Evening Star Newspaper, October 28, 1930, Page 28

By S. S. Van Dine Copyright, 1930, by 8. 8. Van Dine. INSTALLMENT XVI. | OU must admit, Markham, I ven you makes plausi- | ~~ble the guilt of any absent 3 person, and consequently re- | moves one of your strongest counts Dr. Bliss—namely, proximity and opportunity. . . . And this fact, taken in connection with the opium vincing, though not an absolute, alibi.” | “Yes. . . .” Markham spoke with deliberate and pensiVe slowness. negative clues you have found tend to | and the financial report and the bloody | “A reasonable doubt, as it were— what?” Vance grinned. “A beautiful ghrl.s!—menningless. of cou but | ypically legal. As if the mind of man were ever capable of being reason- able! . . . And_dont overlook the | fact, Markham, that if the doctor had | merely intended to brain Kyle with the | prese: t | ing found in the coffee, gives him a con- | against him.” And just what does one do |such legalistically complicated circum- “The | stances?” Markham smoked for a while in trou- cointeract the direot elues of the scarab | pled silence. “T'm going to keep Bliss under close footprints. There's no doubt about It: | surveillance.” A the doctor could present a strong de- | Th Markham hesitated. He reélized, I | think, the hopelessness of his case now |that Vance had unearthed so many con- | tradictory bits of evidence. “It's cluded, “to order the doctor's arrest at nt, in view of the extenuating fac ou've brought to light. . . . But, dded grimly, “I'm certainly not go- to “And statue of Sakhmet the evidences of the | FTRY death trap would not have been pres- | ent. If his object was only to kill Kyle, why should the whittled pencil—in the | shape of an ‘upright'—have been on top of the cabinet” | “You're perfectly right” Markham itted. “A shrewd defense attorney could make a shambles of the case I, have against the doctor.” “And consider your direct evidence for a moment.” Vance seated himself and crossed his legs. “Th arab pin, which was found beside the dy, coul have been palmed by any one of th conference last night and deliberately | placed beside the murdered body. Or, if the doctor had been put to sleep by | the opium in his coffee, it would have beew an easy matter for the murderer to have taken the pin from the desk B this morning—the door into the study y' know, was never locked. And what Would have been simpler than to heve | taken the financial report at the same time and slipped it into Kyle's dead; hand? . . . As for the bloody foot-| prints, any member of the household could have taken the tennis shoe from | Dr. Bliss’ bed room and made the prints in the blood and then chucked the shoe | in the waste-basket while the doctor | slept under the influence of the opi- ate . . . And that closed east win- n the court—doesn't that closed window, with its drawn shade, indicate that some one in the study didn’t want the neighbors next door to see what | ‘was going on?” Ay Vance took a slow draw on his cig- arette and blew out a long spiral of RS smoke. | “I'm no Demosthenes, Markham, but | T'd take Dr. Bliss’ case in any court and | @ guarantee him acquittal.” | ‘Markham had bes walking up and [ down, his hands behind his back. | “The presence of this death trap and of the opium in the coffee cup,” he con- ceded at length, “casts an entirely new | {iG) light on the case. It throws the af-| wide open and makes possible, and | gven plausible, some one else’s guilt. | He stopped suddenly and looked sharply | at Heath. What's your opinion, ser-: o Heath was obviously in a quandary. | “I'm going cuckoo,” he confessed, | atter a pause. “I thought we had the | damn affair sewed up in an airtight | bag, and now Mr. Vance pulls a lot g8 of his subtle stuff and hands the doc | a loophole. He gave Vance a belligerent | glare. “Honest to Gawd, Mr. Vance, you | ghoulda been a lawyer.” His contempt ‘was devastating. Markham could not help smiling, but ‘Vance shook his head sadly and looked at the l:fksnnt with an exaggeratedly “Oh, T ni, sergeant; must you be nsultin’?” he protested whimsically. “Pm only tryin’ to save you and Mr. Markham from making a silly blunder. And what thanks do I get? I'm told I Mm:e been a lawyer! Alack & and wel I “Let’s forego the cynicism.” Mark- ham was too uj to fall in with Vance's frivolous attitude. “You've made your point. And, in doing so, you've saddled me with a serious and | blem.’ m l”:’ml all” pursued Heath, | “there's plenty of evidence against “Quite true, sergeant” Vance had |f xn become thoughtful. “But I'm id that evidence will not bear the | closest scrutiny.” : | “You think, I take” it,” said Mark- ham, “that the evidence was.deliberately m—mz the actual murderer ma- ly placed these clues so that they | ‘would point to Dr. Bliss.” “Is such a technic so unusual?”| asked Vance. “Hasn't many a murderer sought to throw suspicion on some one else? Isn't criminal history filled with cases of innocent men being convicted on convincing circumstantial evidence? And is it not entirely possible that the misleading evidence n such cases was | deliberately planted by the real cul-| Its. Markham returned, “I can’t afford, at this stage of the game, to ignore entirely the indicatory evidence ting to Dr. Bliss. 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My mind is beclouded.and adumbrated. is shot with mist and mizzle, with | vapor and haze and steam; it is cirrous | and nubiferous, cumulous and vaporous; it is filled with wool-packs, mare's tails, colt's tails, cat's talls, frost smoke and spindrift. “The low'ring element scowls oer the darkened landscip’ . . . My mind, in fact, is nephological—" “Spare me your meteorological vo- cabularly. Remember, I'm only an ig- norant_district attorney.” Markham’s | sarcasm was measured by his exaspera- | | tion. “Perhaps, however, you can sug- gest our next step. I frankly admit | that, aside from cross-examining the | menmbers of the Bliss household, I can't see_any means of approach to this problem, for, if Bliss isn't guilty, the | crime was obviously committed by | some one who was not only intimate with the domestic situation here, but who had access to the hous | “1 think, don't y' know,” suggested | vance, “that we should first acquaint | ourselves with the conditions and re- | Iatlonships existing in the menage. Tt would give us a certain equipment— | what? And it might indicate some fer- | | tile line of inquiry.” He bent forward | |in his chair. “Markham, the solution | of this problem depends almost entirely | on our finding the motive. And there | are sinist ramifications to that mo- tive. Kyle's murder was no ordin'ry | | erime. Tt was planned with a finesse | and a cunning amounting to genius. | Only a tremendous incentive _could have produced it. There's fanaticism be- | “tell Dr. Bliss he is not to leave the house until I have seen him.” Heath disappeared on his erfand. (FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2:30 P.M.) Markham slowly lighted a fresh cigar and sat down heavily on one of the folding chairs near the inlaid coffer, facing Vance. “The situation is beginning to look serious—and complex,” he said, with a weary sigh. “More serious than you think,” Vance returned. “And far more complex. . . . I assure you, Markham, that this mur- |der is one of the most astounding and subtle criminal plots you have ever been faced with. Superficially, it appears simple and direct—it was intended to |appear that way. d've see—and your first reading of the clues was exactly what the murderer counted on.” Markbham regarded Vance shrewdly. “You have an idea of what that plot | is?” His words were more a statement | than a question. TR s became aloof. impossible, of course,” he con- ignore altogether the evidence in yes.” Vance at_once oh, “An idea? . . . Quite. |But not what youd term a blindin’ | illumination. I immediately suspected a plot: and all the subsequent findings verified my theory. But I've only & nebulous idea regardin’ it. And the precise object of the plot is totally ob- fuscated. However, since I know that the surface indications are deliberately misleading, there's a chance of getting at_the truth.” Markham sat up aggressively. “What's in your mind?” H “Oh, my dear chap! You flatter me ! he pronounced finally. But_make ar- Heath started | sergeant,” Markham called; AS A BED Modern Day Bed Qutfit Only S 1f you have no charge account at The Hub, here is an opportunity to open one with this price-smashing special in a complete DAY-BED OUT- FIT as ILLUSTRATED. You can’t imagine what a practical, comfort- able and convenient article of furniture this is until you have one in your home. The frame of the day-bed is of metal, finished in mahogany. It is complete with spring and cretonne-covered mattress pad with valance. 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The actudl murder was merely a prelimin'ty to something far more devilish—it was the means to an end. And that ultimate object was in- finitely more terrible and despicable than Kyle’s precipitous demise. . A nice, clean, swift murder can soms times be justified, or at least extenu- ated. But the criminal in this instance did not stop with murder; he used it as a weapon to crush and ruin an inno- cent person. . . i “Granted what you say is true"— Markham rose uneasily and leaned against the shelves containing the ! shawabtis— how can we discover the| interrelationships of this household vithout interviewing its members?" questioning the one man who| stands apart from the actual inmates?” Vance nodded. “He undoubtedly knows more than he has told us. He has been with the Bliss expedition for two vears. He has lived in Egypt and is ainted with | the family history. . . . Why not have him in here for a brief causerie before tackling the members of the es- tablishment? There are several points I could endure to know ere the investi- gation_procee: Markham was watching Vance closely. Presently he moved his head up and down slowly. “You've something in mind, Vance, and it's neither nimbus, cumulus, Very well. N Hlustration shows the Day Bed open and closed. Terms $1.00 Many other break- {rm get other,” the t told him, with an intonation of di t. “Didn't even say Heath returned to the museum at this | anything. Just went upstairs with his moment. head down, stunnedlike. . . . Queer “Doc Bliss has gone to his bed room, | bird, if you ask me.” ! with orders to stay there,” he reported.| “Most Egyptologists are queer birds, “The rest of 'em are in the drawing |sergeant,” Vance remarked consolingly. room, and Hennessey and Emery are Markham was again growing impa- keeping their eye en things. Also, I|tient. He addressed himself curtly to sent, the (vagon away—and Snitkin's Heath. vi ing the fron r.” I had rarely | “Mr. Vance and I have decided to seen Heath in so discouraged a mood. | find out what Mr. Scarlett, can tell us “How did Dr. Bliss act when you |before going on with the investigation. ordered his release?” Vance asked. | Will you ask him to step here?” Didn't seem to care one way or an- (To be continued.) 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