Evening Star Newspaper, September 11, 1936, Page 44

SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING INSTALL- Riley Bluckwood. drama eritic of the Chicago Morning Chronicle with & detective-story mind. is bored 88 the evening wears on at b lovely - widowed Janice about to leave at 11:30 fanioe aaks him o 0l e Tkis 'S 5t - wHeh e | Phone"* Riley Teaasied. he must C?nnmtlne ve. t Hume's apartment is INSTALLMENT IL [{3 ELL, 15 it murder or sul- cide, Mr. Blackwood?"” The police detective smiled his question @cross the silent woman on the bed. There was & hint of mockery in his dry inflections. His remarkable name was Rye. “Murder, for choice,” said Mr. Black- wood amiably. The wish was frankly parent to the thought, he realized. It had been some time since any- thing resembling & good murder had crossed his path. “Upstairs, the party he had deserted was waiting for his return. Waiting for tidings—the more horrible, he sup- posed, the better. Well, let them wait He glanced at & second bulky de- tective teetering in the doorway, and & familiar pucker gathered on his lips. Under his breath he whistled a few bars of his favorite melody, the staccato “Habanera” from “Car- men.” It was the thing he whistled when he was pleased and when he was perplexed. The pucker vanished and was re- placed by a shadowy grin. “Lucky for you fellows I happened to be up- stairs,” he commented. “Nothing like having a specialist on the spot at the beginning.” Detective Sergt. Nethersole grunted. *“Go ahead and specialize,” he invited. “It looks like suicide on the face of 1it; but, after all,” he added ironically, “we’re only & couple of policemen.” “And speed it up,” ordered his com- panion, in the same tone. “There’ll be a flock of cops around here soon. And reporters. Not to mention about 68 photographers.” The prospect seemed to depress him. Blackwood's glance returned to the body on the bed. Under the hard glare of the electric lights, Miss Rita Wingfield, once an attractive member of the concert stage, was stretched in some disorder along the coverlet. She had not, however, begun to retire. In preparation, possibly, for that event, she had removed her shoes and put on satin mules, but otherwise she was fully clothed. Her face, in death, was peaceful enough, save for & certain unnatural rigidity. The blood had long ceased to flow from the little wound above her heart, but the bosom of her dress was stiff with it. The death-dealing weapon lay be- side the body, close to the victim’s right hand; it might have fallen from her fingers. But Blackwood doubted it. Beside the small revolver was the woman’s handkerchief, & spot of filmy white against the black satin eounter- pane. “Murder,” repeated Blackwood, with increasing econfidence. “No woman committing suicide ever staged a sprawl like that. It's too undignified. Of course, if you insist on suicide, it can be arranged,” he added. “There are no its on the weapon, to be sure; but she might have pulled the trigger through her handkerchief.” Nethersole ignored the satirical note. “I thought of that” he sald. His Voice was dublous, however, and he twisted his frayed cigar from one eor- ner of his mouth into the other. “But why should anybody want to make a suicide look like a murder? It's usually the other way around.” “Why, indeed?” admitted Black- Wood. ,“Unless she had s sulcide clause in her insurance policy—or was anxious to send somebody to the chairl” Neither solution of the ques- —— EDUCATIONAL. ALL CLASSES—Sept. 14 Law - Speech METROPOLITAN LAW INSTITUTE One Year—Low Tuition 420 Eve Star Blds. Dist. 2348 ‘o BUSINESS OTEET COLLEGE Business gad’ Civil Bervioe Ask for free Veecational Booklet. NAtL 4717, Visit Student’s Ex- hibit! Simplified Instruction— 21st Year Begins Oct. Ist. 1747 R. L. Ave. Felix Mahony Forty-first Year Toom Bosias Siai fluu;.mw. gk Preparation l-u“.nl Point, Annapelis l-!g‘r' students lunch st uxfifi““ 238 Sl AR R e g ST G T e ipring, Practical Training in Comm. RT Complete A 8-Month Course START NOW! Poster Winner—Bal Boheme Contest Columbia “Tech” Institute AN MEt. 5696 ‘gn.drleru DoLonhl Art Catalogue tion struck him as particularly plaus- e. mflu eyes went around the voluptuous bedchamber. It was in bad taste, on the whole—a Grifie vulgar. Too rich, too crowded, too misceilaneous. The dresser gleamed with an excess of odd- ments consecrated, for the most part, to the beautician’s art. They shone in silver and glittered in polished crystal. The little clock was porcelain and gilt. On one of the walls the pic- tures were photographs ornately framed; portraits of fellow artists in professional attitudes . , . “For dear Rita, with all my love!” “Aff regards to dearest Rita!” “Here's look- ‘They bristled Blackwood vaguely wondered which one of them killed her. He studied with interest one photo- | thought graph of Rita hersel{—it was obviously she—taken some years before. She had been a decidedly good-looking gir], playing a part apparently in some amateur production of “The Mikado.” A little country girl who had come to the big city to “make good,” he smiled, reading the name and address of the photographer in a corner of the pho- tograph. His attention returned to the low table halfway between the window and the bed lamp. Thereon reposed a par- tial deck of cards; the others were spread fanlike across the surface of the board. An interrupted game of solitaire? “I don't envy your job,” said Riley Blackwood. “You'll have to test every card for fingerprints.” But it was the ash tray on the table that particularly interested him; it was significantly empty. Nethersole was watching him. “I know,” he growled profanely. “No fingerprints there, either. It's suspi- clous; but, just the same, she may not have been using it.” He was still worrying about the gun. “Somebody was using 1t sald Blackwood. “Nobody plays solitaire without smoking; that’s one of the first rules in the book. If it was Rita —and probably it was—the card game has no bearing on the case; not neces- sarily, at any rate. She was probably just killing time while waiting—or be- fore going to bed.” “Waiting for who?"” “The word is whom,” said Black- wood affably. “Waiting for the mur- derer, I suppose. She wouldn't know he was the murderer, would she? The tray was used by both of them. It must have been, otherwise there’d have been no reason to empty it. His stubs were in it, I suppose, and possibly they were characteristic. Or he may have passed her the tray, which would leave his fingerprints on the brass™ “ ‘His’? You think it was a man that did this?” “Not necessarily. It's simply the easiest assumption, at the moment. Anyway, the stubs were emptied and the tray was wiped.” “Careful, eh?” commented Rye mo- rosely. Nethersole was argumentative. “We haven’t found any matches,” he point- ed out. “Nor any cigarettes, for that matter.” Riley Blackwood lighted one of his own. “It's murder, just the same,” he said. “I can smell 'em, Nethersole. From an adjoining room sounded & murmur of voices, one gruff, the other faintly shrill. They were the voices of Latham, the third member of the police trinity, and Rita Wing- fleld’s housekeeper, a middle-aged fac- ——— e EDUCATIONAL, eoolmlanc ° Early Morning, Day and Evening Classes ° Early Morning and Evening Classes Begin Sept. 14 Day Classes Begin Sept. 28 Southeastern University (Ceeducational) 1736 G St. N.W. NA. 8250 COMMERCIAL French-Spanish Shorthand Dietation, Letters, Ete. lits Method Famous Conversational Berlits 'UAGES 0270 THE BERLITZ SCH 1115 Conm, Ave 00K Nartons [ J Early Morning, Day and Evening Classes 3-Year Course l.nd.lu to LL. B. Desres Early Morning and Evening Classes Begin Sept. 21 Day Classes Begin Sept. 28 Southeastern University (Coeducational) 1736 G St. N.W. NA. 8250 Special Short Practical Courses SERVICING Also O] Radio Techniclans _and rs Are Always in Demand Columbia “Tech” Institute 1319 F 8t. N.W. MEt. 5626 Send for Catalopue COLLEGE iina. g™ OF ACCOUNTANCY - New Bailding Construction Course BLUEPRINT ° B tiatione. ;. Arihaeie Columbia “Tech” Institute ¥ 8t NW. MEt. 3626 1319 lt.‘ R I THE EVENING STAR,- WASHINGTON, totum who was apparently the enly servant on the premises. Latham ap- peared to be getting exactly nowhere rapidly. The murmur ceased and the third detective stomped into the bed room. “She doesn’t know a thing,” he growled. “What's more, she really doesn't. T've turned her inside out,” “Slightly deaf, isn't she?” asked Blackwood, “I thought so when we entered the apartment. “Deaf a3 & post,” agreed the other. “f had to ask her everything twice. Anyway, she was asleep, and that's that” “She wasn't asleep when she found the body,” said Rye satirically. “What ‘woke her up?” “She was cold. Her window was too high. She got up to close it, and thought she saw a light in this room. She was right enough about that, any- "ll __lh. investigated and—found the Blackwood was interested. “Why shouldn't there have been a light in this room?” he asked. “No reason, apparently, except that she thought her mistress had gone to bed. S8aw the light, she says, and it Miss Wingfield might be 11" ‘‘Simple enough,” admitted Black- wood. “But what about her window? Was it up higher than she left it? Her room'’s at the back, isn't it” The detective shrugged his huge shoulders. “No dice,” he said. “I asked her that, SBhe doesnt know how high she left it, But she must have gone into the kitchen or she couldn’t have seen & light in here. She certainly didn't see it from her own room. She thinks she went to the kitchen to get & drink.” “To keep the cold out? Well, it's & good idea.” “A drink of water,” said Latham se- riously. He jerked a red thumb in the direction of the bed. “Ever see her before?" The drama eritic of the Morning Chronicle shook his head. “Heard of her, that'’s all. She im't an sctrems; she’s a concert singer. Radio too, maybe—I don’t know.” “She wasn't at that party of yours upstairs, I suppose?” Nethersole fired the question suddenly. “She wasn't. Sorry! I told you I'd never seen the girl before. She may have been invited and stayed away. I's the sort of place one might expec to find her. I'll ask when I go back. “You're going back upstairs” “If T don’t,” said Blackwood, “you'll have the whole party down here—on your necks. I was appointed a com- mittee of one to find out what had happened. Because I know the police. That was the suggestion, anyway. But do I really know you, Nethersole?” ‘The big policeman grinned. “They’re ecurious, eh? Any one of them in par- ticular? We're likely to be up there, ourselves, if we don't find anything down here.” “You agree, then, that this is mur- der? I congratulate you,” smiled Riley Blackwood. “Come upstairs and I'll introduce you. There may even be some of the punch left, although I can’t honestly recommend it.” He eyed the detectives with amuse- ment and with some mistrust, then sounded a note of warning. “I don’t know what your plans are, Nethersole; but just remember that this is a Saturday night. The chances are that other bands of halfwits also are making merry in this building. It's a big bullding. For that matter, it's s big world, and the man—or woman—who did this may just as well have come from the street as from one of the apartments. These are words of wisdom. I give them freely. Ponder— reflect—meditate! For your- informa- tion, the doorman is off duty at 12 o'clock. Entrance after that hour s obviously no trick. And I may add that self-operating elevators are sin- gularly noncommittal.” Just the same, he reflected, it would idea. For a moment he even oconsid- ered mentioning it. But the impulse passed in the events of the next few minutes. (To be continued.) R R Twins Elope on Same Day. years old, were married August 24, Alice to Floyd Bishop at Palmyra, :o. and Alta to Edwin Hinson at n. EDUCATIONAL. § M.C.S. Degrees. C.P. A. | Preparation. DayandEven- ing Classes; Cosducational \o”/ Send for 30th Year Book. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN UNIVERSITY TRANSPORTATION BLDG. MET. 3818 | National University Fall Term Besins September 28. 1938 SCHOOL OF LAW - School of Economics and Government ® 818 13th STREET N.W. Telephone NAtional €617 WOODWARD & LOTHROP 10™ 11" F ANp G STREETS Proxe DIsmic 5300 iYou will be wearing “stripes” this year—and you will like it Collars— Tab Slotted Regular Neckband Colors— Blue Green Maroon Brown You will want some striped shirts in your ward- robe this season—they 80 smartly vary the appear- ance of a suit. Especially these new Academy stripes that you will see so much of this year. Vary the color with your suit; for instance, alter- nate green, brown and maroon shirts with a brown suit. / Made of fine-count, durable broadcloth and tai- lored to fit easily and comfortably. Four popular styles and many popular colors. ‘THE MEw's Sross, Ssconp FLOOR. W@DDWARD & DOWN STAIRS Twin Sets “GCo” Fall $[5 cpch Washable rayon knits that look and feel like wool, cunningly a pliqued with nov:ldy motifs. Navy with red, and brown with orange trimming, Down StAms Srors, INvaNTs. IQ;FH ROD RE Radio Fleece School Coats 31695 There are swaggers, belted mod- els, and princess styles in this soft, warm fleece. They make grand school coats, for they will stand up under the usual hard school wear, they will keep warm- classroom-accustomed bodies warm after class, and the price is appropriately low. In oatmeal, rust, green, brown and gray. Sizes 12 to 20. Other Sports Coats, $10.95 to $22.75 Dowx STAms StorE, Coars, Campus Trotters —Frocks with a Dash $ 5.95 Twc::giece jersey dresses of which the school girl, both high school and college, will heartily approve. A tuck-in blouse, a wrap-around skirt, and to match the bright contrasting buttons, a suede- fabric belt. Red earth, navy, black, een, brown and wine. S 12 to 20. Down Srams StoRr, SPORTSWEAR. Intro'ducing Atlplus Wear-Ever You Go Something new in hosiery at this very w price, and it comes just in time to " e a name for itself” on the campus. Two popular weights with the Seven Star features— Heel within heel. Toe within toe. Dead-line run stop. Shower-} . Shadow-clear less. o Full stretch top. o Form-fitting foot. Daytime, a four-thread for all day oo ooeeee o 68c Ultra, a three-thread crepe $ for dress —_____ S I Down STAms STORE.