Evening Star Newspaper, July 7, 1930, Page 20

Ask No Questions By Beldon Duff Copyright. 1930, by Nerth American Newspaper Aliance, Tne. o (Continued From Yesterday's Star.) ELEVENTH INSTALLMENT. %Y [KE all intellectual men, Alva Cropsey cherished the delusion that the world had lost a second Le Coq when fate saw fit to turn his talents into other and more ic channels. Once the fishing trip been definitely given up and his adian reservations canceled, he be- n to feel actually elated. The my Ty hanging over Bride's House had red his imagination from the start ot only because it had baffled the po- lice for almost a quarter of a centu ®ut because in all the annals of cri stood unique: a history of sudden d explained death. Four, to be ex- t, and one disappearance. The man ho solved it would prove himself @lever at deductive reasoning; and opsey had a passion for deductive ning. The next morning the editor of the ily Free Press sat down to break- t in the Apple Blossom tea room with the businesslike air of one who rts & much-anticipated enterprise der auspicious circumstances. Straw- rries in thick cream. An omelet so ht it all but floated from the plate Mot biscuits. And coffee that actually !!Ael)ed and tasted like coffee. With a riosity that bordered on awe, he stole :look at the author of all this tooth- eness. aMiss Malvina Uptegrove was a| flden lady tarrying somewhere on the dy side of 40. Years before she had ed forth from the hills and valleys her native State with the avowed ;:.enuon of painting her way to the ux Arts and Paris. Unhappily for jus in the bud, Greenwich Village \w her coming and thrust out a meta- orical foot. As a stumbling block in e path of progress Europeward, the t proved efficacious. In less than six and surveys I inherited from my grand- father, and these murders that have| taken place over at the Runnels farm. You knew about our murders?” “No,” said Cropsey, taken off guard.| “I mean yes.” “Perhaps you're not interested in| murders?” | ‘The managing editor pulled himself | together. “Murders are my particular | —er—write about them.” sighed Miss Uptegrove, 01 and Mr. Watts will have a lot in com- mon. He's a murder enthusiast, too. | Reads all about them. These last two days I do believe he's brought home | every newspaper printed.” The editorial ears pricked up “Living so close, that oughtn't to be necessary. You must get your info: mation about the murders on the Run nels farm first-hand.” Miss Malvina launched into an ac- count of the two murders and the effect on the residents of Hales Cross- ing. For years no one had passed by way of the Wood road at night. Lights | had been seen to flicker through de- serted rooms. Cries had been heard. | often the wail of a woman in great dis- |tress. And once, a farmer, hunting a |lost heifer by the light of the moon, had come upon a figure seated on a | tombstone in the old Runnels burying | ground—a ghastly travesty of a human | whose face was no face at all, just a | gaping wound. ‘The managing editor listened to all this attentively, and was not surprised at length to hear that Miss West's de- termination to remain on the farm after what had just happened there | was looked upon Wwith grave suspicion, Cropsey was so busy planning what he could say to the red-headed girl to | make the dangers of her position clear | that he did not hear Miss Malvina un- | til the latter observed in a tone which {indicated that she repeated something THE EVENING STAR, IF; but a name like that doesn’t sound reasonable to me.” Cropsey remembered what the blonde “Georgia White's Scandals” had said about Gately Terhune's Isotta- Praschinl. There seemed to be little doubt but that the disturbing telephone message which Miss West's ex-flance had received on Saturday night had { come from some one in Hales Crossing. Now was that some one the red-headed girl herself, or had another person thought to bring the young architect on the scene? And if so, why? It stood to reason that what had been said was most imperative. Otherwise he would never have dropped his new lady love and come in such a hurry. Miss Uptegrove's voice flowed mo- notonously along. “He drove into town a little before daybreak Sunday morning, and stopped at Noah's place for a cup of coffee. The man folks had just heard about the first murder. A lot of them were down to the Ark, talking it over. They all thought, for a stranger, he asked a terrible lot of questions. = But after they'd gone, and Noah was alone with him, it kinda leaked out as how he knew Miss West, had been intending to visit her over the week end or something. I suppose the killing of the boy or the ghost talk scared him off, because when he went away he headed north, in the direction of New Milford. But,” lowering her voice, “yesterday morning, real early, he was back again. Mr. Peabody said he had seen him going up to Mr. Dia- mond's house, lickety-cut. Mr. Peabody says he's there still.” “Mr. Peabody seems to run a conning tower instead of a lunch wagon.” ‘With little apologetic squeaks and clucks, the Apple Blossom's owner fell upon the disordered breakfast table. “If you've quite finished, Il begin }-‘edding up. Time does fly so around ere.” Cropsey rose. “Yes, and I suppose your other boarder will be down to breakfast soon. Or,” seeing her look of surprise, “has he had his?” “Mr. Watts?” The butter dish paused in its journey between table and Lor' bless you, h edoesn't come down until noon—ever.® By way dl apologia, “His work keeps him out al- most all night. With one hand on the door, the managing editor paused. “Out all night?” “Yes” Miss Malvina went on with the redding up, “there’s a kind of beetle he's after, A moment later, in the garden, Crop- sey addressed himself to a purple delphinium somewhat after this fashion: “So, my good feMow, you are search- ing for a beetle. Well, now, let's get down to business. What do you know about the murders on the Runnels farm? And if you don't know anything, then why are you prowling about the countryside at a time like this, laying yourself open to all kinds of suspicion?” The delphinium, being a stiff-necked flower, made no answer to either of these questions, so the editor of the Daily Free Press, after casting & specu- lative look at the upper windows of the Apple Blossom, left the garden and went down to the pond. There he stood for a long time in deep thought. It would have been safe to bet that his mind was not on the fish the pond might contain, nor on the tackle strap- ped to his unopened suitcase up in Miss Malvina's best spare room. The guile- less New England lady had given him something tangible with which to start his first day of investigating. And there was still that gossip hound, Noah Pea- body, to be interviewed. It began to look as though he had discovered a well of information—a well, at the bottom of which the truth about Bride's House might well lie. (To be continued.) need not annoy you. Pimples, black- heads, etc., are ‘quickly dispelied by To Have Really Beautiful Windows You must have appropriate Window Shades That’s where Lander’s Washade comes in. This lovely shade fabric is strikingly smart. It has a Pyroxlyn finish, which is both WASHINGTON, D. C, MONDAY, JULY T, What Is So Cool As Chiffon In Summer ) 1930. It weighs next to nothing; it encourages the tiniest fashion! fashion! puff of air to float in its folds. It is transparently sheer and cool looking, and its glorious flowered pat- terns have a charm unequaled by any other Summer Best of all, it's a surprisingly inexpensive onths Miss Malvina was back in Con- | for the third or fourth time: Frich Sl Sl S S e e o | o St e e math el bt il Aot Tost 8 take DEr SEpmothers | pre o © ot Wi S i your present window shades with this guaranteed fabric. nd turn the old family home | You'll be surprised at the moderate cost. Pto & tea and gift shop. SOf that excursion into art, however, all was loss. Instead of canvases, walls of the Apple Blossom re- | ived the outpourings of their owner’s | 00 expensiv Something clicked | warted soul: murals that gradually ad from floor to ceiling. Extraoi ary cows lunching off violet butter- Humming birds that resembled, size and spread of wing, the Ameri. ean eagle. A pair of Puvis de Ch: mes females dancing over what ked like a forest of tomato plants at crazy Uptegrove house, the neigh- called it; but of late the young telligentsia driving out to tea and iner had seen fit to set the seal of eir approval upon it, and the place joyed a certain vogue. Nor was its ularity undeserved. For, in addition the decorations, the food was such only Miss Malvina knew how to cook serve. ‘Business good?” asked Cropsey. @ “Fairly so. We’re having a slack e just at present. So many people to Europe in the Summer. If it n't for you and the other gentle- i @ “Oh, so there is another gentleman. m what Miss Sinnott told me, I erstood I should be quite alone % “Mr. Watts wont annoy you,” the oprietress of the Apple Blossom made te to explain. “He's been here with je for weeks. And If it weren't for ing him at meal time, I'd_scarcely ow he was in the house. Goes lndl gomes like & mouse. And such a lit. gentleman! Really, I've grown quite € of him. Thoaedlwr of the Dally Press looked | ved. e“——a naturalist. T think that's| sll! he calls himself.” Evidently Miss | alvina felt she had not done full | itice to her protege. “Wears bow ties | d stammers. Always running into ings and saying, ‘Excuse me.' You ow the type.” & Yes, Cropsey knew the type. '—Only two things he’s shown any tBterest in since he came: the old maps He came back with a jerk. “Man? What sort of man?” “Mr. Peabody thinks he might be & ve, only his car looks too expen- in the editor’s brain. *“The make? Did your friend notice whether it was & domestic or a foreign car, I mean?” ‘The collar of the yellow smock was allowed to flop down into its former discouraged droop. “He called it an PAIN LEAVES CORNS They dry up, peel off MAZING scientific discovery ends corns and calluses. One drop does the work. Itdeadens pain in 3 short seconds. Corn then dries up and loosens so you peel it off. Doctors find it safest way known. Beware of imitations. 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