Evening Star Newspaper, November 6, 1930, Page 38

The Scarab Murder Case | By S. S. Van Dine Copyright, 1930, by 8. 8. Van Dine. INSTALLMENT XXV. [ 40 sald there was opium | in my room?” Salveter squared h's shoulders. Vance leaned back in his chair. “It really -doesn’t matter. Anyway, 's no opium there now. . . . I say, | Mr. Salveter; you return to the | breakfast room this morning after you and Mrs. Bliss had gone up stairs?” “T did not! . . . That is,” he amended, *I don't remember. . . ." ‘Vance rose abruptly and stobd men- umg;‘y‘ before him. 't try to guess what Mrs. Bliss told us. If you don't care to answer my questions, I'll turn you over to the homicide bureau—and God help you! ... We're here to learn the truth, and we want straight answers. Did you re- turn to the breakfast room?” “No—I did not.” “That's much better—oh, much!” | Vance sighed and resumed his seat. “And now, Mr. Salveter, we must ask | a very intimate question: “Are you move with Mrs, Bliss?” “I refuse to answer!” “Good! But you would not be en- | tirely broken hearted if Dr. Bliss should be gathered to his fathers?” Salveter clamped his jaws and sald nothing. ‘Vance contemplated him ingly. !‘liv understand,” he said amicably, “That Mr. Kyle has left you a con- | siderable fortune in his will. * * * If Dr. Bliss should ask vou to finance the continuation of h's ekcavations in Egypt, would you do it?" “I'd insist upon it even if he did not ask me.” A fanatical light shone in| Salveter's eyes. “That is,” he added, | as a reasoned afunhnufiht‘ “if Meryt- Amen approved. I would not care to €0 against her wishes.” “Ah!” Vance had lit his cigarette | and was smoking dreamily. “And do | think she would disapprove?” | Balveter shook his head. | “No, I think she would do whatever doctor wanted.” “A dutiful wife—quoi?” Salveter bristled and sat up. “She’s the straightest, most loyal—" | “Yes, yes.” Vance exhaled a spiral | of cigarette smoke. “Spare me your ad- ives. * * * I take it, however, she's not entirely ecstatic with her choice of | & life mate.” | “If she wasn't,” Salveter returned angrily, “she wouldn’t show it.” ‘Vance nodded uninterestedly. “What do you tnhik of Hani?” he “He's a dumb _beast—a good soul, dores Mrs. Bliss . . .” Sal- “ | ruminat- | *“Good God, Mr. Vance! d | think—" He broke off in horror; | then he shook himself. “I see what m getting at. it . . . degenerate They're all alike—Ories one of 'em. No sense of — suj tious devils — but loyal |- as they ‘em. I wonder o “Quite. We're all wonderin’.” Vance | tly unimpressed by Sal- thought her rmu-m:uun of eouneh-ll’:K need a bit of coach- A hard Tight shone in Salveter’s eyes. “You're on the wrong tack. Nobody | ‘eoached . "He'a capable of acting “And the suspicion on lom!‘i one else?” Vance looked at the other. *T'd say the planting of thnmnb%l-n‘ ‘was a bit too subtle for a mere fellah.” “You think so?” Salveier was Ilmon[ ‘contemptuous. "‘l%dfl;":uknn‘ those | intricate you know any one round Dr. who uses Koh-i-noor | “You didn’t b'y?'l'n; chance see Dr. “No. When I came down to break- | MSqumenewuworuncm “Did you go into the museum this before you went on your errand to the Me litan?” | Salveter’s eyes blinked rapidly. “Yes!” he blurted finally. “I gen- erally go into the museum every morn- g after breakfast—a kind of habit. I to see that everything is all right— that n has happened during the night. I'm the assistant curator, and, | CLEAN your | back. aside from my ponsibility, I'm tre- mendously interested in the place. It's my duty to keep an eye on things.” Vance nodded understandingly. H “What, time did you enter the mu- seum this morning?" Salveter hesitated. Then throwing his_head back he looked challengingly at Vance. “I left the house a little after 9. When I got to Fifth avenue it suddenly | occurred to me I hadn't made an in- spection_of the museum, and for some reason I was worried. I couldn't tell you why I felt that way—but I did Maybe because of the new shipment that arrived yesterday. Anyway, I turned back, let myself in with my key, and went into the museum—" “About half-past nine?” “That would be about right.” | “And no one saw you re-enter the! house?” “I hardly think so. In any event, 1 didn't see any cne.” 4 Vance gazed at him languidly. “Suppose you finish the recital. . If you don’t care to, I'll finish it for you.” “You won't have to.” Salveter tossed his cigarette into a cloisonne dish on the table and drew himself resolutely to the edge of his chair. “T’ll tell you all there is to tell. Then if you're not sat- isfled you can order my arrest—and the hell with you!"” Vance sighed and let his head fall he breathed. “But why be -vulgar? . 1 take it you saw your un-le before you fnally quitted the museum for the Great American Mauscleum on the Avenue.” “Yes—I saw him!" Salveter's eyes flashed and his chin shot forward. “Now, make something out of that." ‘Really I 't b> bothered. Much WELL-KNOWN MAN PRAISES DIAPEPSIN FOR STOMACH ILLS “Such energy!” “For over two years I had heart- burn and gas on my stomach,” says A. L. Davidson, go ular Navy Yard Street, S.E., {he employee, of 81 ‘Washington, D. “I would belch often, lenvmp a sour, hot taste in my mouth. Few things with me. “Thle,n 1 mg.-bont;it nlndhndnt me some Pape’s Diapepsin. im~ mediate relief from the first few tablets, so I kept on with it. Now 1 feel fine; eat all the lrieg: ood{ I want without bad after- s, have gained eight rfionnda since; starting on _P:Ye'l i in and my trouble is all gone. tablets are pleasant to chew and sure get results quickly.” Pape’s Diapepsin is the best thin yet discove to end dicnlivg worries, give tone to a disordered stomach, increase appetite, make digestion vigorous and complete. Its success in o many cases where every- thing else has failed, proves that. All drugstores sell these harmless, pleasant tablets, If you prefer to ti them before buying, a letter to Pape’s Diapepsin, Wheeling, W. Va., wi bring a sample box, FREE. DiapersIN Quick Relief for Stomach liis| rugs POLISH your floors service that does not stop at #he edge of the rug is mow available to you. with VAC You can clean the whole room with your West- inghouse Wax-Vac. It gets all the dirt out of your rugs...and thea with a few simple adjust- ments you can wax your hardwood floors or lino- leum and give them a bright, lasting polish. Ask your dealer about the Wax-Vac and the new cleaning thorough- ness it gives at such a reasonably low price. Westinghouse THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, stumped me. There were the words ankhet, wash and tema that I couldn't translate.” Vance frowned slightly; then his eye- brows lifted. “Ankhet . ., . wash . . . tema . . ! He iterated the words slowly. “Was the ankhet written with or' without a de- terminative?” Salveter did not answer at once. “With animal-skin determina- tive,” he said presently. 'And was the next word really wash and not was?” in he hesitated, and looked un- , I think. .. . . And tema was written with a double flail.” “Not_the sledge ideogram, eh? . Now, that's most interéstin’. And ing your linguistic throes your uncle walked in.” “Yes, 1 was sitting at the little desk- table by the obelisk when Uncle Ben opened door. 1 heard him say something to Brush, and I got up to| greet him. It was rather dark, and| he didn't see me till he'd reached the | floor of the museum.” | ‘| he shot his “And then?” “I knew he wanted to inspect the new treasures, so I ran along. Went to the Metropolitag—" “Your uncle seemed in normal good “You left the museum immediately after him?* “IM onroue.,nl hadn't realized I'd beeg 80 over the papyrus, an I hu% l“’: Another ng: I knew he'd come to see Dr. Bliss on a pretty important matter, and I didn't want to| be in the way.” Vance nodded, but gave no indica- tion whether or not he unreservedly ac- cepted the other's statements. He sat| :fiz:’kln( lazily, his eyes impassive and “And during the next 20 minutes,” he mused, “that is between 10 o'clock and 10:20, at which time Mr. Scarlett entered the museum, your uncle was killed.” Salveter winced. , “So it seems,” he mumbled. “But’— jaw out—“I didn’t have anything to do with it! That's straight | —take it or leave it.” “There, now, don’t be indelicate,” | Vance admonished him quietly. “I don't | have to take it and I don’t have to leave it, ' ye see? I may choose merely to | dally with it.” “Dally and be damned!” Vance got to his feet leisurely, and there was a chilly smile on his face— a smile more deadly than any conpor- tion of anger could have been. “I don't liké your language, Mr. Sal- veter,” he sald slowly. “Oh, don't youl” The man sprang 317. his fists clenched, and swung iclously. Vance, however, stepped back with the quickness of a cat, and caught the other by the wrist. Then he :nade a swift_pivotal movement to the right, and Salveter's pinoned arm was twisted upward behind his shoulder-blades. With an involuntary cry of pain, the man fell to his knees. (I recalled the way in which Vance had saved Mark- ham from an attack in the district at- torney’s office at the close of the Ben- son murder case.) Heath and iennes- | sey stepped forward, but Vance mo- tioned them away with his free hand. “I can manage this impetuous gen- tleman,” he sald. Then he lifted Sal- veter to his feet and shoved him back into his chair. “A little lesson in man- ners,” he remarked pleasantly. “And now you will please be civil and answer my questions, or I'll be compelled to have you—and Mrs. Bliss—arrested for conspiring to murder Mr. Kyle.” Salveter was completely subdued. He looked at his_antagonist in ludicrous amazement. Then suddenly Vance's words seemed to seep Into his aston- ished brain. “Mrs. Bliss? . . . She had nothing to do with it, I tell you!” His tone, though highly animated, was respectful. “If it'll save her from any suspi¢ion, I'll confess to the crime. . .."” “No need for any such heroism.” vance had resumed his seat and was again smoking calmly. “Butou might THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1930. tell ©s why, when you came into the ‘museum- this afternoon and learned of your uncle's death didn’t mention the fact that you'd seen him at 10 o‘clov:k‘." e “I—1 was upset—too shocked, the man stammered. “And I was afraid. Self-] instinct, maybe. I can't exl% —mny‘ I u“imx—-';'uor‘,m— have told you, I suppose .. . » Vance helped him out. “But you didn't care to involve your- self in a crime of which you were inno- cent. Yes . . . yes. Quite natural. Thought you'd wait and find out if any one had seen . . .. 1say, Mr. Sal- veter; don't you know that, if you had admitted being with your uncle at 10 o'clock, it would have been a point in your favor?” (To be Continued. 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