New Britain Herald Newspaper, January 21, 1922, Page 9

Ohe STEPon tho STAJRS ISABEL A gt !“fl % % W}\ OSTRANDE BEGIN HERE TODAY The report of a revolver, followed ly hurrying feotsteps on the stairs, causes De tective Barry and his friend, Professor Bemyonov, to rush from the latter's rooms on the Afth floor of a New York apart ment house, They discover that beautiful Mirlam Vane, soclety portralt painter, has heen nmurdered In her studlo apartment on the third floor. Ladd, a young artist on the aecond floor, Griswold, n hachelor on the fourth, and Patricia Biaw, a writer on the sixth, deny having heard the shot. Griswold states that Ladd had heen friend- ly with Mrs, Vane. This, Ladd denles, GO ON WITH THE STORY “Well,” Gordon l.add molstened his lips and spoke slowly, weighing each word with care. “I let myself in at the entrance, with my house key and had reached the door of my apart- ment outside here when glancing up the stairs I caught a glimpse of Mrs. Vane in the hall above, just outsile her own door. As I had not seen her in several days I went half-way up the stairs and greeted her, with the half-formed intention of paying her a short call if it were not too late, but she said that she was too busy and must work upon a portrait, or words to that ef- fect, so I bade her ‘good night' and coming Lack to my own apartment, let myself in and closed the door, It teemed almost the next moment, as 1 have stated, that the commotion arose, and as no one else seemed likely to reply to that banging on the entrance door I went down and %hd- mitted the policeman. We heard voices and saw lights coming from Mrs. Vane's apartmeént and went «up together, but I had heard no shot and of course had no suspicion of the truth. That is why it floored me so when-—when L saw the body.” It was only at the conclusion of his long explanation that the young man faltered and into his eyes there came again that swift, fleeting look of sheer, stark horror which Barry had noted earlier, when he had collapsed at the discovery of the murder. “Mr. Ladd,” he recommenced suavely. “How was Mrs. Vane dressed when you saw her in the landing above? The same as when her body was found?” “Of course!” The artist stared. “Did you see anyone else in the hallways or on the'stairs, either above or below?” “No one.” The reply was decisive but the pause hefore it came was a fraction too long and Barry seized upon it. “Then, Mr. Ladd, what in your es- timation was the reason for Mrs. Vane's presence out there in the pub- lic hall? Did she offer any explana- tion 2" “Certainly not, and T thought nothing of it!" Ladd replied hotly. “It is a ridiculously trivial notion to quibble over! There might have been a hundred unimportant reasons.” “There might have been a hundred reasons, Mr Ladd!” Again there came that maddening repetition of his name which had so often helped in breaking a stubborn witness under the third degree. ‘“But in this case there was only one, and you know {it! Mrs. Vane was either receiving or ejecting a guest, and if you saw no one else, you yourself must have been that guest! We have purposely interro- gated the other tenants of the house before approaching you'and we have learned more than you think! The saying that walls have ears is true also of ceilings—"" He paused significantly while Ser- geant Craig stared at him in genuine surprise, but the shot found its mark l.eaping to his feet, with his hand- some face darkened and distorted in a paroxysm of rage, Ladd cried: “'So that’s what you two have been trying to get at, is it? That miserable wretch Griswold has noted my ac- quaintanceship with Mrs, Vane and deliberately tried to blacken her char- acter in your eves! I admit that 1 was in love with her; all our world in Paris as well as here will tell you of my long attempt to make her my wife, but they will also tell you that she has laughed at my love for her, as she has at that of all others. T would have said nothing, but now that he has spoken, asp him what claim he has upon her, gentlemen, for I lied to you! I did see someone upon the stairs! It was he whom I .saw leaving her apartment a moment be- fore 1 entered my own and the shot was fired which must have ended her litel” V. Sergeant Barry felt that the mo- ment was too tense and the possible {ssue too important to give his col- league an opportunity to interrupt. ‘Without a glance at Craig he demand- ed of the almost distraught youhg artist before him: “That being the case, Mr. Ladd, tell us the truth of what happened last night! Why did you go half-way up the flight of stairs leading to Mrs. Vane's apartment if ou saw her in the hal} talking to a neighbor whom you apparently dislike?” “Mrs. Vane seemed bantering her departing guest in her usual gay man- ner, and he was glowering at her in | resentful fashion. The moment he had disappeared up the stairs and before Mrs Vane had had an oppor- tunity to turn and re-enter her own apartment 1 called to her, and—went up to her.” His tone had been more and more uncertain and now he hur- ried on: *1 hegged for five minutes of her time, but she snubbed me laughingly and I returned here.” There was silence for a moment, while Sergeant Cralg made no effort to enter the examination, and Barry eyed the young man before them very gravely, At length the more experi- enced official spoke: “Mr. Ladd, you have not told us all the truth! What happened between those two on the stairs which made you rush up to Mrs. Vane, only to be repulsed. Were you repulsed? Were you not with her, in her studio, when the deadly shot was fired?" At the unexpected accusation th young man shrank back, then sprang from his chair. “This is what you in your police slang called a ‘frame-up,’ isn't {t? You've got to hang the—the murder on someone, I suppose and so I am to be the goat?" “By no means.” Barry also had risen. “You must realize the strong circumstantial case against you, but 1 do wot think you are guilty.” Barry continued quietly: “Do you know why? Because ever since this interrogation was started, in spite of the damaging admissions you made against yourself, you have deliberately equivocated and evaded, and I think I know the reason.” Barry's tone softened and deepened. “I believe you did care for Mrs, Vane, honorably and sincerely, and it is for that very fact that I ask you to tell us the truth now.” For an instant the Young man hesitated, and then sinking once more into his chair he buried his face in his_hands. At last Gordon T.add raised his 'head, and upon his white, set face there was written implacable resolve. “You win, Sergeant Ba ! 1 would die myself before I would willingly rake up anything against the memory of the woman I loved, even though she had played mercilessly with me, only to turn me down irrevocably in the end, but there’'s some mystery about this whole thing that I don't understand, and it may in a way have “MR. LADD, YOU HAVE NOT TOLD US ALL THE TRUTH."” some bearing upon the manner of her death. No breath of scandal has ever touched her. Nevertheless, she must have had some source of income, for her studio was luxurfous—almost and her war work and fits of idleness which she indulged in later were altke un- remunerative' “Why did Mrs. Vane return to Am- erica last autumn?" Gordon Ladd shrugged. “A whim of hers, we all thought; we would not have been surprised had she announced her departure for China. There was nothing—nothing definite between us two, you know. 1! was simply one of manygwho were permitted to adore her at a distance. The rest forgot, but I didn't; T fol- lowed her to New York, and when I found that success had crowned her bizarre talents and yet ‘hn was living in this—this hovel,” I was amazed beyond words! 1n the artistic colofty in Paris false conventions are ‘unknown, and when I discovered that this studio here was vacant I took it just so that I might be near her, even though she still laughed at my woo- ing. Then—then I began to notice this man Griswold.” His voice had hardened perceptibly on the last words and Barry re- marked: “If the report we get on him tallies with his own account of himself, he is a highly respectable member of so- ciety.” NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 1622 “What 1 want to know s this:| why is he living hidden away in a cheap, makeshift studio building Ifke |this, a man with all his money? Why was she, a brilliant artistic success, con- tent even for g day in such surround- ings after the luxury which had al- ways been hers? Why did he— reputedly a confirmed woman-hater— call upon her, and why did she even permit or tolerate his acquaintance, she who was accustomed abroad to the soclety of notable men?" “Why did you not ask her?" “I did, but she always put me off; told me he was an American type that she had almost forgotten and that he amused her, A week ago I couldn't stand it any longer; 1 pro- posed to her for the last time, and when she laughed at me as usual I must have lost my head and gone a bit too far, for she told me serlously at last that she would never be my wife," Gordon Ladd paused, his clenched hands tightening until the Kknuckles showed white, “I kept away,from her after that until tonight, when I came in as I told you and saw her bidding him ‘good night' on the landing above, There's no love lost between them, I could swear to that! She was jeering at him, and if ever hatred looked out of a man's eyes, it looked out of his, and yet somehow the sight drove me wild! (Continued in Our Next Issue). (Copyright, 1922, NEA Service). PARIS BONE PICKER MAKES DISCOVERY Frenchman Believes He Is a Descendant of Napoleon Paris, Jan. 21—One of the rag and bone pickers of Paris has just made known his belief that he may be a descendant of the great IEmperor Na- poleon 1. His name is Louis Napol- eon Eugene \laxlmnen Laurent Mas- son. He Is called “Napoleon” and gives as the reason for his use of that name the following explanation: “My father was a shoe cobbler and gsecondhand dealer who used to res- ‘cue dogs' and cats' bodies from the Seine to sell for making grease. My mother was a traveling mender of pots and pans “My mother's. mother was Rosalie de Mandel, of ‘Spanish origin and noble. Her husband, my grandfather, named Firmin, was from Ireland. They kept an inn at Clethy, in the department of Pas de Calais, where coaches changed horses. “One evening the Emperor arrived at Clethy and my grandmother warn- ed him to go no further as there were English soldiers about. My grand- father fled and hid in a ravine. My grandmother hid Napoleon in the low- er part of our two storied cellar until he could leave in safety. When my mother was born; my grandfather al- ways refused to recognize her as his child, declaring «that Napoleon was | her father. “You will ¥nd a reference to Na- poleon’s stay in Clethy in Marshal Bertrand's Memoirs with something about the child that resulted from it. “That's why I am better known as Napoleon, and with reason.” HARSH CATHARTICS ARE HARMFUL SECURE RELIEF PLEASANTLY Constipation results frem the in- ability of the intestines to eliminate waste matter. Harsh cathartics and drugs .of metallic origin force action; but they do not correct the cause of constipation. Early settlers treated constipation with natural laxatives. An extract was made from herbs, roots, barks and leaves with laxative qualities. Dr. True's Elixir, the True Family Laxative, is a compound of extracts from natural plants—a pure, mild, pleasant and effective old-fashioned, home made laxative that for 71 years has been a favoritp. Its regular use relieves constipation and fortifies the body against more serious illnesses. You are safe with Dr. True's EMxir. lOL‘—GO(*-Sl‘flD. e CROWLEY BROS. IN PAINTERS AND DECORATORS 267 Chapman Street TEL. 755-12 imates cheerfully given on all {obs a LSt s s s e S T ) BRING HOME THE OYSTERS FROM HONISS’S ALWAYS FRESH 20-30 State Street Hartford “Oh, I know all about hlm' All any- body knows, I mean. I've ked him up.” Ladd cried rleflantly. Y. M. C. A, Lecture By Telephone 33743375 Rev. Charles S. Kemble, D D. Pastor Of The Methodist Church Of Irvington, N. J. — Subject — James Whitcomb Riley And His SUNDAY, AT 4 P. M. 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