OCR Text |
Show LEHI FREE PRESS. LEHL UTAH Housewife's Idea THE JKEHHEIL Mil SYNOPSIS fhilo Vance, crime expert, la railed to Invntlgale the supposed auicide of Archer Co. With District Attorney ) lark ham, he goes to Coe's bouse. They find Wrede, a friend of Coe'a, there; also a Sigrnor Grant, a guest. The door of the death chamber ia bolted from the inside. They force it. Coe la aeted, a revolver In hie right hand and a bullet hole In hla temple. He ia clothed In dressing- gown, but weara atreet hoes Markham thinks It la suicide. Vance says It la murder. - CHAPTER II Continued Vance yawned and strolled between Hilda take and Markham. Again be held mit hla cigarette case. "Oh. do bare a cigarette," be pleaded. "Sometimes they quiet the nerves, don't y know." The woman looked op at him and gave a hard, questioning aralle. Then, after a moment's hesitation ahe took one, and be lighted It for her. "Whut do yon think of this affair. Jlr. Vance?" she asked casually. "Pushed If I know." He spoke lightly, "Tour suggestion of a Chinaman is most fascinatln'. I wonder If there are any objets d'art missing from the house." "I wouldn't be surprised." She blew a lung ribbon of smoke toward the celling. "Personally, I, hope they're all gone. I'd Infinitely prefer Wedgwood and Willow ware." Markham again took the floor. "I'm afraid we're all talking a bit If your uncle's dramatically. death was not suicide, Miss Lake, how !o you account for the fact that the lior of thia room was bolted on the Inside?" Hilda Lake rose to her feet, a puzzled look on her face. "Bolted on the Inside?" she repeated, turning toward the door. "Ah So you had to break In !" She stood still for several moments looking at the lianglng bolt "That's different." "In Just what way?" asked Vance. "Maybe, after all, it was suicide I" A bell sounded downstairs, and we could hear Gamble opening the front door. Markham stepped quickly to Hilda side, and put his hand on her ... . 1 IK. DEM with a grin of satisfaction, "Mr. Vance and I made a bet I said you'd say suicide ; and he said you'd say murder." "I'm a doctor, not a detective," Doremus returned acidly. "The guy's dead, with a bullet bole in his right temple. He's holding a gun In bis right hand. It's the kind of wound that could have been Hla position is natural and the door was locked on the Inside. The rest of It Is up to you fellows in the homicide bureau. If the bullet from the gun don't fit the autopsy'll show it You'll get all the data tomorrow. Then you can draw your own conclusions." Vance had sat down In a chair near the west wall and was smoking placidly. "Would you mind. Doctor, taking a close look at that bullet bole before you return to your bot cakea and sausages? And you might also scrutinize the dead man's mouth." Doremus stared at Vance a moment ; then he approached Archer Coe's body and bent over it He Inspected the wound carefully, and I saw his eyebrows go up. He lifted the hair from the left temple, and there was visible to all of us a dark bruised Indentation on the scalp along the hair line. Then he lifted Coe's upper Up slightly, and seemed to Inspect his teeth, which appeared bloodstained from where I stood. After a close Inspection of the dead man's mouth, he again focused his attention on the bullet wound In the right temple. Presently he stood up straight and fixed a calculating gaze on Vance. "What's In your mind?" he asked truculently. "Nothing at all the brain's a mere vacuum." Vance took his cigarette from his lips and yawned. "Did you find anything lllumlnatln'?" Doremus nodded, his eyes still on d. Vance. "Yeah. Plenty I" "Oh, really, now?" Vance smiled Ingratiatingly. "And you still think It's suicide ?' Doremus crammed his hands Into his pockets and made a wry face. "H I, no I . . . There's something queer here something d d queer." His eyes shifted to Coe's body. arm. "There's blood In his mouth, and he's "The medical examiner la probably got a slight fracture of the skull on coming. Will you be so good as to go the left frontal. He's had a (Mrty blow to your room and wait there?" by a blunt Instrument of some kind. She strode to the door. . . . D d queer!" "Rlght-o.- " Before she went out she turned. "But Markham, his eyes mere silts, came please send Gamble up with my tea forward. and muffins. I'm positively starving." "What about that bullet wound In A minute later Dr. Emanuel Dorehis right temple?" mus was ushered Into the room. He Doremus looked up, took one hand was a wiry, nervous man, cynical, from his pocket, and pointed toward hard-bitteand with a Jaunty manner, the dead man's bead. lie resembled a stock salesman far "Mr. Markham," he said with pre more than be did a doctor. else solemnity, "that baby had been He greeted us with a wave of the dead for hours when that bullet enband, and glanced about the room. tered his head!" Then he teetered back and forth on only person In the room who was lis toes, and p.jned a baleful eye on notThestaggered by this unexpected anHeath. i nouncement was Vance. Heath stood "More shenanigan," he complained. staring at the corpse as If he almost I was In the midst of hot cakes and expected It to rise. Markham slowly sausages when I got your message. took his cigar from his month and You always pick on me at meal time, looked vaguely back and forth between Sergeant . . . Well, what have you got Doremus and Vance. As for myself, me now?" for 1 must admit that a cold chill ran up Heath grinned and Jerked his thumb my spine. The sight of a dead man toward Coe's body. He was used to sitting with a revolver In his hand the medical examiner's grousing. and a bullet wound In his temple, Doremus turned his head and let with the knowledge that the coupled his Indifferent eyes rest on the dead bullet had been fired Into him after man for several moments. death, affected me like a piece of Afri"The door was bolted on the inside, can sorcery. doctor," Markham volunteered. "We Vance, as I say, was unaffected. He had to break It in." merely nodded his head slightly and Doremus drew a deep sigh and lighted another cigarette with steady turned back to neath with a grunt fingers. of disgust, "Interestln" situation eh, what?" he "Well, what about It?" he asked immurmured. "Really, Markham, a mail patiently. "Couldn't you have let me doesn't ordinarily shoot himself after finish my breakfast? All you needed death. must I fear was an order to remove the body." He eliminate the suicide you simply theory." reached In his pocket and drew out a Markham frowned deeply. small pad of printed blanks. "If you'd "But the bolted door" have given me the lowdown, I'd have "A dead man doesn't ordinarily bolt beHis had voice an cent assistant" doors, either," Vance returned. come peevish. Markham turned, with slightly dazed "Mr. Markham told me to call you to Doremus. eyes, personally, doc," Heath explained. "It "Can you determine what killed him, ain't my funeral." Doctor?" fountain his pen Doremus, holding "If given time." Doremus had bepoised, cocked an eye at Markham. come sullen : he did not like the turn anhe of case suicide," "Straight of events. nounced breeslly. "Nothing to worry "1 say. Doctor," drawled Vance, the I'll approximate you about give In our of state the mortis "what's rigor And want It time of death, If you victim?" the routine autopsy. . . ." "It's well advanced. Dead eight tc "I say, doctor," Vance asked lantwelve hours." guidly ; "would It be unprofessional If "Can't you come closer than that?" yon look at the body?" asked Heath sourly. Doremus spun round. "Give me a chance." The medical "I'm going to look at the body," he was Irritable. "I'm going to examiner It I'm to dissect "Ira going enapped. a closer looli'at this guy before take mortem. What a It to post give going I go. . . Lend me a hand, Sermore do you want?" Just why, Doctor," pursued VanO, geant, and we'll put him on the ("do you Jump at the conclusion that bed. . . ." tt "Just a moment, Doctor."' Vance It's suicide?" spoke' peremptorily. "Take a look at Doremus sighed Impatiently., , , . the hand on the desk. Is It clutching .. "The gun's In his hand; the bullet wound-I- s in the right place; and I the revolver tightly?" "lie's clutching the gun tight all know a dead man when I see one. right" With difficulty Doremus bent Furthermore, the door-- " "Was bolted on the Inside." Vance Coe'a fingers and removed the revolut what about ver, taking great care not to make finished. "Oh, quite. fingerprints on It the body?" beDoremus It?" Heath came forward and gingerly Inabout what Well, gan filling In the ordcr "There's the spected the weapon. Then he dropped It In a large pocket handkerchief, and body look at It yourself." . "I hare looktd at it. don't y' know," placed It on the blotter. Heath explained, "You see, "And, Doctor," pursued Vance, "was ... -- !," By Far-fetche- Sill Copyright by W. H. Wrlgbt 7NTJ Serricw "Was the blow on the head powerful to have rendered him unconscious?" Vance was looking around the room at the various pieces of furniture, and there was a veiled interest in his eyes. "Oh, yes," Doremus told him. "More than likely." Vance's gaze came to rest on a heavy teakwood chest near the east windows. Going to it he opened the lid and looked in. Then be closed It almost Immediately. "And," pursued Vance, turning back to the medical examiner, "would Coe have regained consciousness very soon after that blow on bis bead?" Doremus "That's problematical," straightened and screwed up his face Into a perplexed frown. "He might have remained unconscious for twelve hours, and he might have come to In a few minutes. All depends. . . . But that's not what's bothering me. There are a couple of small abrasions on the inside of the rtght-ban- d fingers and a slight cut on the knuckle and they're all fresh. I'd say he'd put up a scrap with whoever cracked him over the head. And yet his clothes were certainly neat no sign of having been mussed and his hair's combed and slicked down. . . ." "Yeah, and there was a gun in his hand, and he was sitting restful-likand looking peaceful," added Heath with puzzled "Somebody disgust. must a dolled him up after the battle. A swell situation." "But they didn't change his shoes," put in Markham. "Which explains his still wearing his street shoes with his bathrobe." Heath addressed this remark to Vance. Vance gazed mildly at the sergeant for a moment a per"Why should anyone son he has just knocked unconscious, and then comb his hair? It's a sweet, thought, Sergeant, but somehow it's not the usual procedure. . . . No, I'm afraid we'll have to account for Coe's coiffure and sartorial condition along other lines." Heath studied Vance critically. "You mean he changed his clothes himself and combed his hair after his bead was bashed In?" "It's not Impossible," said Vance. "In that case," Markham asked, "why did he not also change his shoes?" "Something Intervened." During this speculation Doremus had turned Coe's body over so that it now lay on Its face. I was watching him and I saw him suddenly lean forward. "Stabbed, by George !" he announced excitedly. We all drew close to the bed and looked down at the area on the body at which Doremus was pointing. Just below Coe's right shoulder-bladand near the spine was a small diamond-shapewound about half an inch In diameter. It was a clean-cu- t wound etched with black coagulated blood. Apparently there had been no external bleeding. This fact struck me as unusual, and Markham must have received the same Impression, for, after a moment's silence, he asked Doremus about It enough e kind-hearte- d e Have Been Known to Queer Things After Death." "Men Do been known to do queer things after death. There are recorded Instances of suicides who have shot themselves and then thrown the weapon thirty feet away. Dr. Hans Gross in his 'Handbuch fur Untersuchungsrich-ter- ' " "But that hardly applies here." "No-o.- " Vance drew deeply on his cigarette. "Quite so. Just a fleeting thought" Markham studied Vance a moment; then turned back to Doremus. "Did Coe die of that blow on the head?" The medical examiner teetered on his toes, and pursed his lips. "There's something funny here. There's been an Internal hemorrhage what might be expected from a severe blow on the head. Blood In the mouth and all that. . . . But. Mr. Markham," Doremus spoke Impressively "that blow on the left frontal wasn't powerful enough to kill a man. A slight fracture, but nothing serious Just enough to stuu him. . . . Nope, he didn't die of concussion or a fractured skull." "And he didn't die of the revolver shot," added Vance. "Most .. Still, the johnny's dead, . don't y' know." Doremus swung Jerkily about to Heath. "Come on, Sergeant." He and Heath lifted Coe's body and carried It to the bed. Together they removed the clothes from the dead man, hung them over a chair by the bed. and Doremus began his examination. The body was lying on Its back, and as Doremus pressed his hand over the right side we could see him pause and bend forward. "Fifth rib broken," he announced. "And a decided bruise." "Did it happen before or after death?" asked Markham. "Before. Otherwise there'd be no epidermal discoloration." "And that blow on the head was also before death. I take It" "Sure thing. He got a little bunged up before he died, but that Isn't what killed him." "Perhaps," suggested Vance, "the blow on the head and the broken rib are" relate. He may have been stunned and. In falling, struck Ms rib against some object" "Possibly." . fascl-natin- il S. S. Van Dine Case Coe's finger pressed directly against the trigger?" "Yep," was Doremus1 curt answer. "Then we may assume that the revolver was placed In Coe's hand before rigor mortis set In, what?" "Well, I'll tell you. He" pointing to Coe's body "may have had the gun in his hand when he died. I wasn't present J' understand. And If the gun was already In bis band, then nobody put it there later." "In that case bow could it have been fired?" "It couldn't But how do you know It was fired? There's no way of telling until the post mortem whether the bullet In his bead came from the gun he was holding." "Do the caliber of the revolver and the wound correspond?" "Yes, I'd say so. The gun's a .38, and the wound looks the same size." "And," put In Heath, "one chamber of the gun's been fired." Markham nodded, and looked at the medical examiner. "If it should prove to be true, Doctor, that the revolver in Coe's hand fired the shot in his head, then we could assume, could we not, as Mr. Vance suggested, that the revolver bad been placed in the dead man's hand before rigor mortis set In?" "Sure you could." Doremus' tone was greatly modified. "Nobody could have forced the gun Into his hand and made It appear natural after rigor mortis had set in." Though Vance's eyes were moving idly about the room, he was listening closely to this conversation. "There Is," be remarked, In a low voice, "another possibility. I'll admit, hut tenable. . . . Men have Bo,f "All wounds do not bleed externally," Doremus explained. "This Is especially true of clean, quick stabs that pass through thin membranes into the viscera : they frequently show little or no external blood. Like contusions. The bleeding Is Internal. . . . This stab closed Immediately and the" lips of the wound adhered. An Internal hemorrhage was caused. Very simple. Now we have an explanation of . . . everything." Vance smiled cynically. "Oh, have we. now? We have only an examination of the cause of Coe's death. And that explanation complicates the situation horribly. It makes the case even more insane." Markham shot him a quick glance. "I can't see that," he said. "It at least clarifies one point we have been We now know discussing. what stopped him In the middle of changing his clothes." "I wonder. . ." Vance crushed out his cigarette In an ash-traon the night-table- , and picked up the dressing-gowwhich Coe had been wearing when we found him. He held it up to the light and Inspected It minutely. There was no cut or hole of nny kind In It. We all looked on In stupefied silence. "No, Markham," Vance said, placing the gown over the foot of the bed. "Coe didn't have on his dressing-gowwhen he was stabbed. That change was made later." "Still and all," Heath argued, "the guy mighta had his hand under the robe when he did the stabbing." Vance shook his head ruefully. "You forget. Sergeant that the'gown was buttoned tightly and that the belt was neatly tied around Coe's middle. . . . . But let us soe If we can verify the matter." He walked quickly to the clothes closet In the west wall, whose door was slightly ajar. Opening the door wide, he stepped inside. A moment later he emerged with a clothes hanger from which depended a coat and waistcoat of the same somber gray material as that f the trousers Coe had been wearing. Vance ran his fingers over the coat in the vicinity of tha right shoulder, and there was revealed a slit In the material the exact size of the wound In Coe's back. There was a similar slit In the back of the waistcoat coinciding with the one In the coat Vance held the two articles of clothing close to the light and touched the slits with his fingers. "These holes," he said, "are slightly stiffened at the edges, as If some substance had dried on them. I thiuk that substance will be found to be blood. . . . There's no doubt that Coe was fully dressed when be was stabbed, and that the blood on the dagger, or knife, soiled the edges of these two cuts when It was withdrawn." After a moment Markham expressed the thought uppermost In all our minds. "That being the case, Vance, the murderer must have taken Coe's coat and vest off, bung them in the closet and then put the dressing gown on the tabbed man." "Why the murderer?" Vance parried. "The Indications are that some one else came here after Coe was dead and sent a bullet through his head. Couldn't this other hypothetical person have made the change in the corpse's habiliments?" "Does that theory help as any?" Markham asked gruffly. "Not a bit," Vance cheerfully admitted, "even If It were true which, of course, we don't know. And I'll admit It sounds incredible. I merely made the suggestion by way of Indicating that, at this stage of the game, we should not jump at conclusions. And the more obvious the conclusion, the more cautious we should be. This is not, my dear Markham, an obvious case." Doremus was becoming bored. He gave a cavernous yawn, stretched himself, and reached for his hat which he had placed on the floor beside the bed. "Well, that lets J- Baking Did you know that you coffee Instead of milk in oJ! cakes? The coffee will gHe thT2 an unusual and pleasing flavor. remember to use a little lesseot. than you would milk, and remeaj! also that your cake will not rich and that it will dry out than If milk were used. The eof, la worth trying, however. THE HOUSEWIFI fi Copyright by Public Ledger. 1st WNU Bervlcs Old Seng Under Baa Because It contains the SOJj. nal a phonograph record of "Eockn in the Cradle of the Deep," ha, banned from all Australian brotj. casting stations. When it wasbrou. cast recently the signal was piety up by a ship and mistaken for a & tress call, resulting In a genera' alarm among nautical men. Optimist Percy Miss Hopskip ! Bessie! ffffl you be my wife? Bessie Why, you asked me fiut last week and I said "yes." Percy But I thought it possibfc you might have changed your mind! St Lou's EH i Post-Dispatc- ' , low-back- TO BE CONTINUED. Crabs "Shed" Quickly The transition of crabs through the three stages from peeler through soft shell to hard shell is only a matter of a very few hours under natural conditions. The hardshell crab, having outgrown its shell and with a new or soft shell developed beneath, gradually breaks out of the hard shell During that stage It Is known as a peeler. Once out of the shell; the new shell Is soft and will remain so if the crab is taken out of the water and packed for shipment to market However. If the crab remains In the water for two or three hours after sloughing the shell, the new shell also becomes hard. The entire process may nof require more than four or five hours. The Letter "D" Although the sound which "D": represents and Its place In the alphabet remains unchanged from earliest times, the form of the letter has undergone much development The rounded form, as we know It, passed Into Latin front the Chalcidlc alphabet This form has come down to us. In the early Phoenician and Greek, as the charl the form shows, wag quite d' floret. Wai .xnous na ..great st The C drivers of its le jsumeroi tions, fc mever b -- best flgi Ian natt fcilometf stream Venezue shank He squint"I suppose you want a ed at Heath. quick autopsy." "I'll say we do." The sergeant's head was enveloped in a cloud of cigar smoke. "When can we get it?" "Tonight if you must have It" Doremus drew a sheet over the prone figure on the bed, and made out an order for the removal of the body. He shook hands cordially with every one and walked briskly toward the door. "Just a moment Doctor." Mark-ham- 's voice halted him. "Any remote possibility of suicide here?" "What!" Doremus wheeled In surprise. "Not a chance. That bird was stabbed In the back couldn't possibly have done It himself. He died of Internal hemorrhage caused by the stab. He's been dead eight or ten hours maybe longer. The bullet in his right temple don't mean a thing he was already dead. . . . Suicide? Huh!" And with a wave of the hand he went out Markham stood for a time looking unhappily at the floor. Finally ho made a commanding gesture to Heath. "You'd better notify the boys, Sergeant. Get the fingerprint men and the photographer. We're In for it. . . . And you'll take charge, of course." "I hope, sir," Heath said a bit pleadingly to Markham, "that you are not going to step out on this case. I don't like the way things stack up. Almost anything mighta happened here last night." (I had rarely seen the sergeant so perturbed; and I could not blame him, for every phase of the crime seemed utterly contradictory and Incomprehensible). "No, Sergeant" Markham assured him ; "1 shall remain and do all I can. There must be some simple explanation, and we're sure to find It sooner or later. . . Don't be discouraged," he added, In a kindly tone. "We haven't begun the Investigation yet." Vance had seated himself In a chair near the windows and wa? smoking placidly, his eyes on the ceiling. Prepare A; j me out." y n - I the poll la the s ASK YOUR DOCTOR FIRST, MOTHER Before You Give Your Child on Unknown Remedy to Take Parima. Its ti i the Atl; distinct f ward form oi ered pi Jfacarei route f: ; as long Every day, unthinkingly, i laice me aavice oi unquaimea person on I Boca G; instead of their doctors I ?The remedies for their child. If they knew what the scientist I ;eribed know, they would never take thia single mother chance. th red I Doctors Say PHILLIPS' For Your Child When it comes to the frequently-use- d "milk of magnesia," doctors, for over 50 years, have said "PHILLIPS' the safe remedy Milk of Magnesia for your child." And Always Say Remember this "Phillip? " When You Buy. Your child deserves it; for your own peace of mind, see that you get it Genuine Phillips' Milk of Magnesia. Also in Tablet Form: Phillips' Milk of Magnesia Tablets that st: ened I while bi t tidewat I world ; tha onl Graeefi i " bush gi the bai r of, gre; ; reaches i tensive I On tl f up- the the del I river oi are now on sale at all drug stores everywhere. Each tiny tablet is the equivajem in a of Genuine Phillips' Milk of Magnesia. I a placi 1 ountei I b eitl I break ir I InR hill Phillips' last ho; Some Always a Supply f forts c "Fools rush In," but there are rocky plenty left where f.lDW ch i and m. Tillage tured i Walter I table i I the Or i.Thia f m i Sir;wi I YvURffiES Quick, Safe Relief For Eyes Irritated By Exposure To Sun, Wind and Dust At All Drug Stores I head. Four steame j right-- b I tloned ; I fields ( I For bed. to I dies, b i Tar, si K the aoi still so light a i WritcMariaCo.,Dpt.W.CUeaoforFrMBKik I tower. WOMEN! Jo'IlTwo'oS! This from ; VOU can now obtain direct from Ulldrpd her pwwoiilerfnlR)v.tteran,4i1 Hollywood for years by atari and othrn. nomoT facial lines, wrinkles, crepey neo blemishes. Preserve besnty pa or young and old. PoreDatnral and nannies. MKAne Likt It. 8mi only tl .00 for jar and FREE advii. Postpaid. mLORKD- - STUDIO O HEALTH - BtflUTY TOO) Bout. v., a. Holtywowl. Set C' ; state l river. tlOCO. fin I PARKER'S II AIR BALSAM Dandruff-Stop- Hslr Fsium s Imparts Lolor and Baanty to Gray and Faded hail' w I- SSi Warn Chcra" Win FLORESTON SHAMPOO Ideal for nse In the eunneetionwlth Park eT'sHaIrBalsaro.Msir hair aoft and fluffy. 60 cent bj- mail or t drop rista. Hiscox Chemical Works. FatcbjMrae.N-, 17C-- ! iLd j roofed th s p: huttei patios Its ch the bl; 'Ot'ith Quit to t csnse one ti |