Evening star., 1942-02-20

of doors being opened, of running
feet and of confused voices.
But it was Sheriff Hazard who
reached the door of the attic first.
BY that time, however, MIR. Wehter-
fether had his prisoner well under
control. To Hazards tersely pnrased
inquiry, Mr.. Wetherfether, puf11ne
heavily from the exertions, ex-
planned what he had discovered.
Here, read it yourself" he said,
thrusting the volume into Sheriff
Hazards hands. 1t took the sheriff
only a few moments to assimilate
the the salient points of the narra-
tive. When he had finished, he
stepped over to Mr.. Wetherfether's
prisoner.
"I place you under arrest for the
murder of Jarvis Thorpe" he said
formally. ut is my duty to warn you
that anything you say may be used
against you at your trial"
Outside, the thunder doomed hol-
lowly and loose shutter kept whip
ping back and forth In the wind.
But no one in the room seemed to
notice it.
$50 1t was Mrs. Shelby, after all"
said DR.. Sherwood musingly. But
then could have told you that last
night"
It was hours afterward. The
dawn, just beginning to break,
shone mistily through the dining
room windows and revealed group
in motley array seated around the
table. No one had gone back to
bed after the shot that had so
rudely disturbed them from their
slumbers, and now they were wait
ing with an almost painful intensity
to hear the details of the crime.
DIR. Sherwood Explains.
Sheriff Hazard took another sip
of the steaming hot coffee which
the cook had prepared at Mrs.
Thorpe's suggestion. When he ad-
dressed DR.. Sherwood the animosity
of the night before had gone out
OF his voice.
"And how are you so sure?" he
asked.
'"Oh, I couldn't have told you how
1t was DONE" said Sherwood, "but
7 could have pointed out the culprit
nevertheless. It's psychiatrist's
business to know something about
the quirks Of human personality.
Last night heard Mrs. Shelby tell
ing you about her enormous wealth
and the gerat social position she
had enjoyed before her husband
died. Actually, Mr.. Shelby was only
a minor clerk in one of Thorpe's
Offices. When Shelby died, leaving
his wife without any means Of sup
port Thorpe felt sorry enough for
her to install her as his house.
keeper.
THE position gave her something
she had probably yearned for all
her life-power. and certain
amount of prestige. Jarvis. you
see. let her have absolute authority
in the domestic sphere. She hired
the servants. planned the menus,
did all the buying and in general
kept the wheels Of the household
running smoothly. Gradually she
began to exaggerate her own i'm
portance. 1t became a kind of OBJ
session with her. During the time
I was treating Jarvis Thorpe I had
plenty of opportunity to observe
her. The more I studied her the
more I suspected that she was suf-
fering from q mental illness-what
we psychiatrists call paranoia,
disease which can occur without
any visible disintegration of the
personality except in one respect.
The patient suffers from delusions
of grandeur and cannot bear to see
his own Importance challenged. And
when Jarvis Thorpe married my
niece Mrs. Shelby must have
realized that she could no longer
occupy her former commanding po-
sition.
Then, too. one day while we