UNC SYNOPSIS Lella Beton, young and beautiful, and an expert on paintings, is commissioned to go over the collection of paintings in the home of the wealthy Kellers in New York, where a party is In progress. ¥rom her window she witnesses a man in another room strike a woman. Short. ly after Mrs, Keller sends up word, ask- ing her to join the party at dinner. Leila hastily dresses and goes down. Bhe Is seated between Mr. Deck, a critie, and Monty Mitchell, a noted lawyer, Introductions follow, There are Mr. Harriden, Miss Letty Van Alstyn, Mrs. Crane, Mrs, Watkins and Prince and Princess Rancini, guests. Lella finds she is taking the place of Nora Harri den, Dan Harriden leaves the table, and Mitchell explains he has gone up to see how his wife's headache is, He returns shortly, Deck, saying he must put in a call, leaves. Upon his return, he begs Leila to secretly fake a mes- sage to Nora “tc take no steps until [ see you” Leila consents. Leila finds the Harriden rooms empty and so in- forms Deck. Coming out she passes Letty, Harriden asks Princess Rancini to run up and sees his wife. The prin. ceas reports the absence of Nora. Har- riden admits that he had a row, and believes she is spitefully hiding. Letty tells of seeing Leila come from the room. Leila accuses Harriden of having struck his wife, This Harriden denies. From the Harridens' window Lella sees what proves to be Nora's lifeless body. A ghastly head wound caused death. Dan says she was lying on her bed when he went to dinner, and when he ran up later the room was dark. Think- ing she was asleep, he left without see- ing her. Mrs. Keller comes upon a pool of blood in the closet, A diamond chain Is missing. Donahey, police inspector, questions the guests. Harriden brands Leila's story of seeing a man strike a woman a lie. Anson, a maid, tells of seeing Deck outside the Harriden door, Desk says he passed by in seeking a lost handkerchief, Elkins, a servant, tells of overhearing Deck threaten Mrs, Harriden earlier in the day. Deck ex- plains he was Intoxicated and does not remember. That night Leila awakes with the Impression of some one being in her room and then hears steps in the hall, Believing she was mistaken, she does not report It CHAPTER V—Continued ene To make conversation I asked him If he had known Mrs. Harriden well. I knew that he had landed only a day or 80 ago, but I thought they had probably met abroad, Instantly his eyes changed. He looked at me narrowly as if question- Ing what I meant. “One has met-—but who knows anybody?" he sald, with his shrug. I sald, “Who, Indeed?” In his own Italian, and at that he changed back to smiles and began to spout Italian at me. I felt so eager for some one human to talk.te that I told him why I was there, and he declared that he must see that famous gallery, he must learn something of the ways of detect. ing frauds. He would go with me to that gallery, he sald. It was when I was saying, “But when could we go?” that his wife glid. ed to my side. I hadn't heard her come up nor had he, and his face was a comical study in boyish-looking guilt. Aloofly, the Princess Rancin! mur. mured, “I think you are wanted by the police. They asked me to tell you “I Think You Are Wanted by the Police.” to come,” and began to talk In wear led tones to her husband as if I was dismissed, I thought, furiously, that she was one of the most hateful women I had ever met, I didn't take time to wonder what Donahey wanted now: I Just went straight to the table where he was standing, with a little group about him. There was a man In uniform, 1 noticed, and the Kellers with Dan Har. riden and Monty Mitchell, In the midst of my “Good mornings,” my eyes fell on a dress lying over a chair, its folds trailing—my frock, the fee blue satin frock I had worn the night before, I didn’t have time for anything but astonishment when Donahey spoke, measuredly. “You recognize this dress, Miss Seton?” “Of course. It's mine” For no reason that I could name or help my voice sounded defiant, He went forward and lifted a fold of blue satin, disclosing the underside of the skirt. There, pinned by a safe. ty pin, hung a little sort of bag, like a tied-up handkerchief, “And you recognize this?" “Why no——what is It?” I stammered, With slow deliberation he undid the pin, and let the cloth drop in one of a Copyright by D. Appleton Century Co, Ing, WNU Service his palms. From the opening folds his thick fingers picked up a chain strung with glittering stones. He stared at It, then dangled It before us all. It was a chain of dlamonds— yellow diamonds. CHAPTER VI I was too astonished to speak; I stood staring at the dress, then a recollection of the last time I had seen It, lying over a chair In my room near the door, swept my mind back, In a flash, to those noises In the night, I blurted, “Why, there was some one then—there was some one there!” Hurriedly I tried to tell them about it, about my waking and my fright, and my conclusion that it was Just the steps of a policeman moving about outside, and as I stammered out the story I saw disbellef in thelr faces and could hardly blame them for fit. Oh, the idiot that I had been not to have phoned some one at once! It seemed too mad to put Into words. Carefully I controlled my volce which was shaking with excitement and sald stiffly, “But you must see what this means—that the one who stole those diamonds was in this house last night ~—that he must be still hiding about—" “We've combed this house with =a fine tooth comb, young lady,” sald Donahey, “and there's no one in It except those whose names we know. Nobody has got out of here during the night or this morning. It's been surrounded.” “Then he's here now.” I sald. “He's here, all right” Donahey echoed with ominous finality, “And he isn't going to get away." Monty Mitchell said thoughtfully, “A pity you have let this find be known. The thief, whoever he was, might have meant to hide the stones only tili the first flurry of searching died down. He could feel reasonably sure that Miss Seton wouldn't be wearing that dress tonight, too light and gay and all that, so he thought he had a good temporary hiding place.” I was passionately grateful for his words and for his coming and stand- ing by me, as if casually. “Why do you Imagine he chose that dress for a hiding place?’ asked Don- ahey very slowly as If picking his way. “The position of the room, for one thing,” said Mitchell. “It was near the art gallery, and its door was vis ible from the gallery door—later on the gallery would have been a good lurking place till he saw his chance to nip in and retrieve the jewels. 1 rather think he meant to retrieve them,” he went on thoughtfully, screw- ing up his black eyebrows, “for they are too valuable to Ignore, . You sald the dress was right by the door. didn't you?" he asked of me, “On a chair by the door” I peated. Donahey glanced up and sald, “Does it strike you as feasible, Mr. Mitchell, that any one who committed murder for those diamonds would take a chance on losing them afterwards?” “Very feasible,” sald Mitchell, “if he found the trail getting too hot. . . . But you don't know that the one who hid them was the one who did the murder.” “No? sald Donahey. “No,” sald Mitchell, very firmly. “Some one may vezy well have found them afterwards and Just not men. tioned it. And then he got cold feet for fear of being suspected of the mur- der and so got rid of them in this hiding place.” “Sounds far-fetched,” was Donahey's comment. “What's the matter with this girl's hiding them herself?” It was out in the open at last, the accusation, “Well, there are lots of matters against that” sald Mitchell In a very reasonable tone. “One is that Miss Seton isn't the sort of person who goes about hiding diamonds” The Inspector grunted. “Somebody hid ‘em. Somebody got ‘em off Mrs. Harriden's neck. And you can't deny that this girl had the opportunity when she went upstairs. after din ner—-" “The room was empty when 1 en. tered it,” I flashed at him. “That's what you say.” “Anson must know that she made the room before I came up.” 1 sald. “The Princess Rancini was up Just after me, and she found the room ready for the night. There wasn't time, between our visits" I couldn't go on. Donahey’s thoughts were following mine. “No-no, there wasn't time,” he conceded equably. “Not for the kill ing. . . . But there'd have been time enough for you to pick up the shin. ers,” he added. “You might have found them iying sbout” I stared back at him and hardiness came to me, “Youn are very wrong" I said curtly, "and you are wasting time you ought to spend In finding the real criminal” “Anybody might pick up diamonds,” sald Donahey, loking me over with his experienced eyes. “But why would they be left there?” I went on, trying desperately to be In. cid. "Why would any one who killed Mra. Harriden for her jewels go away and leave them behind?” “He might not have killed her for her Jewels,” Donahey pointed out “Then you came along and did the finding" Harriden's volee overtook his. Har. riden had been standing thers, wateh- Ing, his eyes as hard as flints now, re- suddenly, he intervened. “She was Deck's confederate,” he sald, “The thing's clear enough. He did the kill- Ing. It may have been for—for rea- sons of his own—" the harsh volce grated over the words then went In- domitably on, “but certainly cupidity played a part afterwards. He took that chain. Stuffed it Into his pocket and went down to diner. Passed it to Miss Seton at the table. She went upstairs to hide them In her gown.” “But why, then, would she go Into your wife's room?" Mitchell wanted to know, “There's a diamond missing,” sald Harriden grimly. “The big one. He sent her up to look for It. She made up this cock - and - bull story of a slapped cheek as an excuse” There was a dreadful silence, Har- riden went on, “She may have found it, and she may not. Deck may have the diamond on him. He may have been holding out on her.” I sald In a low volce, “This would all be funny If It wasn't so terrible,” and Mr, Keller murmured undhsily, “You're going pretty far in your ac- cusations, Dan. . , .» “You were meeting Mr. Deck In the gallery just before dinner,” Donahey reminded me. “Now how about that?" “I told you that was sheer accident.” Mitchell created a brisk diversion. “Mr. Harriden's feelings are really not evidence. Now that cloth those dia- monds were tied up in Is evidence. May I see it?” Donahey handed It over. It was a plece of linen, a fine hemstitched hand- kerchlef, with one corner torn out as if to remove a monogram. The cloth was crumpled and faintly stained. Mitchell examihed it, then passed It to me. “What de you make of fit, Miss Seton?" “It's been washed,” I sald, trying hard to speak normally. “Washed and dried. Those brown marks look like radiator marks.” “Washed, by Jimmy !™ Mitchell was alert as a terrier. “Now what do you think was washed out, Mr. Inspector We all knew the answer to that— blood. “Your man going over the hand. kerchiefs in this house?” Mitchell rather sharply asked of Donahey, and Donahey passed on his disrelish at the rebuke in the bruskness of his tone to his subordinate, as he gave the order. Harriden sald, belligerently, that prob- ably the man hadn't used his ow n. “Then why tear out the monogram?” Mitchell retorted. His keen eyes, be. hind their glasses, studied Harriden almost banteringly. “Trying to dis credit the clue, In case the hankies don't match? Harriden reddened. “I'm not mak. ing a secret of what I think.” he said harshly. “Deck threatened my wife, and be carried out his threats And, by God, I'll bring It home to him! As for this girl, who was his accom plice—" “Don’t let your feelings got the bet. ter of your judgment.” the lawyer ad. vised drily. “You've every reason to be sore as hell, but don't get a com. plex, and try to fit the facts to 11" He swung around to Donahey. “Let me know when you have that banky report, and I'll be back for It. Both of us will," and his arm on my arm turned me about with him and headed me toward the door. “Let's go and talk this over,” he sald to me His tone was so friendly, so inti. mate, that T was touched to the quick: I had never needed a friend more in my life. Together we went out into the hall and he led the way to a deep cush- loned couch and proceeded to light cigarettes for us both. “Now this is very loteresting.” he sald cheerfully. “1 wonder if you have any chemicals with you that could test those spots on that handkerchief? Find out If they are rust or blood? At my assent he sald, “Good !™ heartily and then, “I'll get Donahey to give you the handkerchief, He'll prob ably send a guard with it. It's pretty important evidence—ahout all we have so far" “Harriden's down on Deck like hell” I ventured, “Was Deck--was Mrs Harriden—1" “Oh, her infatuation was notorious. I don't know the Ins and outs—I wasn't one of their Intimates. 1 pey- er liked her.” “1 don’t see how you could resist her,” 1 sald honestly and thought of her dark, amazing eyes, het slim, se- ductive loveliness, “Oh, a man could lose his head over her—Deck did, apparentiy—but I don't lose my head,” the young lawyer in formed me. “She wasn't likable” And | thought of Nora Harriden's dead mouth, with its sharp, cruel edges, , “Whatever they were quarreling about,” Mitchell went on, “I don't see the motive for killing her. He may have been cooling to her and going after some other girl, and she was threating to tell the girl—but that's not motive enough for murder. “All that they have against you now is that you had the opportunity to pick up the chain and that it was found, this morning, secreted (n your dress. It was secreted In a handkerchief whose Identifying marks were torn out, that had been recently washed and dried without benefit of ironing, and the implication from that Is that the handkerchief might have been bloodsteined. Now, could Deck have passed you the chain at dinner in that very handkerchief? Going Into the horrid details we have to Imagine Deck thrusting Nora into the closet, wiping his hands on his hanky, or wiping off the point of whatever he i wm Jabbed her with, and then promptly washing out the aforesaid hanky and drying It on the radiator. Then he put Nora out the window, snatched his hanky off the radiator, and came down to dinner , , , Yes, it Just could have been done. . , , Or he could have done the hanky washing and the consignment of the gems te you lat- er in the evening, while all the bustle was going on.” “I hardly saw him—" “Who's to prove that?! What I'm examining is the strength of the, pos- sible case against you. How can you prove that you didn't know him In New York? You should never have let yourself meet him accidentally in that gallery! . . , I'm not saying, mind you, that you couldn't get a jury to belleve that the chaln was planted on you, as you say, but you don't want to get into all that If you can be kept out. And the best way to keep you out Is to find who did the planting.” I nodded, rather helplessly. , “If the jury believes It was Alan Deck, they will at least look into the case against you as an accomplice, If the jury Is shown that It Is not Deck, there isn't any accomplice case against you" “Yes, but suppose they do find the murderer — and he doesn't confess to stealing the diamonds. How am 1 RO- Ing to prove that I didn't find the chain In the room when | came up and hide it myself?” “You wouldn't have the blood-stained hanky to hide It in, silly—if those stains prove to be blood.” This was our chance, he sald, Yo look into the situation. Rapidly, in- cisively, he spread that house-party out like a pack of cards about me. The servants he swept away with one con- clusive gesture. He had been going into that all morning: every one was a retainer tried and true, some inherit ed from the elder Kellers, and almost “We All Know the Answer to That - Blood.” all of long standing here. Elkins, the most recent addition, had impeccable references. And every one of them was downstairs after elght o'clock. ex- cept the maids busy with the rooms. Then he dealt out the guests, It had to be some one who came slong after eight o'clock when both Harriden and Anson had seen Mrs. Harriden on her bed. The thing was to discover in what order they had come down to dinner, and he had been working on that, he told me. The Kellers had been down first, then Mrs. Crane, and after that there was a confusion of accounts. The Watking said they had come down and sat out in the lounge behind the long entrance hall before they registered among the others. “Susy Watkins might have some thing against Nora Harriden,” he said “She was crazy over Deck, once upon a time, but he couldn't see her for Nora. But that was the moment to put Nora out of business and not now." He went on to speak of the Ran- cinis. “They're just landed — he'd hardly have cooked up an Infernal passion for Nora so soon.” “But be knew her abroad” I told him, “A European past! That needs scrutiny, He might have been the gent in the room with Nora shout sev. en-thirty. He might have slipped in before Dan came up, and they had that fracas that you saw.” I objected. “But he couldn't have killed ber then—she was seen after wards at eight,” “He might have popped In again after Dan had gone down. The prin. cess admitted they didn't go down to- gether. She says he was late” herself,” 1 sald “She might have found out that he'd been In Mrs. Har. spasms of jealousy.” serious for a first explosion. . , . Of murder— just meant to speak her mind Nora, being in a state of nerves, tried something handy--they haven't been sible to find out yet what it was done with, But we'll take that up later. one?” I couldn't Imagine it of them. Rut then, I couldn't Imagine It of any one, To murder, I thought, one would have to be literally possessed by fury, I asked a really sensible question, “What time was Harriden down? Be for or after the Rancinis? (TO BE CONTINUED) Invite Your Friends to Help Piece “Come to a quilting bee!"—this quilt, Friendship Fan, seems to say, | for It's one so easily pleced or | a gathering of friends, can quickly do a quantity of blocks, Use own scraps-—have your friends con tribute some, but be make it colorful, Only three pattern pieces are needed to form the block ~jt's Just the quilt for a beginner! 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