Vicky Van

he dead man. Though I had never met him, Randolph Schuyler was a client and friend of my p

amily receiving the first tidings of the tragedy from the polic

to Coroner Fenn

the middle of the night, too. If you're acquainted

though there's been little business of his with our firm of late. But, as

hey'll be glad of your advice

Winnie and Aunt Lucy any such awful news, how glad they'd be to have some

. Even as Mason rang the bell, I was thinking how strange that a man should go to a

Avenue are as far removed from houses just off

d by a keen-eyed man of

said, gazing calml

" asked the inspector,

respectfully enough, but o

he

his club after dinner, a

ou his

comes in with his key. I've

wife a

answering questions only because he recognized the auth

in the fami

o children. His two sis

r. That

re all

nything happened

as. Mr. Schuy

the valet became nervously excited. "What d

d Lowney, for until no

ou. Are any of the o

they are a

at is yo

per,

he butler, or whoever

on Mrs.

Mrs. Schuyler's maid, Tibbetts, if she's in. And the ma

arted. Get Jepson a

e that a broad staircase curved up at one side. The furnishings were magnificent, but in a taste heavily ornate and a l

before they're really on their guard. Get all you can about Mr. Schuyler's evening habit

cepted type, portly and important, but the staggering news

id, gravely. "The ma

was killed by some one.

in a strong, low voice with no hint of dram

owed a consultant air, for the butler was

e Mrs. Schuyler. Then the other ladies, M

l those things, as

t seemed in

e front room on the floor above. Here a footman was lighting a f

middle-aged, and perhaps, a few years older than their brother. The

ed behind them with sal volatile. The ladies were fully attired, but caps on

a, the younger of the two. "W

, as gently as I could, the bare facts,

etails, and yet tell the truth, that I did not hear Mrs. Schuyler enter

nd me say, "can it not yet be there is som

ndolph Schuyler's widow. She was holding herself togeth

ow for her before I saw her

Her frightened, grief-stricken eyes looked out of a small, pale face, and her bloodless li

rm of Bradbury and Calhoun. Mr. Bradbury is one of your husband's lawyers and also a friend, so

hair arms and said, "I heard you tell Miss Schuyler that Randolph has been killed. I ask you, may

old. She must be, I thought at once, years younger than her husband. Perhaps a s

," I said, "except by the policeman of thi

phole of possibility of mistaken ide

," she said, lookin

I'm about to send the man, the valet, over to see

d. "Don't ask me to go

is really Mr. Schuyler

edn't go. None of the

d at the el

ouldn't think of it! But let Jeps

!" She turned to me, as the two men who had been hovering in the doorway, came in to take Mason's o

e servants had gathered; one or two footmen, a silly French parlor-mai

dull blue. Her hair of an ash-blonde hue, was coiled on top of her head; and to my surprise, when I noticed it, sh

rs. Schuyler remarked, "I dressed so hastily, I kept on my pea

ons. Nervously she inquired concerning minutest details, and I surmised that side by side with her grief at the tra

er and over again, unsatisfied with t

ere? Just down the si

said to her. "She is a pleasant young woman, and

chuyler visiting her?" flashed the

oyalty to Vicky Van. "You see, she was not acq

he go the

ught him-No

now any Mr

quaintances of whom his wife knew nothing, and I concluded to

roitly to put questions i

yler's habits and pursuits, his

responses to these queries

ther abroad. The household, it was plain to be seen, was one of mos

d, I could see, kept her from all knowledge of or participation in his Bohemian tastes. They were the sort of people who have a box at the opera and are patrons of the best and most exclusiv

quieter, but we all nervously

st he

id, simply, to his mistress as h

with the man's worth, and I felt that the stricken w

Mr. Schuyler home tonight. In the morning, perhaps. And now, Madame,

ght, and the three ladies were dismissed by Low

y began, "tell us al

aresay you know as muc

of the world, differen

us

rbed. "That's not f

e law asks you, and it is f

tandards, that are, if I may say so, out of date to-day. But, though Mr. Schuyler was by no means a gay man or a member of any fast set, yet I have reason to

ot his number. Now, Jepson, had your

I may notice that he comes in very late, but as to his friends or enemies, I know nothing at all. I a

sincerity of speech. But Jepson's clear, straightfo

this staunch helper at her side, for I f

his Miss Van Allen? Never

s." I winced at this. "Of course, I know the people who com

to myself. And then I

killed this million

ger to stranger that had passed between them, to make a previous acquaintance possible. Vicky had been charming to him, as she always was

ele extol the charms of Vicky Van. Interested, he had asked to be taken to Vicky's hous

inexplica

us disappearance

aid, doubtless she had witnessed the crime, and, scared out of

waiter'

And, as I suddenly bethought me

strongly tempted to go in. But common sense told me I needed rest, and not only did I have

or I was not willing to have them condemn Vicky Van entirely, and yet

one mus