Show II tk T r r f JFKti f iCIi u fi n7 r r = = 4 > nI c 1 CaJ ton Clarkes Zinc Case pI I Y By FRANK LOVBLL NELSON Romance and Mystery Entwined in Master Minds Coup ODY Found In Trunk 1 i 6 B began Clarke But Ill skip the headlines Upon opening a box which they hnd purchased at an uncnllcdforfrclKht sale two young men residing resid-ing In Austin were horrified horri-fied yesterday to discover the body of B man It was hermetically sealed In a zinc case which was Inclosed In an ordinary roundtopped trunk which In turn was packed In sawdust within a pine dry goods box Considering the fact that tho box had remained for threo years and a half In the freight warehouse the body was In a remarkable state of preservation > duo probably to the manner I man-ner of packing 1L There Is no clue to the Identity of the body other than that It r woa billed to a fictitious address on South Jefferson street and was shipped from Salt Lake City haying been rebillcd there from Ktlnso Wash Thats the gist of It but of course after the fashion of yoif reporters the story Is told from several angles In or I or 111 don to fill the column It looks like a promising mystery I Yes but one that probably is impossible Im-possible of solution considering tho I length of time I answered I Im not so sure of that Did It ever occur to you that any crime can bo solved If someone Is willing to expend ex-pend money time and travel Given unlimited resources I believe I could organize a detective force which would make punishment a certainty for every criminal Crime goes unsolved because be-cause tho men capable of doing effective I fc i1 ef-fective work can make more money 4 in other lines Id rather like to look into this case Does your influence extend to tho county morgue Deputy Coroner McNally in charge there is one of my particular friends I am sure ho will favor us Suppose we call there this afternoon after-noon if your engagements will permit per-mit I acceded but shortly after breakfast break-fast something arose that put the matter mat-ter entirely out of our minds for tho f moment I was busy at my own devices de-vices and Clarke was deep In a very 1r erudite work on oriental mysticism when there was a violent tug at our door bell I opened tho door and admitted ad-mitted a handsome athletic young follow fol-low square of jaw and keen of eye but apparently laboring under tho most intense excitement t t Where Ig Mr Clarke I must see him at once ho gasped Knowing Clarkes rule to see all calls call-s ers when possible I immediately J ushered him into the library Oh Mr Clarke he began without awaiting an introduction I am sure j I have a word from her I must have 1 I your help Tho police will laugh at me but I feol It is a clue I shall go mad if it falls I know she is living I have never given her up F f But calm yourself my dear sir and let me have your story connectedly I said Clarke Remember I am ignorant Ig-norant even of your name Pardon me I forgot I am so full ri I of this now clue My name Is Richard 1 4 Rich-ard Dudley i Ho needed to say no more to Clarke j or myself Tho name recalled instantly I I in-stantly the disappearance six months before of Evlyn Mason The country coun-try had rung with it The papers had been filled with It Tho best detec lives in the country had struggled with it Clarke himself though not called in by tho family had taken a deep interest in the progress of the case A note of romance had been I added to tho affair by the recently announced I an-nounced engagement of the iron mag autos daughter to Richard Dudley b Harvards old crack halfback who at I j the time she so mysteriously dropped I out of sight was traveling In tho orb I ont Ho had hastened home as fast as steamer and train could carry him and had taken up the thread whore tho police had dropped it In despair I Then you have a clue Mr Dudley I Dud-ley asked Clarke when ho had assured biircd l our caller that his trouble was < mT well known to im I think so Hero Is what I received re-ceived this morning 1 hurried to you at once a And Dudley handed Clarke a slip of i paper Clarke read the paper and handed it F over to mo It contained hut one word Osette written In a sprawling f > handWhere Where did you got this asked Clarke It was slipped under my door last night I have no idea by whom I 4 found it there this morning Oh Mr Clarke toll me that you havo hope J > and that we wllj find hor What particular Importance do you attach to this paper Oh cant you see Hut I forgot No ono knows it but myself and hor Immcdluto family Why m and thats Evlyns middle name Evlyn l Duetto Masoi She never used It No mot 1 Il mo-t known tit Dont you sou she must I havo ont this In that case Mr Dudley you havo I indeed a most vnictls clue more val p i I Teleplltl1o = Deductive Solver of Criminal Mysteries Tackles a Problem Embodying Smuggling the Fearful White Plague and Two Lovers Are Brought Together in Grand FinaleSolution of the Complex Puzzle 1 LI r S i S 5 S j l ll IU e t t o S T Yj l5 l I t 11t Ht ¼ f 5ti L t ii f I JII S S j r r iiT b i F = < 7 y lIViJ6 4 6117 roiWls AIRO1 y P liable I trust than you suspect It will however take time and labor to develop It I Imagine It may take us to the Pacific coast Aro you prepared pre-pared to take such a trip At once If necessary Oh we shall find her shant we Mr Clarke The body already had been prepared for burial and Clarkn did not ask to seo it The pine box ho glanced at i just long enough to read the fictitious I address Tho trunk also he passed with a look When ho came to the zlno case however It riveted his attention at-tention Ho examined closely every seam and corner of Its Clarke decided upon a trip to the Pacific coast When we finally reached the end of our long journey and succeeded In locating lo-cating the town of Etteso we found u little hamlet numbering about 600 souls Across a snug harbor shone the broad excuse of the Pacific After some search wo located tho private sanitarium of Dr Clinton Wlthersbee a man known to Clarko to bo a villain of the deepest dye We entered a room In WlthersbeoH asylum I asy-lum What I have next to relate has been pieced tofioUier out of a blur of hazy memories I am not aware just when I lost consciousness My first sensation sensa-tion was that some one was looking Intently at the back of my head Then a soft purring voice said Mr Carlton Clarke Mr Richard Dudley and Mr Paul Sexton I be Hove Dr Wlthersbeo Is at your service serv-ice When I awoke to consciousness some one was alternately snapping his fingers in my face and roughly shaking shak-ing ate I was in pitchy darkness and the air was chill and clammy Sexton Im ashamed of you said Clarkes voice through tho gloom You are a particularly easy subject 1 should have given you some lessons In resistance Whore are we What has happened hap-pened Where Is Dudley I asked In a breath Dudley Is here He recovered before be-fore you did answered Clarke n fact which Dudleys voice cgnflrmcd Wo seem to bo In some sort of an oubliette oubli-ette of that dear Dr Wlthersbeo In single file we made the round of our dungeon We found It to bo about 12 feet square walled with masonry which dripped dampness and floored with cement On one side we came upon a door the height of my head I being the tallest of the party From tho rivet heads we Judged it t to be of Plato steel and It closed Into a steel frame set Into tho masonry in a manner man-ner which offered no entrance for tho point of a pick had wo had ono at hand Tho absence of any keyhole bolt or lover showed that It was never Intended to be opened from tho Inside In-side At last after a wait which seemed an eternity I heard a soft footfall outside of the door Then Iron bars clanked and grated I heard the hinges creak and tho door Rwlng slowly slow-ly open A dark form framed In tho doorway was outlined through the gloom Then It stepped Into oar midst My hands shot to his throat which was cold and clammy as that of a corpse There was no resistance I heard Dudley wrenching tho lantern lan-tern from his belt At Clarkes command com-mand I released him Dudley was about to strike tho light when Clarke shoutod Quick Dudley the door Wo emerged on the rugged side of a hill overlooking tho broid uxpauno of tho bay Lying flat on my back on the saint my heart tugging and thumping in breath coming In rasping gasps which seemed to soar my throat I wailed 1 know not how long At last I was aroused by a soft hello hel-lo and the noso of n swift gasoline launch shot Into tho creek We had not long to wait Clarke lifted his eyes from his intent watch on tho shore line and said Hes coming I know who ho meant and I shivered shiv-ered at meeting Wlthorsbco on thoso black waters Then my car caught tho puff puff of a launch Down In tho boat fellows hes go Inj to fire shouted Clarke Dudley and I dropped Six times In rapid succession his revolver cracked But a swiftly flying launch Is not easy to hit and wo hoard tho bullets whistle overhead Wlthorsbeos boat was almost upon us when Clarko gave the wheel a quick twist and our pursuer shot past within with-in threo feet of our gunwale As ho throw the wheel Clarkes right arm shot Into tho basket at his side I saw his hand como out holding a writhing black object Ho swung It about his head onco and let go I saw It hurtle through tho air and strike tho doctor full between the shoulders Withers Leo dropped tho wheel and stood up trying to fight tho thing off while his boat free of hor helm owung round In circles Suddenly ho sprang to the gunwale of tho boat throw up his arms and with a piercing terrified shrlok disappeared disap-peared In tho black waters of tho bay Clarko shot our boat over to tho staggering derelict reached over her side and stopped her engine I held tho gunwales together while Dudley leaped Into the doctors boat at abound a-bound and returned bearing In his powerful arms the unconscious form of a young woman The figure In tho stern sat fixed and motionless Dudley swiftly cut tho ropes which bound hor Its she Its she ho muttered Clarke felt for pulse Shes only fainted ho said We fell to chafing her wrists and Dudley scooped up a handful of sea water and bathed her brow At the tavern after Miss Mason had been safely stowed away In a clean warm bed by tho motherly landlady we patched together tho ragged threads of the story over tho best In tho landlords cellar First 1 said Clarko if you aro Oliver Dike whoso was tho body that Dr Wlthersbee shipped to Chicago in an opium case Ho was another attendant a young fellow by tho name of Frank Williams Wo were very similar In appearance even to the fillings In our teeth I didnt worry much about her for ho treated her well and she seemed to bo In no danger from him and I had seen so many terrible things In cases whore ho didnt want to marry them that I was sort of hardened to It anyway any-way I was the watchman of the whole place aftor Wllllama disappeared disap-peared and the only white man about the Institution all tho rest bolus Chinks Italked with Miss Mason on the sly sometimes but I paid no attention to hor appeals until one day she mentioned the name of Mr Dudley Dud-ley here lie was ono of my boyhood football heroes and I determined to do something Hut Clarke how did you seo through all this when we were in Chicago Chi-cago I asked I didnt seo through it by any means Only I saw some things which you didnt Part of It you know Then a connecting link was tho zinc can which I recognized at once as one used In smuggling opium 1 picked up the threads of Miss Ma sons case where I had dropped them before and tho list of guests continued con-tinued my hazy recollectionthat there was one from Etteso Tho name of the town did not strike me tho first time of course but the name of tho doctor did for while turning tho case over In my mind I thought of something some-thing which I should havo remcinbored the first time It was that once In a Clark street opium den I had heard the name Wlthersbee1 In a cautious whisper My visit to Chinatown confirmed con-firmed this I havo a Chinaman there that I depend on a good deal and in reply I I to my question of who was the greatest dealer In smuggled opium in tho country ho whispered Withers bee swearing that ho would never live to see another day for having told Dudley and Miss Mason were married I mar-ried the next spring and Clarko and I are often guests at their beautiful Lake Forest home Withcrsbeos so called asylum from which aided by Itho powerful Chinese tongs In which rue wielded great Influence he conduct I od his extensive smuggling operations now atones for Its past sins as one of the principal outposts In UK war against rho Great White Plane I Copyright 190 by W Q riinimiuu Copyright In artful DrtUUuj |