The Wilmington morning star., 1947-08-04

came 1lrmly to the point at issue.
"As you said just now, LADY
Angkatell, it's the truth 1 want
to get at. You took the pistol from
here-which gun was it, by the
way?"
Lady Angkatell nodded her head
toward the shelf by the mantel,
piece. 1.-The second from the end.
The Mauser .25." Something IN the
crisp, technical way she spoke
Jared On Grange. He had not.
somehow, expected Lady Angka.
tel, whom up to now he had la
be1ed in his own mind as vague"
and Just a bit oatty," to describe
a flrearm with such technical pre-
cision.
"You took the pistol from here
and put it in your basket. Why?"
g knew you'd ask that" said
Lady Angkatell. Her tone, unex-
pectedly, was almost triumphant.
And, Of course, there must be
some reason. Don't you think so,
Henry?" She turned to her hus-
band. Don't you think I must
have a reason for taking a pistol
out that morning?"
II should certainly have
thought so, my DEAR" said Sir
Henry stiffly.
Zone does things" said Lady
Angkatell, gazing th%oughtfully in
front of her, land then n doesn't
remember why one has done
them. But I think, you know, In
spector, that there always is a
reason if one can only get at it.
1 must have had some idea in my
head when l put the Mauser into
my egg basket" She appealed to
him. "What do you think it can
have been?"
Grange stared at her. She DIS
played no embarrassment-just a
childlike eagerness. 1t beat him.
He had never yet met anyone like
Lucy Angkatell and just for the
moment he didn't know what to
dc about it.
my wife," said Sir Henry, "is
extremely absentminded, 1nspec-
tor"
80 it seems, sir" said Grange.
He did not say it very nicely.
why do you think l took that
p~istol?" Lady Angkatell asked
him confidentially.
81 have no idea, Lady Angka-
tell"
"I came in here" unused Lady
Angkatell. Il had been talking to
Simmons about the pillow cases
and 1 dimly remember crossing
over to the fireplace-and thinking
We must get a new poker-the
curate. not the rector"
Inspector Grange stared. He
felt his head going around.
And 1 remember picking up
the Mauser-it was a nice handy
little gun, I've always liked it
and dropping it into the basket
I'd just got the basket from the
flower room. But there we're SO
many things in my head - Sim
mons, you know, and the bind
weed in the Michaelmas daisies
and hoping Mrs. Midway would
make a really rich darky in his
shirt"
ga darby in his shirt?" Inspec-
tor Grange had to break in.
Chocolate, you know, and eggs
and then covered with whipped
cream. Just the sort of sweet a
foreigner would like for lunch"
Inspector Grange spoke fiercely
and brusquely, feeling like a mar
who brushes away fine spiders
webs which are impairing his vi
sion.
did you load the pistol?"
He had hoped to startle her
perhaps even to frighten her a lit
tie, but Lady Angkatell only con
sidered the question with a kind
of desperate thoughtfulness.
'Now did I? That's 50 stupid,
I can't remember. But I should
think | must have, don't you, In
spector? l mean, what's the good
of a pistol without ammunition? !
wish 1 could remember exactly
what was in my head at the
time"
MY dear Lucy" said Sir Hen
ry. "What goes on or does not go
on in your head has been Tor
years the despair of everyone VINO
knows you we'll"
She flashed him a sweet smile.
81 am trying to remember
Henry dear. One does such curl
Gus things. 1 picked up the tele-
phone receiver the other morning
and found myself looking down at
it quite bewildered. l couldn u
imagine what I wanted with It,
presumably you were gong TO
ring someone up" said the nspec-
tor coldly.
mo, funnily enough, I wasn't;
T remembered afterward la
been wondering why Mrs. Mears'
the gardeners wife, held her BABY
in such an odd way, and l plckeo
up the telephone receiver to- try,
you know, just how one woulo
hold a baby, and of course F.! real
lied that it had looked d pc,
cause Mrs. Mears was left-handed
and had it's head the other way
around" -
She looked triumphantly from
one to the other of the two men;
Well, thought the inspector,
suppose it's possible that there are
people like this.
But he did not feel very sure
about it. ,;zoa
The whole thing, he realized
might be a tissue of lies. I'M
kitchen maid, for instance ha(
distinctly stated that it was a re
volver Gudgeon had been hololns
Still. you couldn't set much stor'
by that. The girl knew nothing o
firearms. She had heard a revol