Show KENNEL 5 b casar az ly atif allaf V 5 E RV I 1 C I 1 SYNOPSIS philo vance expert in solving crima mysteries Is called in to investigate vesti gate the supposed suicide of 0 archer coe district attorney mark hain ban 1 and vance go to house they th ey find fredo a friend 0 of coes there also a signor grassi grass a guest th the door ot of the death chamber Is bolted from the inside they force I 1 it I 1 coo Is clo clothed thed in a dressing go gown w n bu but t wears street shoes ileath heath says it I 1 Is suicide vanco vance says it Is murder the lie medical examiner says suicide then finds evidences of murder CHAPTER II 11 continued 4 Mar markhard kharn studied vance a moment then turned back to doremus did coe die of that blow on the head bead the medical examiner teetered teet ered on his toes and pursed ills lips theres something funny here theres been an internal hemorrhage what might be expected from a severe blow on the head blood in the mouth and all that but mr air markham doremus spoke impressively that blow on the left frontal powerful enough to kill a man nope he be die of concussion or a fra trac aured skull and he die of the ver shot added vance most tas fas still the johnnys dead dont y know doremus swung jerkily about to heath come on sergeant lie and heath lifted coes body and carried it to the bed together they removed the clothes from the dead man bun hung them over a chair by the bed and dor doremus emus began his examination the body was lying ou on its back and as do remus pressed his bis hand over the right side we could see him pause and bend forward fifth rib broken he announced and a decided bruise did it happen before or after death asked earlham MarL Marli ham bam before otherwise be no v epidermal discoloration and that blow on tile the head bend was also before death I 1 take IL it sure thing ile he got a little bunged banged up before he died but that what killed him was the blow on the head powerful enough to hake baie rendered him unconscious vance was looking around the room at the various pieces of furniture and there was a yelled veiled interest in ills his ees oh yes doremus told him more that than likely vances gaze came to rest on a heavy teakwood chest near the east windows going to it be opened the lid and looked in then he closed it almost immediately and pursued vance turning back to tile the medical examiner would coe have regained consciousness ness very soon after that blow on his head problematical doremus straightened and screwed up his face into a perplexed frown lie ile might have remained unconscious for twelve hours and he might have come to in a few minutes all depends but not bothering me there are a couple of small abrasions A on the inside of the right hand fingers and a slight cut on oil thel the knuckle and all fresh id say hed put up a scrap with whoever cracked him over the head and yet his clothes were certainly nent neat no sign of 0 haing been mussed and his hairs combed and slicked clicked down yeah and there was a gun in his bis hand and he was sitting restful like and looking peaceful added heath with puzzled disgust somebody dolled him up after the battle A swell situation but they change ills his shoes put in markham which ilch explains ills his still vv wearing earing ills his street shoes with his bathrobe ileath heath addressed addres bed this remark io to vance vance gazed mildly at the sergeant for a moment why should anyone redress re dress a person he lias has just knocked unconscious and then comb his hair its a sweets sweet kindhearted kind hearted thought sergeant but somehow its not the usual procedure no im afraid well have to account for coes coiffure and sartorial condition along other lines heath studied vance critically you mean lie he changed ills his clothes clot lies himself and ad combed his hair after his head was hashed bashed in I 1 its not impossible said vance I 1 1 in that case markham asked I 1 why 1 by did he riot not also change his r shoes ll oes something Som elbing intervened during this speculation doremus lind had turned coes body so that it now lay on OD its face I 1 as watch natch ing him and I 1 saw him suddenly lean forwald for waid stabbed by george lie he announced excitedly we ve all drew close to the bed and looked down at the area on the body at which doremus was pointing just below coes right shoulder blade and near dear the spine was a small diamond shaped slipped wound about halt half an inch in diameter it was a clean cut wound etched nith ith black coagulated blood apparently there had ben no external bleeding this fact struck me ins as unusual and markham must have received tile same impression for or after a moments silence lie asked doremus about it all wounds do not bleed externally doremus explained tills this is especially true of clean quick that pass through gli the membranes into the viscera they frequently show little or no external blood like contusions the bleeding is internal this stab closed immediately and the lips of the wound adhered an internal hemorrhage w was as caused very simple now we have an explanation of everything vance smiled cynically oh have we now we have only an explanation of the cause of coes death and that explanation complicates the situation horribly it makes the case eien een more insane markham MarK liam shot him a quick glance 1 I cant see that he be said bald it at least clarifies one point we have been discussing we now dow know what stopped him in the middle of bang ing ills his clothes 1 I wonder vance crushed out ills his cigarette in an ashtray ash asli tray on the night table and picked up the dressing gown which coe had been wearing when we found him lie ile held it up to the light fight and inspected it minutely there was no cut or hole of any kind in it we ve all looked fooled on in stupefied silence no markham vance said placing the gown goan the foot of the bed coo coe have on ills dress ing gown when lie he was stabbed that change was made later lie ile walked quickly to the clothes closet in the west wall whose door was wag slightly ajar opening the door wide lie he stepped inside A moment later lie he emerged with a clothes hanger from which depended a coat and waistcoat of the same somber gray material as that of the trousers coe had been wearing vance ran his fingers over the coat in the vicinity of the right shoulder and there was revealed a slit in the material the exact size of tile the wound in coes back there was a similar slit silt in the balk back of the waistcoat coinciding with the one in the coat coal vance held the two articles of clothing close to the light and touched the slit silt with his fingers these holes he said are slightly stiffened at the edges as if some substance had dried on them I 1 think that substance will nil be found to be blood theres no doubt that coe was fully dressed when he be was stabbed and that the blood on the dagger or knife soiled the edges of these two cuts when it was withdrawn after a moment markham expressed the thought uppermost in all our minds that being the case vance the murderer must have taken cues coes coat and vest off hung them in the closet and then put the dressing gown on tile the stabbed man wily why the murderer vance parried the indications are that some one else came here after coe was dead and sent a bullet through ills ilia head this other hypothetical ical person have made the change in the corpses habiliments does that theory help us LIS any markham SIar kham asked gruffly not a bit vance cheerfully admitted even it if it were true which of course we dont know and rl 1 admit it sounds incredible I 1 merely made the suggestion by way of indicating that at this stage of the game we e should not jump at conclusions doramus was becoming bored tle he gave a cavernous yawn stretched himself and reached for his hat which he had placed on the floor beside the bed well that lets me out he squinted at aleath 1 I suppose you want a quick autopsy ill say we do tile the sergeants head was envelo enveloped ried in a cloud of elgar cigar smoke when can we get it tonight if you roust must have it doremus drew a over the prone figure on tho the bed and made out an order for the removal of tile body ile he shook han hands 1 cordially with every every one and walked brisk ly toward the door just a moment doctor stark liams hams voice li tilted him any re mote possibility of suicide here what doremus wheeled in s surprise cpr I 1 se nut a chance cliance clin nce that birl bird was I la in the hack possibly have doria it himself ile he died of f internal hemorrhage caused by tile the stab iles hes been dead eight or ton ten hours maybe longer tile the bullet in his right temple dont monn mean a thing he be was already ready ill dead suicide and nith a wave of the hand he went out markham stood mood for a time looking unhappily at the floor finally lie ho made a commanding gesture to better notify the boys sergeant get the fingerprint men and the photographer were in for it IL and like lake charge of course vance had seated himself in a low backed chair near the windows and was smoking placidly ills his eyes on the belling cel ling markham lie spoke languidly yet withal thoughtfully let us summarize for the sake of clarity before we proceed iab alth our interviews of tile the family and guests g first coe was struck over the lead head anil and pe thalis rendered unconscious then he probably tumbled against some ha hard rd object and broke a I 1 rib all this was evidently preceded by some sort of physical contretemps coe was we may assume in liis ills street clothes at the time later on how bow much later we dont know ho he was stabbed in tile hie back through his coat and waistcoat with a small peculiarly shaped instrument and he died of internal a hemorrhage at some time subsequent to the stabbing ills his coat and waistcoat were removed and carefully hung up tip in the clothes closet his dressing gown was put on buttoned and the belt neatly tied about him film moreover his hair was w as correctly combed but ills his street shoes were not changed to bedroom slippers furthermore we found film sitting in a comfortable attitude in an easy chair to in a po he could not possibly have been in when he was stabbed and its his broken rib indicates clearly that he was at one time prostrate over some hard object then A 5 a f 1 I 1 t on the floor was a black stain of dried blood as if all this were not incongruous enough we know that after he was killed by the stab in his back and before rigor mortis had bad set in a bullet crashed into his right temple the gun from which the bullet was presumably fired was clutched tightly in his bis right hand arid and we e must not forget the serene expresion on coes face it w was is not the expression of a man who had been struggling with an antagonist and been knocked unconscious by a blow on the head and this fact markham Is 19 one of the strangest phases of the case coe was in a peaceful or at least a satisfied state 0 of f mind when he departed this life vance puffed again on his cigarette and his eyes became dreamy now there are other elements in the situation that must be taken into consideration for instance we found him in a room secure securely li and powerfully bolted on the inside and with no other means of ingress ingres I 1 or egress all the windows are closed and all the shades drawn the electric lights are burn burning I 1 n and the bed has not been slept in what took place here last night therefore must have happened before coes usual time for retiring furthermore ther more I 1 am inclined to think that we ue must also consider the implied fact that just before his death he had been readia reading about peach bloom vases and that he had started to T write rite a letter or make a memorandum of some kind that dated piece of stationery and that fountain pen on the floor must be added to the problem 11 at this point wo we could bear hurried footsteps mounting the stairs and the next nest moment gamble stood at the door with a startled look in his eyes 11 clr Marl markham he stammered excuse the interruption tir bir but b but ut theres something queer very queer sir dr down dow in tile the iron front I 1 hall CHAPTER ill III the wounded scottie Sc ottle is in the hall W barked markham vances recapitulation had produced an irritating ri effect on him A dog sirl gamble announced gave a start of 0 erasper allon what of it A wounded do dog sir the butler explained before markham could answer vance had leaped to hl i feet the thing ie been waiting for there was a suppressed note of excitement in ills his voice A wounded dug I 1 my word lie ile went swiftly to the door come along gamble he called as lie ile passed quickly down the stairs we all followed in silent amazement where la Is it vance demanded when mien lie he had reached the lower hall gamble stepped to the heavy por fieres at the right of the entrance door and drew one of them aside 1 I 1 hoard heard a strange sound just now he explained like a whine sir it startled me die terribly when I 1 looked back of this curtain there I 1 saw the do dog does it bel belong 0 ng to anyone in the house markham asked oh no sir the roan man assured him why I 1 was so startled theres never dever been a dog in this house ho use since ive been here and going on ten years As he held back the portiere port lere we could see the small prone shape of a n slightly brindled scottish terrier lying on its side with mith its four short legs stretched out over the left eye was a clotted wound and on the floor was a black stain of dried blood the eye beneath the wound was swollen abut but the other eye dark hazel and oval looked up at us with an expression of tra tragic ic appeal vance took the dog tenderly in his arms what streets this he asked of no one in particular seventy first open that door gamble the butler apparently as much surprised as any of the rest of us hurried to obey vance stepped into the vestibule the dog held gently against his breast im going to doctor blarney blamey he announced lies hes just up the street ill be back bach presently and he be hurried down the stone steps this new development left us all even more puzzled than before vances animated response to gambles announcement regarding the dog and his cryptic remark as he hurried downstairs added another element of almost outlandish mystery to a situation already incredibly complicated markham fixed gamble with nith an angry look you never saw that dog before no sir the butler had become oily again never sir its most mysterious I 1 cant imagine how it got in the house wrede and grassl grassi had come to the draing room door and stood looking out curiously into the hall markham seeing them addressed himself to wrede do you mr wrede know anything about a small black shaggy dog that might haie found access to this house wrede looked puzzled why no he answered after a slight light hesitation no one hero cared for dogs I 1 happen to know that both archer and brisbane detested pets frowned well a dog has just been found here in the liall hall back of those curtains most remarkable wrede seemed genuinely astonished 1 I cant imagine where it came from it must have followed some one in without being seen markham did not answer and heath taking his bis cigar from hla his mouth stepped forward belligerently and thrust out his jaw cut but you like dogs dont iou he shot forth in his best third de gree manner wrede was taken laken aback abaci by the sergeants sudden aggressiveness why yes he be said im very fond of them ive always kept one till I 1 moved into the apartment next door what kind of a dog demanded ileath heath without relaxing his bellicose manner A doberman pinscher wrede told him and turned to markham 1 I dont exactly understand this mans ques questions lions were all a little on edge markham apologized some very peculiar things went on |