up alone.
 Yes, 1t must have been 15 min utes before was able to start out; then I didn't know where to go. All I knew was that she had determination in the set of her shoulders, and so I felt l must find Denny. He'd know what to do, and the way to find him was to get on the phone and start calling. Probably the State Police Post, I thought, running down the road that had once stood for rustic beauty but which during the past two weeks had become q highway to melodrama of kind I'd never anticipated.
 I arrived at the inn breathless and confused. Then heard the sudden report of gun as l pushed the screen door open.
 Back in the cottage an hour later, with Denny and me trying to keep Maudie calm by applying cold cloths to her brow and giving her nips from Denny's bottle, we finally nan- aged to put the pieces together. Denny listened with one eye on tho 1 clock, conscious of headlines, and I listened with n sick horror at just how close she had come to sharing the fate of Herbert Cord, Miss Mil- z lie, and Liza Holmes.
 If she hadn't always leaned over backward to be honest, tolerant, and cautious in placing the blame, man ythings might have been dif- ferert, but she had gone accord- ing to her own code and her own conscience and who were we to decide whether or not she had acted wisely.
 It had all gone back, naturally enough, to the night We found Herbert Cords body lying sprawled on the mint bed. IL was while she was bending over tc put McCool's harness on that sch saw the lucky piece shining in the unsteady beam of the fiashlight l was holding.
 T remembered seeing 1t that day at the inn" she said. "He and Chris Gordon were tossing 1t. You know, heads or tails for a beer. ! got the idea 1t was Cor done. I don't know why I jicked lt up, but did. And when I phoned from Miss Millie's l asked her if she knew anything about Gordon"
 Apparently that question had struck home. Miss Millie had gone pale and with Q desperation no one would have suspected, told lot of things.
 She'd known Gordon for years" Maudie said slowly. "Once they had been in love. She called him Kit and said they had hoped to get married. And there was quarrel.
 From what she said I guessed he liked to gamble a bit, and he'd made c bet and lost the money that would have made 1t possible for them to 90 away together. It must have been Q blow to her. Anyway 1t was the end of their plans.
 Then, this summer she saw Jeanse eating her heart out be. cause of thiS Cord. She heard enough to believe he wasn't much good and the night of the murder she went to Gordon to ask him to get Cord to leave the inn. She felt if he went away, Jeanie would get over it."
 Miss Millie was returning from that meeting when Jeanie saw her, I thought, And I wondered just how much her pride must have suffered