Evening star., 1941-04-13

IN MS eyes. Ills fUlCc Wdc FCly
gentle. "Sandra, my dear, you must
believe me, the worst is over for you.
I came to tell you that the coroner's
verdict tomorrow will be that Joe
was killed by person or persons un-
known It's the usual verdict" He
hesitated, and then said, frowning,
What bothers me is why any one
would want to kill Joe. Did he have
any enemies?"
None that I know Of"
Then he had something some
one wanted very badly"
Eyes, he had. His formula"
Mark looked at her incredulous-
ly. "I don't understand, Sandra."
1t was very still in the little
room, so still the crackle of the
fire seemed to fill the place with
sound Far above on the roof they
could hear the steady drone of the
wind protector on the chimney. A
faint touch of color came back to
| the girls face as she faced this man
who had become such a pivotal
point of her existence in just few
| short hours.
A Heavy Investment.
"For years." Sandra began, Joe
worked on a new drug which was
based on his own original ideas. I
know nothing about the nature of
the drug or the theory he had built
up in his development of its for
mula. All I know was his own
statement that it would be revolu-
tionary when finally completed and
was so far ahead of anything. in
the same field that it would ad-
vance the cause of medicine 100
years"
Mark gave a long, low whistle of
surprise. What a strange man,
he calculated. Il know he consid-
cred me his best friend and I had
no idea that anything like this ex-
isted. He never talked about him.
self or what he was doing"
Hastily Sandra brushed away un-
expected tears. Life at that mo-
ment was so jumbled. its values so
askew-just a collective madness
that left desperation and death on
every side She hurried on:
Joe told me there was a tre-
mendous fortune in this drug If he
ever chose to commercialize it. As
time went on his work in the lab
oratory became the ruling passion
of his life. AS you know, he in
! herited a fair-sized estate from his
father and, while have no idea how
much he invested in his laboratory
I am convinced it was a large pro-
portion of his inheritance. You see,
he employed only the best of trained
scientists, his equipment was elab-
crate and expensive and the wing
he built to his house cost enough
to build the house twice over. And
there were even greater costs"
Job Became secretive.
Her voice died away, and for a
space of time neither of them spoke.
Then Mark said, Tentatively:
You mean-persona1 'costs?'"
"Yes That's as good a way of
stating it as any. Joe sacrificed
everything to his work, including
our marriage. When I told him yes
terday that l would divorce him, he
was absolutely stunned. He never
dreamed I would ever leave him
AS a matter of fact he thought very
little about me one way or the
other. I was here just as his home
was here and if made demands on
him was in the way-and bore.
And in the end, there was one last
supreme cost for this mighty for
mula."
you mean
THAT I think he was killed by
some one who finally decided that
was the only way to get the formula
With Joe out of the way, they had
a chance to steal it"
How awful! 1t certainly must be
a tremendous discovery
Il guess it is. At any rate as he
came nearer to working it out, he
became more and more secretive
about the whole thing. Doctors
from all parts of the country, know
ing his lines Of general research
| we're constantly besieging him for a
chance to work in his laboratory
All were rejected. Those assistants
who were employed were only given
special details-never allowed to
work on general research with him.
If they became too inquisitive they
were Immediately dismissed"
"Ahl How about this fellow
Walker?"
"I think he was on his way out.
Joe said he asked too many ques-
tions"
The Haunted Look Returns.
Time had passed quickly. Sudden
ly, Mark, conscience-stricken that he
had stayed too long, hastily gath
cred up his hat and coat and briefly
finished telling Sandra of the man
Parker had seen the night before
bending over Joe just after he had
been shot. Sandra listened in COM
plete silence. Even when he had
ended his short account of the but
ler's panic over what he had seen,
she made no comment. A keen,
penetrating glance showed Mark in
stantly that something was wrong.
For the second time that evening
he saw that haunted look come
back into her eyes.
What are you afraid of, San
dra?" He spoke sharply, worried
more than he cared to admit to
himself.
Nothing. IL guess I'm just too
tired"
Not convinced that this was the
complete answer, Mark started to
plead with her to tell him what had
frightened her, but stopped as he
saw how tired and exhausted she
looked.
"I am going now" he said ab-
bruptly. "And there are just two
facts you must remember from today
on. One: i am your lawyer and
I am going to see you through this
no matter If it takes years to clear
up the mystery of Joe's death. Two:
get it out of your pretty head now
| and for all time, that you are in
any way responsible for his death. ="
A~nkk~, Cv~>uIn~. Mill