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Show LEHI FREE PRESS. LEHL UTAH SaIv 111 TrTOTTI J Phllo Vance, crime expert. Invest! of Archer Mark ham. he roes to Coe's house. They find Wrede. e friend of Coe's, there; also 'Signer Grassl, a guest. The door of the death chamber is bolted from the They force It Coe is seated, a revolver in bis right band and a bullet bole ta bis temple. He Is clothed ia dressing town, but wears street shoe. . Markhara thinks It is suicide, Vance say It Is murder. Medical Examiner Doremus declarea Coe had been dead for hours when the bullet entered his head. A wound, made by a dagger, fa found on the body, and there la proof that Coe was fully dressed when be was stabbed. The Investigators find a wounded Boottiih terrier in a room of the Coe house, Vance declares the animal will prove an Important connecting link. Brisbane Coe, Archcr'a brother. Is believed to have left for Chicago the previous afternoon, but his dead body is discovered In a closet la the Coe home. Vance Interrogates the Chinese cook, Liang. Brisbane died from a stab la ths back, as In Archer's) ease. Vance, searching Brisbane's coat, finds waxed thread attached to a bent pin, and a darning needle. A lipstick, discovered In Archer Coe's waatebasket. Indicates that a woman called on him the night of the murder. in-ai- CHAPTER VII S. S. Van Dine i! EM CASE were approaching something particularly pertinent sod, at the same time, fetes the supposed suicide Co. With District Attorney Continued 10 "But I don't see the connection." 'Markham was puzzled. "Brisbane was 'the victim not the murderer. Suppose you elucidate If possible." T live In 'opes," Vance grinned. "Let me question Miss Lake a bit further. I could bear a bit of amplification as to Brisbane's delvlngs Into criminological lore." lie sobered and went toward the door. "What do you any to using Archer's bedroom as the scene of the Interrogation?" Mark ham gave a resigned sigh, and we went upstairs. Heath sent Gamble to ask Miss Lake to join us there; and a few minutes later she came In, swaggering but chilly and, I thought, suspicious. Vance pushed a chair forward for her. "We wanted to ask you. Miss Lake," be began gravely, "Just what you meant when you spoke of your Uncle Brisbane's having 'dabbled In crlml- nology' I belteve that was your phrase. What form did his Interest In criminology take?" "Only reading. Criminal cases, court cases, court records, detective stories the osual thing. There are hundreds f volumes In his room." "Were you, too, Interested In your Dncle Brisbane's books?" "Oh, yea. There's nothing else Interesting In the house." "Then you, too, have 'dabbled In criminology'?" She shot Vance a quick look and gave a forced laugh. "You might call it that." "Ah I Then perhaps you can help " us." Vance's air became Jocular. "We crave to know how this door could have been bolted on the Inside. Obviously Archer couldn't have done It with a bullet In his head." "Or a dagger through his lungs," he supplemented, and became suddenly serious. "But he might have done It before the bullet entered his head." "But he was dead at that time." Vance, too, had become serious and was watching the woman closely. "Have you never heard of cadaveric spasm, or rigor mortis?" she asked contemptuously. "Men, with revolvers In their hands at death, have been known to fire them hours after they were dead, as a result of muscular contraction." Vance nodded, without changing his expression or shifting his gaze. "Quite true. There was the famous case in Trague of the suicide who 'later shot the police Inspector. And Ithere was a more recent case In PennBut I hardly think that sylvania. .condition applies here. Archer, d' ye see, died of a stab in the back. And the position of his hand holding the revolver was not such as would indicate that he himself pulled the trigger." "Perhaps you're right." I was surprised at her ready acceptance of Vance's dismissal of her suggestion. "Some one else must have bolted the door." She spoke with cyulcal lightness. "It's quite a problem, Isnt it?" "Are you sure you can't help us?" Vance gazed at her steadily. She became thoughtful; a curious change came over her, and she looked sinister. "Did anyone else" Vance's cool voice brought me back to reality "ever hear these discussions?" "No one but Cncle Archer." Hilda Lake had become frigid and indiffer- ent again, "He always ridiculed our speculations." "What of Liang?" Vance asked casually. "The cook? Oh, I suppose be heard our Idle chatter. I believe we talked over our dire plots et dinner occasionally." "And now the problem that troubled all of you has been solved." Vance rose and strolled meditatively toward the door. "Very sad, He opened the door and held It ajar. "Thank you. Miss Lake. I say, you won't mind remaining In your room till dinner time, will your "If I did mind, It wouldn't do me any good, I suppose." She spoke with obvious resentment as she walked toward Vance. "May I be permitted to get a book from Uncle Brisbane's room to while away my hours of detention?" Her eyes were narrowed, and her lip curled in an ngly arc. Vance's calm gaze did not alter. "I'm dashed sorry, and all that sort of thing,- - be said politely, "but I'll send you up any book you'd like later. I've a bit of browsing to do ..." first" The woman turned on her heel and walked away without a word. Vance waited until he heard her door close with a bang ; then he turned and came back Into the room. "Not a sweet, Victorian clinging vine," he lamented; "but a lady of parts, none the less. . . . Curious, her telling us of her discussions with Bris- bane about this the possibilities of bolting door from the outside. There was something back of that, Markham. The young woman had ideas. Now, why should she have tried to be so helpful? And .that suggestion about rigor mortis and the revolver. . . . Amazln'." "If you want my candid opinion," Markham commented, "she knows, or suspects, more than she's telling us; and she's trying to throw us off the track." Vance considered this for a time. "Yes It's possible," he agreed at length. "On the other hand . Markham was patently puzzled. "Any suggestion?" he asked. "What's our next move?" "Oh, that's Indicated." Vance sighed deeply. "Painful as It may prove, I simply must run my eye over Bris- bane's books." Markham also sighed deeply, and rose. We went Into Brisbane Coe's room, which was at the front of the house on the west side. On the north wall beside the window was a series of s simple buUt-lextending to the celling. There were, I estimated, between three and four hundred volumes on them, all neatly and meticulously arranged. Vance went to the window and threw np the shades, and began running his eye systematically over the volumes. For so small a number of criminological volumes Brisbane Coe's collection was unusually complete. In surveying the titles one got the Impres-book-shelve- n ... (rtare. "rve been thinking about that door for several hours," she said tensely; "and I can't find an answer to It ' Uncle Bristiane and Mr. Wrede and I often talked about these tricky criminal devices. We worked out various ways and means of doing seemingly Impossible things; but bolting this door from the outside was something we could never figure out" Vance took his cigarette from his mouth with slow deliberation. "You mean to tell me that you and Brisbane and Mr. Wrede actually discussed the possibilities of bolting this 4oor from the outside?" She appeared quite "Oh, yes." frank. "Many times. But we decided It couldn't be successfully done." Vance hesitated, and a strange kind Of chill ran over me. I felt as If we "Then itfX By iiii il SYNOPSIS Sez Too, Have 'Dabbled Criminology?" You, in slon that had he none In for crime, he would have been highly practical rather than subtle. Vance glanced ovtT the books but carefully. "It should be here, y know," he murmured, as If to himself, "unless It's been taken away. . . ." He got up and began to check the volume numbers of the various sets of books. When he came to a set of the "Aussenselter der Gesellschaft" he gave a nod and stepped dowD to the floor. "A volume missing," he announced, ne scanned the upper book shelves carefully. "I wonder. . , ." Then he dropped on his knees and began going more thoroughly over the section of fiction. When be had come to the lowest Bhelf he reached forward and took out rap-Idl- y a thin volume. He glanced at It and leaned forward again to Inspect the books on either side of the space from which he had extracted the missing volume of the "Ausseuseiter der Gesellschaft" aeries. "Oh. I sayl" be exclaimed. "That's deuced lnterestln'. Markham, It's significant that the missing volume of the 'Aussenselter der Gesellschaft' should be found cheek by Jowl with a book dealing with a pin." Markham took bis cigar from his mouth, stood np, and faced Vance with a serious face. "I see what you mean," he said. "You think that Brisbane, by the help of these books on criminology, worked out some way of bolting Archer's door from the outside, by the use of those pins and string." Vance gave an affirmative nod. "Either Brisbane or some one else. It wag quite a technical operation." He picked up the "Aussenselter der Gesellschaft" volume. I think I'll do a bit of pryln' If you could bear to wait for me a short while." Markham made a gesture of acquiescence. s "The sergeant and I will wait I've some telephoning to do." The three of us left Vance alone in Brisbane's room, and as I closed the door, I saw .Vance stretch himself out On the davenport with the two books. An hour later he came to the head of the stairs and called down to us. We Joined him In Archer's bedroom. "I think I've found a solution to one phase of our problem," he announced seriously, when we were seated. "But It may take a bit of working out" He opened the book. "The tale, as I gather at a hasty reading, relates of a dead man found locked In a vault with a key to the door on the table before him. The vault door was locked from the outside, of course. . . Here's the explanat'ry passage : 'No other word be spoke, but took something from his pocket; It was a reel of stout cotton. Then from his waistcoat he produced a new pin, and with great care and solemnity tied the thread to the end of the pin, Tab watching him Intently. And all the time he was working, Ilex Lander was humming a little tune, as though be were engaged in the most Innocent occupation. Presently be stuck the point of the pin In the center of the table, and pulled at It by the thread he had fastened. Apparently he was satisfied. He unwound a further length of cotton, and when he had sufficient he threaded the key upon it, carrying it well outside the door. The end he brought back into the vault, and then pushed It out again from the Inside through one of the airholes. Then he closed the door carefully. He had left plenty of slack for his purpose and Tab heard the click of the lock as It was fastened, and his heart sank. He watched the door fascinated, and saw that lender was pulling the slack of the cotton through the airhole. Presently the key came In sight under the door. Higher and higher came the sagging line of cotton and the key rose until it was at the table's level, slid down the taut cotton, and came to rest on the table. Tighter drew the strain of the thread, and presently the pin came out, passed through the hole In the key, leaving It In the exact center of the table. Tab watched the bright pin as It was pulled across the floor and through the ventilator.' . . . That's the way the author worked his locked door." "But," objected Markham. "There was an open ventilator In the door, and space beneath the door. These conditions are not true here." "Yes of course," Vance returned. "But don't overlook the fact that there was a string and a bent pin. At least they are common integers In the two problems. . . . Now, let's see If we can combine those Integers with certain common Integers of another case." He opened the other book. "Konrad," Vance explained, "was a truck driver In Berlin nearly fifty years ago. His wife and five children were found dead In their cellar room; and the door a ponderous affair without even a keyhole or space around the molding was securely bol'ed on the Inside. The case was at once pronounced one of murder and suicide on the part of the mother; and Konrad- - would have been free to marry his Inamorata (whom he had In the offing) had It not been for an examining magistrate of the criminal court, named Hollmann. Hollmann, for no tangible reason, did not believe In the suicide theory, and set to work to figure out how Konrad could have bolted the door from without Here's the revelat'ry passage If you'll forgive my rather sketchy sight translation of the German: 'Hollmann determined, as a last resort to give the entire door, both Inside and outside, a microscopic examination. It required hours of labor, but In the end he was rewarded. Just above the bolt he found on the Inside, close to the edge of the door, a very small hole which was barely discernible. Opening the door he Inspected the outside surface directly opposite to the hole on the Inside. But there was no corresponding hole visible. Hollmann did find on the outside of the door, however, a small spot on which the paint seemed fresher 'than that on the rest of the down-Btalr- Copyright by W. H. (TTl "rVVPe Wright VTSV Service WW J a the knob and pulled through the key hole luto the nail. and I bad been Hoath. . tut! ji(..iu,n the hall as from room the in bolted naa suui m we ourselves neatly as ifi,i,.L-awas t And there it t,.. LMJll inkind-s- ave the of any no evidence hole in the crack discernible of the wall to show that it had not actually been bolted rrom me msm. moment's rv i lie cifccufc, after athe bolt and back threw stupefaction, one door. He borrowed a hatpin from and of the tenants in the building on hole beating It ran It through the the Inside. With but little pressure the heated hatpin penetrated the door, In coming out on the outside exactly the center of the newly painted spot Moreover, when Uollinann withdrew the hatpin a piece of tough horsehair adhered to the pin ; and on the pin was also discernible a slight film of wax. . . . It was obvious then how Konrad bad bolted the door from without He had first bored a tiny hole through the door above the bolt looped a piece of horsehair over the bolt's knob, and slipped the two ends through the hole. upHe had then pulled the ward until the horsehair loop was disengaged, withdrawing the horsehair through the hole. A piece of the horsehair bad, however, caught In the hole and remained there. Konrad had then filled up the hole with wax and painted It on the outside, thereby eliminating practically every trace of his criminal device. He was later convicted of the murder of his family, sentenced to death, and hanged.' . . ." Heath, as Vance finished reading, leaped to his feet "That's a new one on me." He went swiftly to the door and bent over. Vance smiled. "There's no hole In the door above the bolt, Sergeant," he said. "No need, don't y' know. There's a keyhole." Heath squared off and looked at the door. "Still and all, the keyhole's only halfway over the bolt, and eight inches below It No string fastened to the pin-poi- opened the door. "It worked?' asked Into the room. mnmhieii mi 11 nuikcu. the cigar ically, lighting chewing on viciously for hour. bolt-kno- b ,.it It auce, cuimu6 npflth lacon- be had been the past half 7 ... Hill I J 111 aly i r n si, a i Fuhlens eftea dunre - "In te PATRONIZE bet , ...Minn "55 l r v, is : Jo poet f INDCSTj, aie tog It. Lot The Dagger Strikes. Markham sat for several minutes In a brown study. "As vou say. Vance." he remarked without looking up, "the technique of the boltine of the door from the hail explains one phase of the problem, but a 11 J "Drawn and Quartered An old punishment for trea was the offender be dram t they ?ere t t he be hanged by the neck tad 4! emboweled, usually while yetL! that his head be severed from a' body, and that the bodv h v. into lour pans or quartered. "GRAINS OF Jt .am C ij who, . iributi Hilt Betttf 4 think I kept be w . h Made For Western Aik Tear Grocer f THIS WEEK'S PRIZE STOEI g svrvnuitf. The other string, still hookPri the bolt knob, was then drawn taut through the keyhole, describing a straight line from the bolt knob to the keyhole which was almost dlrectlv below it Another slight pull by Vance on the string, and the knob fed down-war- d Into Its groove. Another pull and the bent pin was disengaged from Inr onlr hops so, Mad I have I GeanI Jund, 1 7 : vy nig t ItplicaU ma bu i. ) pala But it I can't see that we're any further along toward a solution of the double murder. Brisbane, after all was a victim. Why should he have been Interested In bolting Archer In this room?" "Really, I couldn't say." Vance appeared as puzzled as Markham. "It might not have been Brisbane at all. The fact that the pins and the string were In his overcoat pocket means little. and yet . . ." "If you want my opinion," put in Heath, "It was that Chink. Chinamen are full of' tricks. Look at the puzzles those yellow babies think up." At this moment one of the detectives that had been sent out to check Miss Lake's and Grassi'g alibis returned to report His report verified Grassi'g alibi, but left a three-hou- r period unaccounted for. Heath made a grimace at Markham. "What I wanta know is where he was between eight and eleven." "He was shuttling to and fro over our complicated transportation system according to his tale," smiled Vance. Then he turned to the detective. "I say, did Doctor Montrose give you any titbits of gossip regarding Grassl's call?" "Nothing, sir. Except that the Italian was called up on the phone during dinner." When the detective had gone Vance went to the telephone and called Doctor Montrose at his home. After a few minutes' conversation he hung up the receiver and paced up and down. "That phone call to Grassl," he murmured, "very strange. Doctor Montrose says It upset Grassl terribly. Hardly finished his dinner, and seemed In a hurry to get away. The phone was In the hall Just outside the dining room door and Montrose couldn't help hearing some of Grassl's end of the conversation. Montrose says he protested bitterly against the message he received-cal- led it an outrage, and Intimated strongly that he would take steps . . Steps-n-ow what could that mean? And who could have called him and upset him? Who knew he was going to Montrose's for dinner? Perhaps Brisbane or Archer. ..'." ... Service Stations in Utah ' I tcdiou ,a Gt tude, to the Pacific ocean. rin NorCthmfted, ty the Great 21- - of In 40 degrees north latitude. The southern zone less com Plete, comprises the Kalahari desert AnS.ra !a, and small districts Argentic rtepublIc and lQ in the mas more t der. COSTS 23$ The new SILENTITE PreIjj Window will lower fuel cm" Yet, it ei at least wino more than ordinary dows. No rattling or sw 25. ing, dealer your lumber See HT.?I,-'!Tr.rri- & lI C& J Distributor! iawyiMifp ' ' ir a mrpi Th mmla i" f, ie Doctor J, Thomas Aquinas (1224-127called the Anzelic Doctor. also known as the Angel Schools because he discussed i difficult points in connexion ofangeisi nature and the being 4) IJnlflPTirtKl Aside from the whits which ia commonly rod" the blue-stemm- ed golgjt is twi f common species which chooUl i forest as its habitat and . thrives only in the shade. $3 Q0Z&$i InUrmoontaln msds kooM W .hnn. Hand Tonr Story rerae ts Intermoontsln mn, P. O. Be vnnr atnrv aDDea this column roe eeiTS check for I P'" fa. 3i$3.O0f Tr -- 1. Largest Caves on Attesting how wonders attain universal Is the case of the Carlsbad ikf .l5t a . In New Mexico, which recognized for almost as the largest caves on continue to draw almost twV their visitors annual neighboring fii I state of Untruthfulness! Hi W "Untruthfulness,' said sage of Chinatown, gerous when It takes 101 ( loriot faster ttar I the ones inside. The theory ii ths this w;il help speed the tardy tra FUEL last ed, Km stations in Paris are purposely I face t 4k ou Keen Clocks Fast Clocks on the outside of laibrj tm -- Jdrea ? . TO BH CONTINUED. dt?Uatr and Idix snsssweiss9wmssS7 ... Deserts Are in Two Zones th?eSer!? In the pPUIar nse of word, occur mainly in two zones encircling the world, and ing to regions of minimumcorrespondrainfall. The more extensive extends from near ,D 8n northeasterly the Whole breadt of North A?088 Cntaln!ng the Sahara, and Nubian Deserts-ove- r the peninsula of Arabia, through 1T ie 0 ?Ut Wt The Big Gooseberry Swsoi The big gooseberry season k tt to expression used in England to note the time of year when tta is so little of political or lociil interest going on that editors (! newspapers are prone to use stona of giant gooseberries, sea serpens and such as fillers. CUT dres you Refining' String be 1 I Oil : an? jrs 400 ' Vance Drew the From Outside. w But if LEW M. CADE, Hinckley, tta At Utah P t 4s ens the habit af Y r ior. dij Jtriei 7 Inter-Moonta- ia Sew as t The business outlook for tor siikt eonsUntlr (rowinr brighter. Better ta. sre ahead for everyone. And I wonder when Prosperity ku t$ returned. If we will hare forrottn economic lessons the Depression ibnli bi Uacht ns. Have ws learned that It ! wise, at id aa thrifty, to patronize Inter-Mouta Havs we acquired 1 ' 1 front CEEEil t Western J( flizatio I know c GOLD" THE WHOLE WHEAT "Makes Cream Taste Slowly tli trse CHAPTER VIII bolt and run through that keyhole would lock the room from the outside." "True, Sergeant," Vance nodded. "But that's where the modification of the trick comes in. The person who planned bolting this door carried the Idea to a few more decimal points. Don't forget we have two pieces of string and two pins." "Well, I don't get it" Heath still stood scowling at the door. "The cases in those two books are easy enough to understand but neither of 'em will work here." "Maybe the two together will work" suggested Vance. "Look at the wall Just to the right of the Jamb and opposite to the bolt Do you see anything?" "I don't see much," he grumbled. "Right in the crack of the Jamb and wall there's what might be a pinhole." "That's It Sergeant I" Vance rose and went to the door; and Markham and I followed him. "I think I'll try the experiment I have in mind." We all watched him with fascinated Interest First he reached In his pocket and drew forth the two pieces of string and bent pins and the darning needle he had found In the pocket of Brisbane Coe's overcoat By means of his pocket knife he straightened one of the pins and inserted It in the hole Heath had found In the wall at the edge of the Jamb, giving It several taps with the handle of his knife to drive it In rather securely. He then threaded the other end of the string In the darning needle and passed It through the keyhole Into the hall, removing the needle and letting the string fall to the hall floor. After this operation he bent the other pin securely round the upright knob of the bolt, passed the string over the pin he had driven Into the wall, and, threading this second string Into the darning needle, passed it also through the keyhole to the hall. He then opened the door about 18 inches, drawing the two strings partly back through the keyhole in a loop to permit the door to swing Inward without disturbing his mechanism. "Let us see if the device works," he said, with an undercurrent of suppressed excitement. "You stay in the room while I go outside and manipulate the strings." He bent down and passed under the two strings Into the hall. Then he closed the door geutly. while we remained inside, our eyes riveted to the two strings and the two pins. Presently we saw the string which was attached to the bolt knob go taut as Vance drew It slowly through the keyhole. Passing over the pin in the wall, which acted as a pulley, the string described a sharp angle, with the pin in the wall as the apex. Slowly Vance drew the string from outside and the bolt getting a straieht mill around the pin. began to move Into us socKet on the Jamb. The door was bolted I The next thing we saw was the tightening of the other string the one attached to the head of the pin In the wall. There came several jerks on the string the pin In the wall resisted several times and bent toward the source or me puii. Finally, it was dls-frATYl . PnPftPAfl thtt - v nnan, ana1 wag then drawn upward from Its depend-lnposition, disappearing through the siee ?ns fa--, style- HOME w ll mmmN. . iin ii. If 1 II iP i. .V iv f ... a) anc |
