Evening Star Newspaper, December 20, 1934, Page 47

By VICTOR BRIDGES CHAPTER XXL NEW PLANS. “The latter undoubtedly did. From your description I should think that the other was probably a German— some well known international crook whom Dimitri may have picked up THE EVENING STAR of job that an American gunman could handle by himself.” “But even then we are not much further on,” I observed. “No matter who they are, they certainly didn't kill Osborne. Somebody knocked him on the head, however, and somebody opened the safe and went off with the papers.” “That seems to be the logical con- clusion.” He puffed meditatively at his cigar. “How do you propose to act in the matter?” he inquired sud- denly. “If you are afraid of these people, there’s nothing to prevent you I shook my head. “I've had quite enough of Scotland Yard,” I said. “You do as you please, but, as far as Jerry and I are concerned, we've made up our minds to tackle the thing ourselves.” “¥ou ive?” He nodded slowly. “A le decision! The less the police brought into this the better for all of us. Whatever else they might do, they would certainly de- stroy any chance we have of recov- ering the formula.” “You think there is a chance, then?"” “It's not impossible. It depends to He may have been an ordinary thief who was interrupted just as he had opened the safe. In that case his first instinct would probably be to grab what he could and bolt from the house.” - “Sounds a bit thin to me,” I ob- jected. “Burglars don’t usually risk their necks unless they know that there's sométhing worth taking.” “I agree with you. It's considerably more probable that whoever broke into the place came to steal the formula. After all, we Have no proof second confederate whom he let down as well.” “There’s another idea that struck me,” I remarked. “If this invention is as important as you say, there must be several big firms here and in Amer- ica who"—I hesitated—"well, who wouldn't be too squeamish about how they got hold of it.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We have some fairly unscrupulous com- petitors, but I doubt whether any of thern would go as far as murder. I am more inclined to regard it as a private enterprise, and for that very WASHINGTON, D. C, THURSDAY,” DECEMBER '20, 1934, ° “Sooner or later, provided nothing happens to alarm him, our unknown friend will attempt to dispose of his plunder.” “He may have done so already.” “I think not. The metal market is a sensitive concern, and I make it my business to keep closely in touch with all its principal centers. I am con- vinced that up to now nothing hes happened. If ther: are developments elsewhere we are almost certain to hear of them, but my own belief is that the first approaches, when they something of the kind were at any moment.” “And supposing it does?” I said bluntly. “Are you prepared to do busi- ness with a murderer?” “Quite,” was fhe prompt answer. “As I told you before, I regard the acquisition of this process as & na- tional duty. If it is offered to me I shall not hesitate to buy it, but you may rest assured that Miss O'Brien's claims will receive the fullest and fairest consideration.” to occur {4 FLL?” I inquired when the door closed, “and how did it turn out?” “Exactly as Osborne had stated,” Sir Wil- liam answered. “I needn’t bother you with a lot of technical details, but botk as far as lightness and strength were concerned it was incomparably superior to any other metal in ex- istence. Applied to the manufacture of airplanes, for instance, it would increase their efficiency by at least 25 per cent. “The possibilities it opened up were obviously so enormous that no ques- tion as to whether Osborne was the actual inventor or not could be per- mitted to stand in the way. I gave him a check for £2,000 on account and agreed that he should have the rest as soon as I had examined the formula. “The arrangement was that he was to bring it to my office at 10 o'clock on the morning of August the 4th. As you have reason to know, the ap- pointment was never kept. At that hour he was lying dead in his study, with the safe open and his papers missing.” The slow, deliberate voice ceased | &peaking and for a moment or two | 1 sat silent. | “I am much obliged to you for telling me all this,” I said, “but I should have been still more grateful if you had come forward a little | earlier. It might have saved me a good deal of discomfort.” Sir William nodded composedly. | “That was an omission for which I | must ask your forgiveness. I con- sidered the matter very carefully and | I decided that it would be wiser to wait until T had heard the case against | you. With such important interests at stake I was anxious to avoid any | unnecessary publicity.” “But supposing they had found me guilty?” I persisted. “Were you going to stand quietly by and see me | hanged?” He shook his head. “In that case 1 should have felt it my duty to place the facts before your solicitors. With the new evidence that I was in a | position to supply they would have had no difficulty in securing a fresh trial.” There was a cool frankness about Bir William’s admission that, in spite of my resentment, made me more dis- posed to trust him. After all. he had told me the truth, and if he were prepared to be honest on a point like this the odds were that I could rely on the rest of his story. He was obviously a man who did not allow any delicate scruples to in- terfere with the course of business, but, on the other hand, he appeared to have treated Osborne with strict | fairness, and I saw no reason for doubting that he would be equally | straightforward with us. I hesitated for an instant, then I decided to take the plunge. “Well, you've carried out your side | of the bargain,” I observed, “and now | I propose to do the same. Before I | begin there’s just one point I'd like | to be clear about. I assume from what you've said that you're anxious to take | an unfair advantage of any one. If Osborne did steal the formula, and if ‘ the rightful owner of it happened to | Nick plots A_dnmrmu Journey, tomorrow. that Dimitri was the only person in the secret. Osborne may have had a rection. I should not be surprised if THE HUB, 7th AND D STREETS STORE OPEN EVERY NIGHT THIS WEEK! $17.95 -seat reason I take a less hopeless view of the situation than I otherwise should. a certain extent upon whether the are made, will probably be in our di- from going round to Scotland Yard man who stole it is aware of its value. over here. He would need help in and telling them your story.” a business like this; it'’s not the type $18.95 A comfortable deep- seat chair, attractively covered. A deep. chair beautifully covered in a durable cloth. Walnut-finish frame, beautifully covered in a durable cloth. A Lovely 4-Piece Burl Walnut Bed Room Suite Exactly as shown, the suite consists of a beautiful $ ; four-post bed, chest of drawers, dresser and vanity. The BUY NOW-PAY NEXT YEAR suite is sturdily constructed and richly finished in walnut veneers. The all-butt fronts...solid oak interiors. .. fluted posts and legs are other features of this charming ensemble. seat chalr of Maple - finish frame 117, richly with attractive cov- 2 A roomy desk of the finest constr uction. Richly finished in ma- bogany. ists, and he is prepared to do business, I can assure you that he will get better terms from me than from any other firm in the world.” I pushed aside my plate. listen!"” I said. It was a longish task I had in front of me, and I made no effort to hurry | over it. Once I started to tell my | story I felt that half-measures would | be worse than useless. If I were going | to trust my companion the job would have to be done thoroughly, so with- out attempting to keep anything back, I settled down to let him have the | fac. | It must have taken the best part of half an hour before I reached the | end, and all the time I was talking Sir William maintained an unbroken silence. 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