| Show fi tI I. I i The KENNEL MURDER CASE h i By y S. S S S. S Van Dine C 0 Copyright by bJ W U. U Wright I s CHAPTER XI XI Continued Continued 1 15 IS s- s There was no possibility Inquired Vance that Mr Wrede could have bue assisted Mr lIr Coe upstairs after the melee Oh Ob no Liang was 1181 quite em em- Within a few moments of ot the encounter here In the library I Mr Wrede came out through the tIle ther r kitchen surreptitiously and departed through the rear door How flow can you be sure sore It was Wrede Mr lr Liang If It you OU did not see him Vance asked The Chinaman gave gue a slow smile In m my country countr the senses are more acute than In the Occident I bad had beard heard Mr Wrede move about this bouse house too often otten not to know his step and sense lense his presence Liang paused and looked at Vance And may I be permitted now to ask a question atI of at I your Jour Vance bowed acquiescence Ask m me me an any question you OU care to lit Mr lr Liang and I 1 will tr try to be as asI I frank as BIOU you have been How flow then did you ou know that I 1 Iwas was wal aware of ot the crime on the night it was committed 1 There were several leveral Indications lit Mr Liang Vance replied but It was 1181 i you yon yourself who told me as much much much- r by br a slip of at the tongue When I first spoke poke to you the next morning you mentioned a tragedy and when I Ii i asked you OU how you knew there had hadi yI i been leen a ft tragedy you replied you yon had hadi i beard heard Gamble telephoning while telephoning while you were preparing breakfast Liang looked at Vance for tor a moment moment mo mo- mo- mo ment went a puzzled expression In his eyes ees Then a faint smile appeared slowly on ons s his bis mouth i I understand now he said I I bad already prepared the breakfast when hen the butler telephoned for he hei i I discovered the crime when he wasI was 1181 I 1 taking Mr Coes Coe's breakfast to him t I Yes Tes I 1 gave myself awa away but It took tooka a clever man to grasp the error Vance acknowledged the compU ment went And now I 1 shall shan ask you OU another question Mr lIr Liang Why were you OU pretending to In the kitchen at three o'clock yesterday morning after r the attack on Mr Grass Grassl r The looked up shrewdly f Pretending I The Ink was quite dry on the papers pa po pers pets you had bad so neatly arranged a athe on o the kitchen table A slow smile again spread over ove r J Liang's ascetic mouth J I was wu afraid afterward he said saidi i that you JOU might have noticed that The fact tact Is Mr Vance I 1 was standing g t guard pard At about past half two that morning I Will was awakened by a slight t tt t v sound I 1 sleep lightly lightly find and I l a am m ix t sensitive to sounds I listened and sac d some lome one opened the door and passed d through the kitchen Into the butlers butler e pantry and the dining room and o on ont n into the t library lIbrary- I You Tou recognized the footsteps I Oh yes el The person who came 1 In Ini n t. t r i 10 so softly was Mr Wrede I nat nat- I orally did not trust him knowing B J I what I 1 did die and I 1 hoped that I could caul d f p f trap him in In some lome way So I 1 rose dressed turned on all the lights In th the e kitchen and took my post at the tab tabas table I as as It If I 1 were working Fifteen min mma I utes later I heard Mr Ir Wrede come comeback comer t r f back softly Into the butlers butler's pantry j i and then retreat again toward this room I knew that he had bad seen the t lights In the kitchen ane and was afraid to enter I did not hear the front door open which open which Is the on only I other means of ot egress except the windows window and I decided to stand my ground A little later 1 I heard Mr Grassi call aall out ane and then I heard the butler telephoning Even so eo I 1 thought It best to remain In to the kitchen for tor It occurred to me that Mr Wrede might i i still till be bo hiding In the house waiting t for tor a chance to escape through the rear door When you came Into Info the kitchen and Informed me 01 the attack at tack on Mr Grass Grassl I 1 suggested the den window I could not see Bee how bow else elser Mr dr r Wrede could have gone out of ot the house bouse Liang looked up sadly I am sorry m my efforts were not more successful but at least I made It difficult for Mr Wrede Vance got up and put out his hll cig cig- arette Youve helped us no end he be said laid Youve clarified man many things Weare We Weare Weare are most grateful lie He walked to Uan Liang and held out his band The Chinaman took It and bowed CHAPTER XII s I Tho The Startling Truth When Liang had bad gone out Vance t sent gent Gamble for tor Hilda IlIlda Lake ake As soon as she entered the library Vance ance Informed In in- informed formed her that Wrede was dead She looked at him a moment lifted her ber eyebrows shrugged ed slightly and I said IBid It is no great loss to the i world Furthermore I Vance went on Im l I 1 believe that Mr Wrede m murdered your W uncles and attempted the life lite of ot Mr GrassL i 1 would not be In the least surprised surprised sur ur the young woman commented s 1 d coldly I have suspected all alon along that hat he murdered Uncle Archer but Archer but I could not quite see SM how he accomplished accomplished accomplished It Have nave you learned hi his bill modus operandi Vance shook his head hed No Nn Miss Lake he admitted a part of ot the problem still to be solved But Dut why she asked should hould he kill Uncle Brisbane Uncle Brisbane was his ally another phase of ot the problem lam lem em that must be worked out There was an error error error-a a miscalculation miscalculation- somewhere I can understand Hilda Ililda Lake remarked remarked re re- marked wh why he should attempt Mr Grassl's life Mr Wrede was Intensely intense intense- ly Iy y jealous of ot Mr Air Grassl All All clever scheming men with a sense ense of 01 their own Int Inferiority so said salil Vance are Inclined toward Intense Jealousy Jealous But Dut theres there's a particular lar ar thought that has entered m my mind this his evening and 1 I shall ask you about Tell Ic-Tell r. r Tell me Miss take lake what reason would Brisbane have had for tor killing Archer Vances Vance's question amazed me and when I glanced at Markham and Heath leath I 1 saw that they too were startled But Dut Hilda Ililda Lake accepted It itse as se If It It had been the most casual and conventional of at queries Oh various reasons she answered calmly There was a deep antagonism between the two Uncle Brisbane had many nany Ideas and many ambitions but buthe he be was always handicapped by the fact act that Uncle Archer controlled all the he money There was therefore the money motive Again Uncle Brie bane jane did not feel leel that Uncle Archer had lad treated me fairly and h he was quite anxious for tor me to marry Mr Wre UnciA Archer as you know was violently opposed to the marriage And you ou Miss Mies Lake Oh she returned offhandedly I thought the marriage might be rather a good thing Mr lIr Wrede was a comforting comforting comforting com com- forting kind of 01 IOU soul I who wouldn't have bothered me In the slightest and slightest and iwas I Iwas Iwas was tremendously desirous of ot escaping ing lag from this queer household I knew all his faults but as long tong as 81 the they didn't Interfere with me me- me Perhaps suggested Vance the ar arrival arrival ar- ar rival of ot Mr lIr Grassl changed your lour mind minda a bit bin For the first time during m my acquaintance acquaintance ac ac- ac- ac with Hilda Ililda Lake I noticed a soft sott feminine expression come Into o her eyes She glanced down as If It em em- Perhaps as you say ray she replied d In a low voice the arrival of ot Mr lIr Grassi changed my mind Vance stood upI up I hope Gape Miss Lake he said that t you will both be very happy We dined at Vances Vance's apartment that the night Both Hoth Vance and Markha m were were troubled for the case had no not t te had a satisfactory ending there endIng there were war e man many things that had been left unexplained unexplained there were many links In th the e chain of evidence which had not been bee n found But nut before the night was over ove r there were no longer any mysteries each step In this monstrous crime an and d each fach perplexing and contradictory fa factor factor fac fac- a tor had been clarified The final elucidation of ot the mystery my mys s e tery came In a most unexpected man men e r rW W Y l i i I t i IN I It Is II No Great Loss Lon to the tho World ner net We were sitting In fn Vances Vance's 1 11 11 1 talking after dinner Van Vance ce smoked In doleful silence for a while e Its dashed he be mu mut t What I cant can't Is bow how Archer got upstairs after he ha had bad d been stabbed In the library Theres There's S 'S little doubt after Liang's story th that tha at the bloody work was done downstairs Im not so sure lure youre you're right about abou cat that Vance submitted Markham Markha m It If your theory Is correct you mus mu must at logically admit the proposition that a dead man walked upstairs Vance Inclined his head I realize that he said thoughtful thought ly Iy Then he leapt to his fe fee leet et and stood before Markham tens ten E and animated A dead man walk walked d upstairs he repeated In a strained strange d hushed voice Thole It iti I That Thai is the answer to everything Yes Ves Markham Markham Markham-he he nodded with curl curl- our OUI us a significance a dead man walked upstairs I Markham looked up at him with benevolent concern Come me come Vance he be said laid In a kindly paternal tone This case has hasp upset p ct you Take a good stiff nightcap and nd go go to bed bedNo bedNo bed bed- No no Markham Vance cut In his its eyes staring straight ahead That's Just what happened th the other night Archer Coe already Coe-already already a dead walked man walked upstairs And what And what Is even ven more terrible Markham Markham-he he didn't know he be was 1181 dead l I Vance ance turned turned quickly and went toa to toa a set of thick quarto volumes on the Ule lower ower shelf of 01 one of ot his bookcases le Ile ran his finger nger along the bo books ks until he came to volume E He lIe turned the pages and found what he was looking for lor Then he glanced down the column of ot fine One type Listen Markham he said Heres neres Heresa neresa a historical case cuse of ot a dead person walking lIe He read rend from Irom the encyclopedia encyclopedia Elizabeth Eugenie 1837 1898 consort of Francis Joseph emperor of ot Austria a daughter of 01 Duke Maximilian Joseph of 01 Bavaria and Louisa Wilhelmina was born on the he of at December 1837 at Lake Starnberg He lIe turned the page But nut heres here's the passage regard regard- lag Ing ng her death Elizabeth spent pent much of at her time traveling through Europe and at the palace she had built In Corfu On the of ot September 1803 she was walking through the streets of ot Geneva with her entourage from her hotel to the steamer when an anarchist n named med Luigi ran suddenly Into the roadway and stabbed her In the back with a shoemakers shoemaker's shoemakers shoemaker's shoemakers shoemaker's shoe shoe- makers maker's awL The police poUce Immediately pounced jounced upon the man and were about to o drag him away when the empress stayed them and gave the order that they should release him lie He has not Injured me she said and I wish on this occasion to forgive him She continued her walk to the steamer which was more than half halt a mile distant distant distant dis dis- dis- dis tant and made a farewell speech to her subjects subject from the deck She then retired to her cabin and lay down Several hours later she was found dead had actually stabbed per her er without her being aware of 01 It and she had died hours later of ot an Internal Internal In In- hemorrhage This crime was the final misfortune which came to the Austrian emperor and all Europe Europeo was aroused to a state of ot Intense In in- Vance closed the book and threw It to one side Now do you OU see what I 1 mean Markham he asked A dead per son SOD often otten does strange things with with- without without out knowing he Is le dead Do you recall what Doctor Doremus said An Internal Internal In In- hemorrhage 1 That's the whole story that'S tory that's the key to everything That's how Archer could have been killed led In the library and still have walked upstairs Markham stood up and walked back and forth across the room Good O G-d G dl I 1 Ills His words were scarcely audible So that's the ex I No wonder we couldn't understand the things that happened d there that night Unbelievable I IVance Vance had bad sunk back Into his chair relaxed He lie too took a deep Inspiration like a man who had suddenly found d a friendly settlement In the midst o oa of 01 ofa f a hostile Jungle Really Markham he said with a slight upward glance taking out ht his Mc cigarette case Ill never forgive yon yoI r for tor this this never never I It was you who o guessed the solution And I knew v 1 It ot t all the time but I couldn't correlate e m my knowledge Markham came to a sudden Budden halt What do you mean by bl saying that the t I guessed the solution you say asked Vance mildly mildly mild ly Iy that the only way wal one could explain explain ex plain the circumstances was b by the assumption assumption assumption as as- that a dead man walked upstairs upstairs up stairs No Markham I 1 am a asure m sure lure I shall never forgive you Markham sat flat down and muttered a disgusted oath He ne smoked a while In silence The Internal hemorrhage many things he admitted finally U Rat rt RatI it itI I still dont don't understand Brisbane's death and the bolted door And yet d' d ye see see returned Vance It all fits In perfectly now that we wt have the key lie He lay back In his chair and stretched his legs He ne took several putts puffs on his cigarette and halt hall closed his eyes I 1 think Markham I can reconstruct the and occurrences occurrences occur occur- truces that took place In the Coe domicile last Wednesday night I 1 doubt If It f Wrede actually planned ti h t murder Archer Coe that night The Idea had bad no doubt been In his mini for a It long time for tor he had obviously taken the precaution of ot securing a duplicate key to the spring lock on the rent rear door But nut I ha have ve a that he wished only to argue various matters matters mat mat- out with Archer last Wednesday night before belore actually resorting to mur taut der Its It's obvious that he called on Archer that night and tried to con Ince him that he would be the per perr perfect test lect mate for Hilda Lake Archer disagreed and disagreed and disagreed violently That 11 was no doubt the argument that Liang overheard I Imagine that the debate reached the point where blows were struck The poker was quite hand handy dont don't y know ane end and Wrede with his tremendous sense lense of ot personal Inferiority In would naturally reach for some outside agent to help him over oer the top He lIe snatched the poker and struck Archer over the head bead Archer fell teU forward against the table upsetting It and fracturing his rib Wrede was In a But Dut again his sense of 01 Inferiority Invaded him He lie looked round the room roam quickly saw aw the dagger in the cabinet took It out and end as Archer lay on the floor drove drone It Into his back The The deed was done He lie had vindicated himself In to a physical way war and had removed all obstacles from tram his path H He lIe e believed he was alone In the house bouse with Archer but still affil there was the q question of 01 a suspect Into his shrewd brain flashed nashed the thought of ot Liang Wong whom he had always alwa's suspected of beIng being being be be- ing more than a servant lIe He figured t that hat If It he left the Chinese dagger where It would be found In the library plans |
