Show o o. o o o oo A rR 48 j I U ID y S S. S. S SVAN VAN DINE AuTHOR AUTHOR f THE lO ON MUR MURDER CASE CASE t THE STORY THUS FAR Skeels Skeel's finger finger fingerprints prints print had been found in the apartment o of ot the murdered Margaret Odell but Vance believes belle that had bad been hiding biding in a a. closet while the strangler strangler stran- stran gler did his work ork The subsequent murder of ot Skeel after ho he had promised to reveal repeal the murderer bears this theory out Spotswood who had called on the tile girl had rushed to her door at the sound of ofa ofa a a. scream but had been reassured through the door that nothing was wrong Vance has Markham Invite Cleaver and In his apartment for a a. poker game promising to name name- the tile murderer r the next da day And he be names Spots Spots- r f CHAPTER L L. L anve paused and looked up You perhaps recall the circumstances circumstances circum circum- stances It was a a. Jack AlI Allen n dealt Clea Cleaver Clear r a a. straight four and gave me three kings The other hands were so poor that every one else was compelled to drop out outI outI outI I opened and Cleaver Clearer stayed On the draw Allen AUen ga gave me another kin king icing and arid gave Cleaver Ceaver the tho card he e needed to complete his straight straight- flush Hush Twice I 1 bet a a. small maU amount and and- each time lime Cleaver er raised m mi me Finally 1 I called and of ot cour course e he won He couldn't help but bur win d d' d ye see He lYe was betting on a a. sure thing Since I opened the pot and anddrew drew v two cards the highest hand I 1 could possibly have hare held would have been four tour of or a a. I kind Cleaver knew this and bar hav ing flush a straight flush he also knew before re he raised l l my bet that he be had me beaten At once nce J I realized that he was not the man I was after arter By y what reasoning A t poker player Markham m who would bet on a sure is one wh who wh- lacks lack th the egotistical self con of the highly subtle and ami aur KU- KU r eiF Drem-eiF re rero ear able gamblers ambler He Heis Is I Ir r p C not a man who vho will take hazardous chances and tremendous risks for he possesses to to- some degree what the psychoanalysts gall call gallan an Inferior complex and instinctively he hc grasps at er 6 every possible opportunity opportunity opportunity of or protecting and andI bettering himself I In short he is not the ultimate unadulterated gambler And the theman theman theman man who killed the Odell girl w was yas wasa yasa a a. supreme gambler who wo would stake everything e on a single turn of ot the wheel for In killing kUling- her that Is Is exactly what he ne did d And only a a a- gambler gambl r whose paramount would self would make him scorn through sheer egotism t bet a a I sure duro re thin thing could have coin coin- such a crime Therefore Therefore Cleaver er was eliminated as a suspect sus sus- pe t. t Markham fl was now listening In- In n. n J The Tb test to to- which 1 I put Spots spots- a little later inter Vance went wenton on had originally been intended for Cor Mannix but but he was as out of ot the game That didn't matter however however however how how- ever for had I been able to elim eUm- mate Inato both Cleaver and then Mannix would undoubtedly undoubted y have been the guilty manOf manOf man Of Ot course 1 I would woul have planned something else to substantiate the fact but but- butas as It was that wasn't The test I applied to was all pretty well exI explained ex ex- ex- ex by the gentleman himself I As he said not one player payer in a a. thousand would ha have haw w wagered the limit against a pat hand when he himself held nothing it was tremendous tre tre- tre- tre su superb rb It u was probably bly the most remarkable bluff blut ever eyer made in a game of poker I I couldn't help admiring him when he calmly shoved sho JaIl forward his chips knowing as I did that that- he held nothing lIe He staked every thing d' d y e se sep see wholly on his conyl con- con lon t that at le could follow my myre re sIts l fo step and ami In Iri the thern therna a t. t last analysis outwit me It took courage and daring to do that And It also took a ad i d degree gro gree of self dence which would never have have permitted permitted permitted per per- him to bet bet- beton on n a a. sure thing The psychological principles Involved Involved in involved In- In in that hand were Identical with those of or the Odell crime I threatened with a powerful pow pow- erful a. hand land land-a a pat hand just hand Just as the girl no doubt threatened him and Instead of compromising Instead compromisIng Instead of or calling me me or laying down down he he outreached me he resorted to one supreme coup though it it meant risking everything My Iy word Markham larkham Cant Can't you Ou see how th the theman's mans man's character as revealed In that amazing gesture dovetails with the psychology of th the crime Markham w s silent for a while he appe appeared red to be pondering the matter But you yourself Vance were I Inot not satisfied at the time he submitted submitted sub sub- I at length In fact tact you I looked doubtful and worried i True old dear I I was no end worried The The- psychological proof of guilt came so dashed unexpectedly unexpected I. I wasn't wasn looking for It it dont don't y know After eliminating Cleaver er I had a parti part pris so to speak in regard to Mannix Mannix Man Man- Mannix nix for all the material evidence In favor Cavor of Qt Innocence that that is the seeming ph physical Impossibility impossibility im Im- Im possibility of hl his ha having the lady lad had I admit impressed me Im riot not ot perfect dont don't y knowIng know Being Ing unfortunately human Im I'm still sUIl susceptible to the the- malicious animal magnetism about facts and appearances which you O law lawyer er chaps are are continuously exuding over j the earth ilke ike som some vast as asphyxiating effluvium m. m And even even when en 1 rJ f found nd that that 8 psychological nature fitted perfectly perfectly perfectly per per- with all an the factors of the crime I still harbored a doubt in regard to Mannix It was barely barey possible that he would woud h have ve played the hand Just as Spot wo de play played d It ft That is why after the thi game ame was over r I tackled him on the subject of ot gambling I wanted to check his Ills P psychological chol reactions Still li h he staked everything orone or one turn of th the wheel as you put It Ali Ah But not in the same sense that did Mannix is a aca aca ca cautious tl ti us an and ana timid gambler as co com compared coni- coni i pared with Ie To To b begin with he lie had an equal chance an anan and an even bet whereas had no chance at t all his all his hand was hand was worthless And yet wagered the limit on a pure pure bit of mental lation n That was gambling gambling- in the higher ether On the other ha hand d Mannix was merely tossing a a. coin with an an even chance of or winning Furthermore no no calculation of any kind lelnd entered into it there was no planning no figuring no daring And as as I r have told you from the start startS the Odell Oden murder was premeditated pre pre- premeditated meditated and carefully worked out with shrewd calculation and supreme darIng t I And what what true gambler gamber would would ask ask an adv adver adversary r- r sary to double double- a bet on the second flip of or the coin and then thep accept an offer offer- to redouble on the third fl flip p I I purposely test tested d l Ia Mannix In that way so as to preclude any possibility of pf error T Thus Tius us I n not t only eliminated ed him I him I expunged I him eradicated him wiped him out utterly rl It cost me a a th thousand usand dollars dollars dol dol- dol- dol lars but it purged my my my- mind of an any lingering doubt I then knew de despite despite despite de- de spite all aU the material indications indi that 1 had done away WM with the lad lady I You make your our case theoretically theoretically theoretically cally p plausible But practically Im I'm afraid I cant can't accept it Markham was more impressed I leit felt than he lie cared to admit Damn it man he exploded after a a moment Your conclusion demolishes all the the stab established landmarks of rationality and sane credibility J Just Just st c consider con con- n- n elder sider the facts He lIe had now reached the ar argumentative argumentative u- u stage of hi his doubt You say sav is b guilty Yet we know krow on irrefutable evidence t that at five after he came out of the apartment the girl screamed ed and call called d for tor heli I He lie was standing tand ng by by the switchboard switch switch- bo board r- r rand and accompanied by ly Jessup he went to the door door and and carried ona on ona a n. brief briet conversation with her She was certainly certainly- alive then Then he lie went went out the front door ente entered ed a taxicab and drove away V 3 Fifteen minutes later late he was Joined by Judge P n as S he We alighted lIghte l from the taxicab In n front of ot the club here nearly here nearly forty blocks away from the apartment house It n it would have be been n Imp Impossible ble for tor him to have made the trip Inless In less hess times time and moreover we e have havethe havethe the chauffeurs chauffeur's record simply did not hive havo either elthe the opportunity opportunity opportunity op op- op- op or the time to commit the murder b between tween past half c eleven even and ten minutes of ot f twelve when Judge Redfern met him And remember remember re- re member he pl played ed poker in the club here until three in the morn morn- hours after the murder took place placeS l Markham m his head with emphasis Vance theres there's no human way to get round those facts They're firmly established and they preclude pre pre- clude dude guilt as and finally all as' though he had b been eh at tIre tins North Pole Poe that night Vance was Vance was unmoved I admit everything ke Je I you say ne rejoined But as I have stated be before be- be fore tore when material facts and pay pay- I facts conflict the materIal ma ma- facts are wrong In this case the they may may not actually be wrong but they're- they're deceptive Very well magnus nus Apollo p llo The situation was war too much for tor Markham's Markhams Markhams Markham's Mark Mark- hams ham's exacerbated nerves Show me how could have strangled the girl and ransacked the apartment and Ill I'll order Heath Beath to arrest him Ton Pon my WordS word I cant can't do It ft it expostulated Vance Omniscience i-I i was denied me deuce But But deuce take itI It I I think Ive I've done rather well wel In I pointing out the culprit I never agreed to expound his don't dont on ont t y y know kno I r ATour i- i vaunted i I amounts only to to that does it Well Wen well Here and now I become a professor of ot the higher mental sd- sd sciences and I pronounce solemnly that Doctor Crippen murdered the theOdell theOdell Odell girl To be sure ure Crippens Crippen's dead but the fact doesn't interfere Interfere Interfere Inter Inter- fere with my newly adopted psychological means of ot deduction Crippens Crippen's nature you see fits perfectly perfectly perfectly per per- with all an the esoteric and recondite indications of ot the crime Tomorrow Ill I'll apply for an order of ot exhumation Vance looked at him him with waggIsh wag waggish gish gishi and sighed Recognition of my transcendent genius I see is destined to be posthumous In the meantime I bear the taunts and Jeers of pt the multitude with a a. stout heart My head is bloody blood but tout unbowed He looked ed at his watch and then seemed to become absorbed with some line of thought Markham he said after several several sev ser era eral minutes Ive a a. concert concert at three o'clock but theres there's an hour to spare I want to take another look at that apartment and its varI various us approaches trick Jck trick and Im I'm convinced it was nothing more than a a. trick was trick was enacted there and if we are ever to to find the explanation we shall have to look for tor it on the scene I had lad got the impression that Markham despite his emphatic denial de denial denial de- de nial of the possibility of Spots Spots- woodes guilt was not entirely un un- un convinced Therefore I was not surprised when with only a a. halfhearted halfhearted halfhearted half half- hearted protest he lie assented to Vances Vance's proposal to revisit the Odell apartment TO BE CONTINUED A u |