THE LAUGHING GIRL MYSTERY

Matamata Record, Volume XIX, Issue 1743, 29 June 1936, Page 3

THE LAUGHING GIRL MYSTERY

By VIOLA PARADISE.

i “My husband and Mr Wilcox and Sherry Dinard.” “Go on.” “I thought an acquaintance with stage folks might help me to sell the play this summer.” “Your husband knows about this play?” “Oh, no. He’d laugh at mo fot trying it. Not unpleasantly. Bui somehow it Would keep me from finishing it.” “Did anybody else know you were going to the Tidewells’?” “I made no secret of it. We first spoke of it one day two weeks ago.” “Who all were present?” | “No one unless you count Marlin.” “Go on." I “I asked Mr Wilcox how I could meet some stage people. lie invited me to go with him to the Tidewells’, . paying .I’il nveet a raft of .aptors. - il v -said, ‘Any sure.: U Then I told hittTl was writing a play.” "So you planned to go yesterday.” "No. Mr Wilcox intended to play golf. And I was about to drive out with Murdock and Babette and the to Stamford. I stopped to ask my husband which train he wanted us to meet, and he said the onethirty. Then Marlin called me, saying Mr Wilcox wanted me to wait a; minute. Mr Wilcox, it seems, had; just had a message from the Tide-j wells. It seems he had told them about my wanting to meet a producer,, and they had telephoned and left word .that a Mr Harris was coming. He; said, “Marlin didn’t ask which Harris,; but the woods are full of producers by that name. Would you like to go; this afternoon? So I had Murdock go, i on with the children, and told him to; meet Dr. Goe on the one-thirty train,; and that I’d be out later. Then Mr Wilcox suggested a matinee first, sined the Tidewells’ parties didn’t begin till late. We considered several plays, and he said he’d see what tickets He could get. So I decided to do some shopping, and telephone back to him later to fl(pd out what theatre to meet him at." “You said nothing to Dr. Coe of the change of plans?” “No. He was busy with Mr Dinard. Besides, I was afraid he’d decide to stay in and work if I told him I, t wasn’t going out. And he did so need; ;:a rest. 7 Then again, it might have bothered hlm- i -*my,'going with Mr Wil.-, . -.cox;. .. Though he, wouldn’t have- said . so." / "And then t" N "Thpn I shopped, had lunch down ■:? ”**town, and telephoned back to the mu--, seum to' And out where to meet- Mr r Wilcox.'- He 'had left word-with Marlin. - -for me to meet him at the Guild The-: atre. After the matinee we went on , to- the Tidewells’. Then I caught the ' six-fifteen train." \ t 1 “Mr Wilcox took you .to the sixfifteen train?" Alby asked in surprise. s "No. He had a dinner appointment: at seven, and I knew he’d have hall an hour to kill if I let him take me to the train, so I slipped out a little six ” "Do you remember the exact time?" ■ "Yes. I looked at my watch when I got into the taxi. It was seven minutes to six.” "H’m. Seven minutes to six. Yes, at least half an hour to kill,” Alby said, as if to himself. "Oh, if you’re thinking of that murder ’’ "It was a very theatrical murder. And- Mr Wilcox’s interests ” i “It’s silly to think Mr Wilcox would do it!" "Or Mr Dinard?” "That’s even sillier.” ' “What kind of person is Marlin?” "Dr. Coe swears by him.” "But you don’t like him?” "I don’t exactly dislike him. It’s Just—well, maybe I do dislike him. I’ve nothing against him but his looks — and the smell of to bacoo. He has certainly taken a load off Dr. Coe’s mind. He’s never broken or misplaced anything, and he’s clever at repairing small things that don’t need an expert." Alby/stood up. "That will be ail Just now." "Please don’t bother my husband

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d -with more questions,” she urged. ‘ l know he’s not had any proper food to-day ” h “i’ll keep him only a few minutes.” 0 He walked with her into the outer room. “Now, Dr. Goc,” he said, s But Mrs Coo spoke to her husband first. “It will he all right, dear. In 1 a few minutes we can go home." * Dr. Coe looked at her with cold, weary eyes. “Don’t wait,” lac sa:d tunelessly; “I’m not coming home.” 3 Mrs Coe gasped, and staggered buck a step. Then she rushed to her hus--1 band. “For God’s sake, Willard, tell me, what is it I Tell me I” Once more her small hands clung to him. Alby led Mrs Coe to the outer doo>\ “Go home, Mrs Coe,” he told her. “It I will do you no good to stay.” And I when she refused, he said. “II would embarrass you to have a police escort.” ... I ‘.•-"When she had gone ;he did not'l’C■hew his inquiries about Dr. Cpe’s Whereabouts of the previous night. Instead, he began questioning him about his employees. “You are sure there were no notes on your desk Tuesday night after the rccataloguing of your library?” “Quite.” ! “I hadn’t expected them at any special time. It was one of several projects Dinard was to have done before we leave on our expedition. The exact time didn’t matter.” “Do you know anything about Dinafd, or has there ever been anything in your long connections with him to make you believe him capable of this murder?” j “No.” But Dr. Coe shrugged his shoulders as he replied. j 1 “And Wilcox?" 1 The same answer and the same 1 gesture. “And now for Marlin," Alby began. * CHAPTER 20. ( Dr. Coe’s tired detachment gave way * to irritability. “Marlin, Marlin!" he £ exclaimed crossly. “Marlin has ’ worked for me for five years. I have never had any least cause to mistrust him.” He closed his eyes. “And now even Marlin ” Alby said, “And now even Marlin g may have committed this murder." t Dr. Coe laughed, for the first a half v hysterical laugh. “This murder? » . . Oh, yes, there’s been a murder . ...” He got up from his chair, j iand began to walk up and down _... L “Who knows,. .* ; Even Marlin . . . . What dd I know about Marlin ? . ; V . What do I know; about anybody ... What do ycnow about myself ? And q now, will you please have done With this torturesome' questioning and let g me go ” • - • “Home?” Dr. Coe winced as Alby a finished the sentence for him. “You j ( seem to forget that you’ve refused to n explain your strange conduct last night. An unsympathetic questioner might say you were trying to fake e amnesia—a preparation for an Insanity plea, In case you were tried for mur- , der . . . ,i i Again Coe laughed in a hysteria of bitterness. "Murder," he repeated. “The very thing. ~. . Yes, that would B settle it all neatly. . . . Arrest me for the murder of your young lady. That, will clear the way for everything:’ tVb q Good. I hereby confess .. . Let’s see, r why did I do it? Why does anyone j. oommit murder? .... Jealousy s Maybe I was in love with the girl. ... No matter ... If I confess, that’s the p end .... It’s all ready for me ... . q The museum, the dagger, everything.” j His hysteria began to ebb. His d tone now was merely bitter. “To throw oneself- beneath a rushing sub- 0 way train. ... It sounds easy, doesn't j, it? .... Or to jump off a bridge? ... v But the blood rebels.” v He stopped sudenly and dropped to g the chair. “I feel ill!" he gasped. “The next step, Dr. Coe,” said Alby. “is to let me see the letter that started you off on yesterday’s wild goose a chase." Alby’s demand had a startling effeot. j “What do you mean?" Dr. Coe demanded sharply. j “You received a letter Let me have it."

“I —I tore it up.” “Quite so. You read it, it outraged you, you tore it up. But tho pieces are in your vest. pocket. Your hand has made unconscious motions towards that pocket ever since you| arrived. Hand them over at once.” But Dr. Coe seemed not to hear the command. “You mean, then,” he asked with a pathetic eagerness, "that it may not be true—what the letter says—that it may really have been n wild goose chase?" “The letter, please.” Dr. Coe drew the crumpled pieces from his pocket. He was trembling Alby spread them out and quickly sorted and arranged them, until the typed message was legible: “Whose wife is above suspicion ? Where was yours Thursday afternoon ? Wherp was your second assistant? .How about last Saturday? What was -youir -first assistant ’doing] Tuesday ? Is he really.planning to get married? iiow about your caretaker? Is he in on. it? Watch a certain apartment on Twelfth StreeV'between Fifth and Sixth. .Venetian blinds'-' .'.Middle .‘Of Vhtc block..Saturday .afternon. . “Think of your children. Don’t, be a fool. Don’t be clumsy either. Rap-ier-like delicacy. The truth will make you free; / ' “ A Well-Wisher.’” “When did you get this?” Alby asked. “Day before yesterday—Friday—the last mail." “Who do you think wrote it?” “I can’t imagine. Someone who knew my organisation, of course. But Mr Alby, you said a wild goose chase .... You mean you think ” . Without replying, Alby reached for the letter which Marlin —supposedly Marlin —had left for Sheridan Dinard. He placed it beside Dr. Coe’s crumpled scraps. No expert reader of typing was needed to see that both letters had been written on the same machine. The dot of the i was a bit off centre ; the tail of the s had been worn down. Alby re-read Marlin’s note. Curious. Here were two utterly different letters, one apparently straightforward, though illiterate, the other the work of an educated and subtle person. Yet Alby sensed a resemblance. “Could Marlin be the well-wisher?” he asked. “Oh, no. Marlin can barely read and write.” “Here is his farewell note to Mr Dinard.” “Read it and tell me if you think Marlin really wrote it." “Farewell note? Then ” Dr. Coe began to read. “Yes, this like, Marlin. But I sayi I didn’t go back to the museum yesterday! . And this bit about the key, Dinard never mentioned Marlin’s having it. Unless I’ve forgotten——" “Dr. Coe, are you sure Marlin wrote 1 that letter?” "Oh, yes. That is- ” Dr. Coe stopped. “You mean that someone else ” Dr. Coe ran his hand over his head again. "Is that his signature?” Dr. Coe seemed to lie searching his brain for, something. “Oh," he said at last, “but I don’t remember ever seeing ally of jVlarlin’s writing. After all, his duties didn’t include clerical work. But, Mr Alby,” he continued slowly, “if Marlin didn’t write that letter, why ... it brings a whole new train of possibilities . . . Something may have happened to Marlin .... Maybe he, too, has been done away With. . . . Maybe ” >. (To be Continued).