Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 3 — page 155: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ircumstance S by Charles King Van Riper PRECEDING CHAPTERS BRIEFLY RETOLD ’ HEN Mrs. Emily Spalding, who lived alone with her parrot, cat, and dog, was found dead in her house on Maple Street,“it was a question as to whether or not she had been murdered, but substitute County ‘Physician Brent gave it as his opinion that it could have been either murder or an accident. Two suspicious characters had been seen near the house, and the doctor’s memory carried him back to the time when he had been called in to attend Elsie in her last illness, the unmarried daughter, as he had understood, of Mrs. Spalding. The parrot’s cry of “Police! Robbers! Help!” which it had certainly never been , pointed, however, to a traged . Then, with the arrival of Peggy Archer, actress, whose real name was also Elsie Spalding, it appeared that the dead Elsie had been her sister-in-law—but how, if she were unmarried? Brent could not fathom it. Pendleton, county prosecutor, learning from Miss Archer that her mother had kept hidden a sum of three thousand dollars or over, which had been stolen, was certain that the actress was keeping something back—her sudden faint at a face which she had said she had seen at the window he discredited as a fake. Nor would he listen to the testimony of Mrs. Fanny West, a neighbor, in this regard. But when Shufflin’ Joe Madden, a tramp, baving acquired twenty dollars from a fellow vagabond, one Genroc, was himself accused of the murder, principally through the efforts of Patrolman Collins, events followed thick and fast: Pendleton’s attempt to trap Miss Archer, in whom both he and Brent were interested; newspaper publicity attacking Pendleton and the police department; the discovery of finger-prints pointing almost certainly to murder—and, lastly, the startling disclosure of Mammy Jewel, Brent’s negro house- keeper. Miss Archer, following her faint, had been removed togthe Brent house. Mammy had w Mut do you mean, mammy?” .- hispered, with reference to the girl: “There was a man in her room last night. ” what I says, Mr. Phil. Last night they wuz a man in Miss Peggy’s room that left bis cigarettes on the table, and his foot-tracks on the fio’.” CHAPTER X. THE CLOSING NET. OLLINS, despatched from headquar- ( , ters, had no difficulty in locating a - brown house in Elm Street not far from Crescent Avenue, and found there Rachel Long a widow, and her spinster sister, Yes, Mrs. Long remembered having fed a tramp the preceding Thursday. And when Collins explained the reason for his inquiry, the spinster sister fell to wringing her hands and repeating: “It might just as well have been us! It might jast as well have been us!” Under Mrs. Long’s urging the sister composed herself, and Collins got them into. the police department automobile to drive to headquarters. Captain Bradley was busy, but not for long. | Just after the policeman had seen that Mrs. Long and her sister had seated them- selves in the corridor outside the captain’s office, the door opened and Collins heard the captain saying: ‘““How many times must I tell you that it is of no interest to us whd looked into the window Sunday night? Our business is to find out who was there a night.” Mrs. Fanny West appeared in the door- way. ‘ Then you won’t let me try to iden- tify the prisoner?” Collins wondered how in the world this woman had ever heard of the charge against Madden so quickly. He did not know that she had been across the street - This story began in The Argosy for July 17. 437 " Co ogle OHS ee neOpicbooks.conn STATE UN