By

GERALDINE BONNER

AUTHOR OF
To-morrow’s Tangle, The Pioneer,
Rich Men’s Children, The
Book of Evelyn

INDIANAPOLIS
THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

[Pg 11]

One of the morning trains that tap the littletowns along the Sound ran into the Grand CentralDepot. It was very hot in the lower levels ofthe station and the passengers, few in number—forit was midsummer and people were going outof town, not coming in—filed stragglingly up thelong platform to the exit. One of them was agirl, fair and young, with those distinctive attributesof good looks and style that drew men’seyes to her face and women’s to her clothes.

People watched her as she followed the portercarrying her suit-case, noting the lithe grace ofher movements, her delicate slimness, the froth ofblonde hair that curled out under the brim of herhat. She appeared oblivious to the interest shearoused and this indifference had once been natural,[Pg 12]for to be looked at and admired had been hernormal right and become a stale experience. Nowit was assumed, an armor under which she soughtprotection, hid herself from morbid curiosity andeagerly observing eyes. To be pointed out asSybil Saunders, the actress, was a very differentthing from being pointed out as Sybil Saunders,the fiancée of James Dallas of the Dallas-Parkinsoncase.

The Dallas-Parkinson case had been a sensationthree months back. James Dallas, a well-knownactor, had killed Homer Parkinson during a quarrelin a man’s club, struck him on the head with abrass candlestick, and fled before the horrifiedonlookers could collect their senses. Dallas, aman of excellent character, had had many friendswho claimed mitigating circumstances—Parkinson,drunk and brutal, had provoked the assault.But the Parkinson clan, new-rich oil people,breathing vengeance, had risen to the cause oftheir kinsman, poured out money in an effort tobring the fugitive to justice, and offered a reward[Pg 13]of ten thousand dollars for his arrest. Ofcourse Sybil Saunders had figured in the investigation,she was the betrothed of the murderer,their marriage had been at hand. She had gonethrough hours of questioning, relentless grilling,and had steadily maintained her ignorance ofDallas’ whereabouts; from the night of his disappearanceshe had heard nothing from him andknew nothing of him. The Parkinsons did not believeher statement, the police were uncertain.

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