| Show Telegram Fiction I L Murder a at the a Mocking House I By Walter Valter Brown SYNOPSIS Althou Although a policeman and a strang cr er apparently have shot each cach other in the home of Pierre Dufresne Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Ser Ser- geant Harper is not convinced Mrs Dufresne comes in and sees the bodies She faints and injures h her r face Dr Ulrich apparently anxious to keep her from being questioned demands absolute quiet for her Harper and the police sergeant discuss the case CHAPTER 14 On the surface its it's as clear as a pane of glass but I have a I feeling theres there's a somewhere in the woodpile Harper went on What Induced Hamill to walk in here and deliberately shoot down a man seated at a table smoking a Wh Why 1 should the man shoot a policeman Why was that man as Dufresne the thc owner of the house Look h here re Harper lifted the mans man's left hand The first and second fingers lingers had been seared by the out burned This fellow recently wore a ring- ring very recently Theres There's the mark around his third finger If you will look closely at the knuckle joint you will see where it was forced oft off But where is the ring There was no watch no wallet no papers no cards nothing that you would expect to find in a mans man's pockets except a handkerchief and some loose change When he broke into nto this house he completely discarded discard discard- ed his identity Look at these There are no occupational occupational calluses calluses' or stains These are not hands used to manual labor nor norare norare norare are they quite the hands of a gentleman gentle gentle- gentleman gentleman man o of f leisure He turned them over Look at the fingernails Cut blunt lunt Clean but not cared for lor otherwise Questions Need Answering Harper snapped wide the nose- nose glasses and let them drop on their cord These glasses are not his either cither Look at the red marks indented in indented dented on the sides of his nose made madey by y the pincers He certainly was not accustomed to them Formal clothes but his shoes while of good quality quam have been re re- re- re soled We re haven't e ven found his hat hatland land and coat Oh there are a lot of ques ques- ions here that need answering Dr Miller shook his head Ive Iv e told old you all I can cnn and I doubt that th the e autopsy will add much to that knowl S edge The front door opened and there was ryas vas an influx of the belated party from rom the Austerlitz Harper dropped the he telephone and md went forward to greet them Evidently Markinson had put into practice Harpers Harper's orders to use heroic methods to get Dufresne back backon on his feet t. t He was bundled to the ears against the cold and storm and still till a little unsteady on his feet leaned caned on a supporting arm held out by jy the lean and looking glum-looking An An- Andrews drews Markinson and the second detective de de- were wre just behind them and a moment later an alert handsome oung young fellow in a chauffeurs chauffeur's uni uniform orm entered briskly This was Joseph Donaghy Donagh Mr Dufresne's chauffeur At the same moment Dr Ulrich appeared appeared appeared ap ap- on the stairs rolling lolling down his shirt hirt sleeves and fastening the cuff cufflinks cufflinks links inks as he descended Hello Pierre he ic exclaimed cordially nd advancing to shake hake hands hand Why doctor what on earth are you doing here Dufresne asked extremely ex ex- remely puzzled Dr Ulrich shot a questioning glance at t the detective but before he could answer Harper cut in There has been a very regrettable Mr Dufresne When we first discovered the lie bodies one of the reporters assumed as as- assumed from the disguise the man was wearing that it was you and told Mrs Dufresne Of course she came over immediately She fainted tainted and in ailing falling struck her face against th the edge of the table My wife here wife here Dufresne positively posit ively stuttered He looked around at the circle of faces as if he could not digest st the meaning of the words Harper had just uttered His eyes fastened on Dr Ulrichs Sylvia scarred for for life life- li life c- c he hc mumbled Dr Ulrich took him by the arm Pull yourself together Pierre he commanded Theres at least an anven even ven chance that it will heal without a scar la 13 main du Seigneur Dufresne Du Du- fresne stumbled forward and sank down own on the lounge What did you OU sa say 7 Harper asked Dufresne looked up Pardon me r I am upset Where is she now I must see sec at once oncel I Certainly certainly Pierre Dr Ulrich said soothingly but a little later ater if jf you please You will only be bein bein bein in the way if you go now Mrs Whitmore In a few minute Pierre Dufresne stood tood up with Q a t great change in jn his bearing earing His face face- had b become ome hard and expressionless his carriage more cre erect t his step firmer I 1 wont want some hot coffee colIee Tell Mrs Whitmore Whitmore Whit Whit- more Mrs Whitmore Harper repeated blankly The name was strange to him lim your our seen Mrs Whitmore She hasn't appeared with all this commotion in here Seeing Harpers Harper's Harpers Harper's Har Har- pers per's blank look he went on to ex ex- plain Mrs Whitmore is my house house- keeper She and her husband have been seen living in the apartment ent lent over the garage while the were working in the house Andrews gether get zet zether her on the house phone and tell her herto herto herto to come over Yes and call up Richard Richard Rich Rich- ard Mr and Mrs Croyden he explained ex cx- to the detectives Mrs Croy Croy- den len is my wife's sister Their house Is on the next street You can con see a corner of it from our back windows win win- dows Andrews went to rouse the sleep sleep- lag ing Whitmore There was OSa a special telephone connection between the rear of the house and the rooms over the garage Is it necessary to have all these men running through the house Du Du- questioned The pl place ce seems to bs swarming with police Who are all these men and what the devil are th they doing here There ore ere certain regulations and formalities to be complied with in a e case of this sort Harper explained These men arc are doing routine work As soon as is it is completed they'll clear out out They went Into the breakfast room and Harper closed the door Although Although Al Al- thou though h Harper was watching closely he could detect no spark of emotion on Dufresne's face as he stood inside the door and surveyed the murder scene With the two faces there before belore be- be tore lore him Harper saw that there was Indeed a startling resemblance more than enough to confuse the casual eye Thais the way we found then The electric lights were not on Now Mr Dufresne does that suggest anything anything any any- thing to you Dufresne shook his head I r am completely mystified Harper I cannot cannot cannot can can- not tell you why any ony man many should try to murder me Inc nor why he should disguise himself in toot that fashion break in here and then shoot a policeman I cant can't even understand why the policeman policeman po po- entered the house I assume that this is the man who has been threatening mc me It seems likely While we have not yet ct established any definite connection connection con connection the circumstances of the events evens from this afternoon on can hardly be laid to absolute coincidence dence Grisly Death Harper removed the false mustache muse mus tache the goatee the eyeglasses At once the resemblance to Dufresne was Wis dissipated This man was Wis at least ten years cors younger The lines on his face exhibited strength th persistence and determination Doggedness was in the line of his jaw Not at ot all the lineaments of an imbecile nor those of a homicidal maniacI maniac I never saw this man before in my life lIe Dufresne declared S cally cell Are Arc you jou quite sure of or that Mr Dufresne Remember he had probably probe ably been following you ou about for some time tune Think well I am lm positive I have a good memory memory mem memo ory for faces faces faces-an an excellent memory I Ido do not know this man I have never neverseen neverseen neverseen seen him before Would you ou have any objections to m my bringing In the others and ond asking ask ask- ing them the same question Not at all Harper I believe that would be the best procedure Sergeant Harper called in Dr Mil Mu- Muter der ter and ond the two ambulance men Well be all through in a few minutes minutes min min- utes he said Then you can strip this bod body and take It away In the meantime you jou Ou may remove Ham Hamill There was now more confusion than han ever Mr and Mrs Whitmore had arrived and arid were listening wide eyed and end almost incredulous to the thc voiced low-voiced explanations of Andrews The man had come up from Headquarters Headquarters Head Head- quarters with the missing gray end white white- dusting powders for lor the in in- and Harper set the fingerprint finger finger- print man to work on the decanters and glass and the thc two guns The trained nurse Dr Ulrich had summoned arrived in a taxicab and was whisked upstairs by the doctor before the detective had a chance to see her lace face ace But for all his activity the house remained what it had seemed when Harper first arrived arrived arrived-a a house filled with the grisly feel of death Cop Copyright Tight 1934 by Walter C C. C Brown To be Continued |
