VAN WYCK MASON'S The CASTLE ISLAND CASE with CANDID CAMERA CLUES

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 89, 17 April 1939, Page 15

VAN WYCK MASON'S The CASTLE ISLAND CASE with CANDID CAMERA CLUES

Clip the Camera Clues.

CHAPTER XIX,

Once more Allenby smoothed the enieide not*, checked it with Judy's detailed description of non-existent people on a party which apparently had never taken place. Letter by letter nnd line by line, he studied Judy's pathetic suicide note before him. comparing it with the other until hi* lips straightened on noting a sustained lack of paling towards "the end of certain words—an ordinary paling caused by the drying of the 'writer's penpoint. Even a fountain pen, he knew, does not evenly distribute inkwhen a person ie writing normally. In the suicide note, however, every word and every character was precisely the same shade! There could be no doubt, ho presently decided, that the fareweli note was a forgery. A clever job this, far better than average, a job which would fool moet people. Yet he was sure the note was spurious. "Now, my lad, let's see if we can learn who found it so necessary to compose a farewell note for poor Judv Fortier." With the unique patience of an expert at his vocation, Roger Allenby again considered the deck of cards. Then the letter, "Funny," he mused, "both Barbara and Gail denied knowing Jack Quitman and Bunny King." Again he studied the letter.

Jack Quitman? Bunny King? Aces up party? All of a sudden he eat straighter, forgot the dull, grinding pain in his forehead, and reread the latter part of the letter. —"Bunny's diamond was simply exquisite. Jack's a peach, a member of tlie club from 'way back. It's a case of real heart throbs all right." On a clean sheet of paper he wrote and underlined certain words, italicised here:— Aces up Jack Hilton Queen Marie Around ten Bunny King

Then juet below, he added Bunny'a diamond of the club heart throbs

Since there was only one suit lacking, whimsically, he filled in "spadee for the murderer." The wind had arisen and was grieving softly in the cedars beyond his window us Roger Allenby selected the ace of diamonds; below it he placed the ace of clubs, then the ace of hearts and last the are of spades. Next he arranged the four jacks in the eame suit sequence, placing them parallel with the four acee, then to their left queens, then the tens, then the kings.

At hazard, he presently arranged the balance of the suits in similar sequence. In order, h e collected the pasteboards into a deck, taking care to place all the nicked edges on the right side of the card. The result, when he tilted the cards edge on towards the light, was to betray partial but iinmistakeable hue* and loops which, failing completely to coincide and merge, remained unreadable. "Getting closer—but it's not right yet Lets see now." Allenby lit his pipe Apparently lie had taken" several strides m the right direction, but he had not arrived at a proper handling of the lesser cards.

Hour after hour he toiled "patiently m until, around three in the morning, he sat up emitting a soft hiss of triumph. A sense of exhilaration flooded him like a warming ray of sunlight. Taking a pencil, he rubbed it lightly over the nicked edges of the eards° and with a startling clearnees the words sprang out at him. Minutes slipped away while he sat stanng at the deck of cards. Characteristically, he wasted no time in self-

deduction. There were many inferences to be considered and in his mind's eye he could vieualise (Jrafton's powerful feature* congested with rage, storming at Judy Fortier. What could have caused a scene so tempestuous that Judy felt prompted to scribble a frightened and secret note to her sister t As a rule, people commit murder in reaction to four principal and primitive emotions; revenge, greed, love and fear. Promptly he ruled out revenge. In all probability there was little an apparently sweet and gentla girl like Judy could do to arouse such an <:notion in Barney Grafton. Grc-il? ..oil, that looked more promisi; ■:.-, if one thought of greed in terms of business, and certainly Barney was no model of unselfishness when it came to money matters. Love? Possibly; that motive always deserved special attention since, after. all, it might tie up with fear, the

by HENRY CLAY CIPSON

fourth and last of the motivating forces Suppose Judy had learned something Grafton was determined to keep secret at all coste? This, he decided, appeared the most promising lead of all. Well, no matter what happened now, Barney Grafton would have some tall explainin? to do.

Suddenly the miasmas of uncertainty lifted and for a brief space he saw thing's dearly. Of course, Barney had written the suicide note, forestalling investisation. Patricia then stole it the nMit before her "fall." Grafton had missed it and wing a severe bit, Allenby reined his wildly galloping imagination.

Clip the Camera Clues.

« w , , -. ... x ± . .„ wh< >a! One thing at a time!" He'd *A r IfV 6 q ueetionhl g for the police, a ' e was workin S only on sufferance anA W! thout an iota of legal authority. Good thing Superintendent Tyson and Inspector Boyd were not jealous, picayune types such as he had encountered all too often.

congratulations for a rather neat bit of

I Slipping on his shoes with rubber

soles, Allenby secured a dark bathrobe, then bent over his suitcase long enough to extract therefrom a small but powerful automatic. After turning out his skilfully muffled light, he sat and smoked in silence during a cautious ten minutes and only then did he grope his way to the library telephone. Listening to the faint rattle of the loose French door straining against some books securing it, he dialled the police and commenced a dogged telephonic pursuit of Inspector Boyd. While he did ■so a rain squall swept ever Freebooter's Hall, hammering on the window beside him with a thousand febrile fingertips. When at last Inspector Boyd answered the 'phone, Allenby, in a guarded undertone, gave him salient facts concerning the night's discoveries. "Good work, sir! Mighty fine work about those oarde—" Boyd enthused. "Shall I come. right out? I can, you know." "No. If you don't mind, I'd rather have youfdrop over in the morning as if on routine business—say around ten to-morrow. That will be plenty of time. Oh, and by the way, you might bring along all newspapers you can find covering the last three days." "If you wish," was Inspector Boyd's slightly mystified reply. "I say, eir, I you're absolutely positive Grafton wrote ! that note?" ]

CUp the Camera Clues,

"No, I didn't say that. I can't be without an expert's okay, but it looks very much like it. When you get out here, we'll go over the cards together, inspector. I've got to go now." Bidding the C.I.D. man good-night, Allenby made hie way upstairs, thankful that the roar of wind and rain was. muffling his stealthy progress. Once the investigator stood within the four walls of his room he heaved a relieved sigh and, utilising a flashlight from his bag, began-to loosen the plaster about the bullet hole. It required considerable skill not to mar the lands marks on that slug which had by so slender a margin failed in putting a period to his career, but- soon an ugly misshapen blob of lead lay undamaged in the palm of his hand. (To be continued daily.)