Evening star., 1942-02-14

voice was still suave. They hardl,
He put his hand on her arm al
Of the room. This time she followe
;. Now as to the question of mo
tone that was somehow more fright.
ening than outright denunciation
tould have been, revenge. I be.
lieve, is one Of the classical causes
for murder. Hamlet, revengep has
:, hal its echo in many real-life dra-
mas, Of which this might very well
be one"
"No-oh, mol" Noel stared at
him in wide-eyed terror, her lips
trembling
TITS quite unnecessary to dissem-
BILE with me-" Bruce Peyton went on
in that maddeningly calm voice.
"As Jarvis Thorpe's lawyer, 1t was
my duty to know all the minutiae
Of his business. There was, I be-
lieve, q William Moffat who lost
his business and all OF his fortune
as the result of q merger initiated
by Jarvis Thorpe little over q year
ago. AS consequence. he COM
mitted suicide"
"oh, you beast" breathed Noel
fercely.
please do not blame me-" Bruce
Peyton's calm voice continued. II
advised Jarvis against the merger.
But since he did not choose to fol-
low my suggestion. I, of course, had
to follow up the matter to see that
there were no-repercussions. That
was how I happened to know about
your fathers death, in spite Of the
fact that it was hushed up In the
papers. And that was how knew
you had left school and had gone
to work for the very ef1lcient Paul
inc Pry. When she became Jarvis
Thorpes bride, I assumed that she
would give up her newspaper work,
and that you would therefore offer
no cause for, shall we say. embar-
rassment. But as it happened"
Advises CaImness.
"As it happened" cried Noel. my
name meant nothing at all to Jarvis
Thorpe. He ruined my father. He
caused his death And when I came
into his house my name meant less
than nothing to him. My father
was just one of the little men that
the great Jarvis Thorpe crushed and
forgot about!" Her voice trembled
with anger. and two bright spots Of
color burned in her cheeks.
II should really advise you to be
less demonstrative. You're attract
ing the attention of that obnoxious
Mr.. Wetherfether, who looks like a
nitwit, but who may not be one
at all"
His words had an Unexpectedly
steadying effect on the overwrought
girl. She sat up straight, and looked
directly into the lawyers eyes.
Just what do you want, Mr.. Pey-
ton?"
For the first time the lawyer lost
little of his sophisticated poise.
You must know that you're a
very attractive girl" he declared
tentatively. I'VE could make things
very pie asant for each other And
I should be willing to forget to tell
the sheriff about your father and
your consequent motive If we were
friends"
His eyes burned into hers. For q
moment Noel gazed at him as If she
were hypnotized Then with an
effort she tore her glance away.
"Oh. I hate you," she sobbed. Il
hate you'll"
Lee Thorpe strode over to her
side. "See here, Peyton," he said
harshly, cant you realize that Miss
Moffat doesn't care for your COM
pany?"
"Ah, the heroic Mr. Thorpe to the
rescue again!" Peyton's voice was
deliberately insulting. Nevertheless,
he arose from his place beside Noel.
when you've become little calmer
you might think over what I've
said" He bowed to her and walked
away. his head held arrogantly high.
Castleton Is Irate.
In the meantime Mr.. Castleton
was having his difficulties with
Sheriff John Hazard, who had en-
sconced himself behind the library
table, his notebook open on its pol
ished surface.
Nov about your quarrel with
Jarvis Thorpe" Hazard began in a
businesslike tone. What was the
cause of your Disagreement"
1T wasn't anything serious" par
ried Castleton. "Just a matter of
business policy"
Not serious?" A steely note en-.
tered John Hazards voice. Yet you
threatened Jarvis Thorpe's life be-
cause of It,"
Il didn't threaten his life" Tim
othy Castleton bit out the words.
What I actually said was that jar
Wis Thorpe would regret his refusal.
And he would have, too. Any man
would regret letting a million dol
lars slip through his fingers when he
came to his senses enough to realize
it,"
"A million dollars!" exclaimed
John Hazard. And you say it
wasn't anything serious. Murder has
been committed for far more trivial
reasons" He leaned forward and
stared searchingly into Timothy
Castleton's bloodshot eyes. Exactly
what was the nature of this enter
prise?" he asked.
Its none of your confounded
business" spluttered Castleton. IF
I wanted the world to know about
it, I'd hire a press agent"
"You won't be able to keep the
matter to yourself when you're being
cross-examined in court" said Haz-
ard. Il can understand that this
investigation may seem thoroughly
distasteful to you. But please be-
lieve that have no personal motive |
for prying into your affairs. A little
cooperation now might help to clear
up the mystery surrounding Jarvis
Thorpe's death. And it might be