New Britain Herald Newspaper, September 12, 1924, Page 24

e e gy o i 1 O] seek a new type of :(« 112 story— something unhackiey m, ~oi-ciing dif- fering from the murder-clue-underworld stuff? Very good. 1 beg to submit the case of the brazen serpent and the mysteri- ous heathen who wore spectacles. It is true that for some years poor devils of authors Wave racked their brains invent- ing unhackneyed® detective stories; have delved into realms of science and art and magic and even humanity; and have in the end accomplished nothing. How should they? From the time the first detective story was written—you will find it in the Book of Genesis—the model has not been improved upon. That model reached up into heaven and down into hell, and cen- tered its plot upon a stolen apple. Nothing could be simpler: nothing could be more comprehensive. Imagine the fine simplicity of that stolen apple as a plot motive! A murder would have spoiled the whole story. A real detective yarn, then, must involve one who detects. Let us look at Bixby Thorhton : his work in this matter of the brazen serpent is remarkable in the annals of detection. He was a quiet man, with vears of experience in the narcotics squad of the revenue service. He confided in no one except his wife, a mute, inglorious Watson of the hearth who kept no records. When John Duck appeared upon his hori zon Thornton was enjoying his annual va- cation, and the police very gladly let him, as a Federal man, work upon the mystery. Thornton, in fact, first discovered the thing. He was letting himself in at the side door. Something warm splashed on his hand, and as he stepped into the dimly lighted vestibule he saw that it had made a crimson splotch He stared at it dully for a moment; then stepped back outside, leaving the door open. There in the light, balf washed from the stones by the evening rain, was a thin seepage of red It came. of ecourse, from above. Thorn- ton saw that ghere was a light in the oriel windows where the Chinaman lived, on the gecond floor. For a moment he was op- pressed by the hideous thought that John Duck had cut his throat and was lying up there in the peak of the room by the oriel windowe— Then he saw, as he looked up, a flutter of the blinds, an up-and-down movement as they were drawn more closely. Frowning, he paesed into the house rubbed his hand dry on his overcoat and said nothing of the odd occurrence to his wife. HE house in which Bixby Thornton lived had been built some time in the eighties, and was just off Gramercy Park. Thornton did not live here /because of the historic atmosphere: it mattered nothing to him that the Plarers’ Club was a stone's throw away or that his house had lately been the residence of a real poet. He lived here be- cause the rent was low and because the upper foor could be steadily subleased to John Duck at a profitable figure. It wae a dings old house, full of disre pair and genteel negligence. There was an elecator which had normally but three stops _basement, first floor and second floor Not infrequently, howerer, the elevator would halt en route, and onl¥ a certain cun ning shake of the cable would persuade it to continue its course. Even John Duck who had been established in his present quarters long before Thornton took @ver the house, usually preferred the stairs John Duck was something of a mrsters. A emall. urbane man caffron in hue, he word large rou cles edged with black shell he always wore an English w what he wore in his rooms nobody knew He was invariably dapper. smiling. polite Bixby Thornton had seen Jobn Duck’s He had gained a confused genial clightly king suit; rooms only once impression of heathen deities, gilded and un- pleasant ; of the largest chamber, that which contained the oriel windows jutting over the side entry, furnished with work-bench and retorts, bottles and chemical apparatus: and of brass which bore & At least, he men- of a large serpen crystal ball in one claw D3 — 1 R < Brazen Se H.Bedford-Jones The captain had him by the wrists as he entered tallv termed it a serpent, which was close enough to the truth. John Duck said very frankly that he was engaged in research work, a term which covers a multitude of sinsy and said nothing further. The gilded deities caused Thornton to class the man as a heathen. Upon the day following the evening whereupon Thornton wiped the red smear from hie hand, Mrs. Thornton departed upon & visit to her cousin, who lived in Brooklyn. Thornton accompanied his, wife to the gubway and then returned home. On the way he purchased a paper. As he was nearing his heuse he encountered John Duck, was greeted with a polite smile and a bow and passed on. With the afternoon before him, Bixby Thornton settled down to peruse his news- paper. The first thing that struck his eye was the account of a body found in the street near his own house that same morn- ing. The body was that of a Chinaman, whose throat had been cut. *‘My Lord!" exclaimed Thornton. —then that was what—"" A jangle of the doorbell completed his sentence. The thin jangle came from up- staire. Knowing that he was alone in the house, Thornton rose and went to the door. He found a messenger boy, who queried pertly whether he were John Duck. *'No,"" said Thornton. ‘‘He's out. can leave any message with me—'" “‘Got a bundle.” The boy produced a **Then You emall, soft parcel wrapped in butcher's paper. “Fifty cents collect. Sign here. Ain‘t it hell how eversbody sends things collect so's it'll get delivered sure? Thanks.” TllORNTON went indoore with the bun- dle, laid it aside and resumed his paper. He wanted to discover more about that dead Chinaman, and he did. He discovered the unpleasant fact that approximately two square feet of skin had been removed from the back of the yvellow man, either before or after the latter's throat had been cut. The identity of the victim was unknown. ““This is a devil of a business!' reflected Bixby Thornton. He had dealt much with yellow men in his work with the narcotics squad. even knew a smattering of their tongue. ‘‘Yet it hardly seems possible that John Duck could have actually—"' He paused as his eye fell upon the pack- age. What was in that bundle? Could it be possible that John Duck was engaged in some illicit trafic? Narcotics com- manded huge prices, of course; any yellow man would be in a position to sell opium or morphine without trouble. The package was tied with string, carelessly Thornton took up the package, turned it He started: upon the brown paper he beheld the three ideographs: “‘Pu-kan which meane, substantially, ‘‘un Temptation seized upon him, sus- picion soaded” him. With spoken determi- nation he broke the string and opened it From it he took a small roll of human recently fleshed. There could be no mistake Thornton went ta the telephone and called & certain captain of detectives whom he knew over ching. clean ekin vers well Fifteen minutes later the police officer <at in Thornton's studs. inepecting the piece of skin and listening to the story. He did not speak until Thornton had finished ; tifen he imparted some information We know who the murdered man was.™’ he said. revoiving a cigar between his lips. He was identified today as Tan Tock, one of the joss-house men down in China town. His scalp showed cicatrices of old burns Ah!" excalimed Thornton eagerly. ‘‘A Taoist priest? Exactly.”” From his pocket the officer produced a newspaper clipping. *‘Here is an advertisement one of the boys turned in obviously it has some bearing on the case. We traced it. Tt was banded in by a China- man, late last night, for one insertion. We could get no description of the advertiser, except that he wore spectacles.’ “'Spectacles! Then it was John Duck!" “Very likely said the detective dryly. Thornton spread out the clipping, which was from a ‘‘personal’’ column : oS, " *‘They remembered the Chinaman and his spectacles by his insisteiice on the spelling of the word ‘brazen,' ' said the detective. “It's an open-and-shut case, Thornton! Congratulations, old boy! We'll send this guy up the river in one-two time—'' TAN T. may have brazen serpent same and paying §100 HORNTON looked up, frowning. “Hold on!" he said reflectively. ‘‘Let me tell you something. John Duck has a brass dragon upstairs, all right. Further, it's a Taoist emblem, for the Taoists go strong on the, forces of nature and all fhat. But there are two points for you to look at vers hard: The spelling of that word ‘brazen] and the name Tan Tock."” The detective leaned back, his eyes nar- rowed upon Thornton. “‘Rhoot,”’ he said. “‘You're the doctor in this businees. What's the idea? Thornton remained silent for a moment, then spoke with glow decision. “Little things bave impressed me with English influences on John Duck, now that 1 recall them. His walking-suit, his stick, his precise speech which contains many Anglicisms. The word brazen is just such an oddity. That's point one. Now, point two is the name Tan Tock. That's abso- lutely a Straits Settlement’s name, cap'n. The Chinamen there, you knew, have been” removed from China for generations; they're almost a distinct race, in fact. I'll wager that this whole matter goes back to gomething in England or Singapore — the cause of the murder will be found—"" The detective laughed heartily. “My dear Thornton, what do you sup- pose I care about all this?' he demanded. “It does. you credit, old man. but doesn't affect the case. Jonn Duck killed this Tan Tock ; we've got that proved beyond a doubt The cause of the murder will come out later Bren if it doesn't, what matter? We have enough evidence right here,’" and he tapped the roll of human skin, ‘‘to put John Duck in the chair!” “No, you haven «aid Thornton bluntly. *‘What time was that advertise- ment handed in?"’ *‘Somewhere around 10:30," “It was ® when I came home and no- ticed the red drip. D'vou suppose he'd have cut a man's throat upstairs, then have gone down to Park Row and put in a personal ad to the victim? Rats! Be- sides, who'd have sent th him? If be wanted it, he'd have taken it upstairs!” Confound you!'’ exclaimed the ecaptain thoughtfully. *'I believe there's something & skin to in that! Does he know you're in the serv- jce?"” Thornton sthook his head. At this me- ment the front door banged Thornton made a significant gesture, which the other man understood. John Duck had come home It is unfortunate for the police that all detectives do mnot possess the co-ordinated mental power of their fictional representa- tives, which bring out all facts in orderly progress. With a start of sudden recollec tion, the captain abruptly vouchsafed an astonishing fact “Lock here! 1 forgot something bodsy was found at milkman minutes That 6 this morning by a It was examined within twenty The surgeon said the chap had not yet settled into rigor mortis. There- fore, Tan Tock was not killed until some time after midnight, at least Thornton stared at him, dismayed. The officer pursued his line of reasoning Copyright. 1924 o3-33¢ i WA RO ) A b s ating this time of the murder, your , our party at all. red drip is all nonsense. So is your argu- ment about the newspaper ad. Here's what I think about it: That ad got into the bull-pup editions and Tan Tock, who was watching for it, came right up here. John Duck killed him and carried the body out into the street. Get me? Now, if we had any means of knowing whether John Duck had a caller last night—" An exclamhation broke from Thornton. “He did! He did! My wife woke me up and said that she heard the elevator creak- ing—it aticks, you know, and you have to shake the cable just so to make it go on— and T remember Hearing the cable shak- iBK—” The captain of detectives roge. “Come on, let's go!" he sald briskly. “This guy goes to the chair. We'll run up and collar him here and mow. Open and ghut—open and shut, T tell you!" Thornton nodded and picked up the roll of skin. JGHN DUCK opened the door to his call- ers with a bow. He displayed no surprise or perturbation when Thornten, instead of returning his greeting, threw back his coat to show a badge, and then the police captain followed suit. ‘ “‘Please come in,” he asked, holding the door open. ““You bet,” said the ecaptain, swiftly catching his wrist. ‘1 want you for the murder of Tan Tock late last night. What you got to say about it?"’ “You want—me?' “You," shot out the officer. ‘‘We know all about it—about the braes snake and about Tan Tock coming here to get it and you cuttin' his throat. Now—"' “J—T think you have made a mistake," said John Duck gently “I'll tell you the whole thing,"" he eaid meekly. “‘Sit down, gentlemen. I suppese you saw my advertisement and traced it to me?"’ “You're from Singapore?’ asserted the captain. “'Same as Tan Tock?"' John Duck nodded without surprise. seemed resigned to telling all he knew. “T am from Singapore,”’ he said easily. “I went to college in England, then re- turned home on a vacation after three years of education. The temple at which my family worshiped contained the brazen dragon, yonder." He waved his hand toward the dragon— a tall creature of brass, standing three feet high, holding in one claw a large crystal ball “The brass,”” he continued, “‘is Ming work, old and very historic, and valuable. One day it was stolen from the temple and vanished Together with other meén, I searched for it vainly. Then I came to this country and settled here in New York to studr. One day, not long ago, I found thif" historic dragon in a pawnshop, kept by one of my own race. By means of exposing its whole history T obtained it from the shop- keeper, and found that the man who bad. pawned it, and who expected to redeem if, was a priest in the temple here, Tan Tock by name. He was the man who had stolen it in Singapore and had then fled to America : *‘Now that I had obtained the dragon 1 set about letting my friends know of it. Ther were not satisfied merely to obtal the thing back; they desired punishment. It was intimated to Tan Tock that I had the dragon. He sent word that he wished it back and would buy it, for he had lately won largely by the lottery. So the adver- tisement was put in the paper." The captain nodded knowingly he came and you croaked him, eh?" John Duck smiled. It was a smile of gentle pity ‘No,"" he said briefly: ‘‘mot at all.” He “‘And “‘Well," ejaculated the officer, ‘‘Tben who did?" “Two men. One of them, Hip Sing, in also a priest in the temple. The other, Lui Yen Yuan, is his friend. They were not of They murdered Tan Tock by Public Ledger Company M EEE Ip ent to get his money, which he always carried on his person. That ir why I am telling you the whole thing. They had heard of the brazen serpent, and they also wanted to get hold of it for the local temple. " They now desire to kill me in order to get it. This strip of skin was sént iié as & threat, you understand?"’ ! The officer swore under his breath. At , this point Thornton intervened. “In view of these facts,”” he said, ac- cepting John Duck’s story as true, ‘‘you will aid us in obtaining a conviction of the murderers?" *“Very gladly,"" said John Duck, with ad-. mirable promptitude. ‘‘They are no friends of mine. Lui Yen Yuan is an eater of opium and finds it hard to obtain:the drug. If you wish, I will send him a note now offering him some opium and also the brazen serpent at a certain price.. He will come to get it. You will arrest him. By offering bim opium he will be unable fo refuse— and will confirm all I bave said."” . ““It's against the law to have dope' in your poaseasion,”’ said the captain roughly. “‘How'd you get it?" “T have a permit, smiled. “I.am a chemisl There was nothing in s’ proposal that seemed unlikely. If Lui Yen Yuan were a murdterer and were also an épium fiend, the chances were that.in order to get tke drug he would confess very fully. Those who smoke opium cannot eat it, and vice versa. Pellets are very diffcult to obtain. One who has bean deprived of them for some time will go through hell ‘to get a supply. The. -captain of detectives glanced at Thornton, who nodded imperceptibly. “‘All right,”" said the officer. . ‘‘Write your: note; Thornton, phone for a messen- ger, will you? I'll wateh this guy.” Thafiaton departed to his telephone down- stairs, Yor John Duek had: none. Undet the watchful eye of ‘the officer, Jobn Duck opened a desk, laid out brushes and ink and paper and rapidly got off sev- eral lines of ideographs. Thornton returned in time to look over the letter, but it was written in Mandarin, of which he knew al- most nothing. “If this story is true,” said Thornton, then—"' f *“Taen we get the guys who cronked Tan Tock,"” added the officer. ‘‘That's what I'm interested in! How soon will the man get here?’ . I think he will come immediately,"" said John Duck, smiling. and John Duck HE message was sent. Thofnton took one of John Duck's cigarettes, which were of English make and extraordinarily good ; it oecurred to him that as yet he had no explanation of the red drip which had first drawn his attention to the entire affair. He said nothing of it at the moment how- ever. ‘The most important thing now was to substantiate the story told by.John Duck. Half an hour passed. The bell jangled. *“If you will allow me,” said John Duck, ©1 will speak to him myseélf. Otherwise, he might be suspicious.’ Since there was nothing else to be done, the captain assented. John Duck went to the old-fashioned speaking tube that con- nected with the entrance below and spoke rapidly in Mandarin. He turned, smiling. He is coming right up. May 1 suggest that he will be armied?"’ ““You leave him to us!'' ‘said the officer eagerly, stationing himwelf beside the,door. Two minutes later there was a knock. John Duck opened the door. Into the room stepped » yellow man whom Thornton judged to be of the coolie cl cheaply dressed, his features high-boned and imper- turbable, quite ignorant. The captain had bim by the wrists as he entered. THE Occidental ‘mind Kl T MR ; can only guess as to! the mental processes of' the Oriental. We think irl ~wholly different ' terms, and the strongest lm; pulse in our hearts, the love of life, influences the Oriental only slightly. The breath in his body is for sale and his religion holds him in absolute sub- jection, “You're under arrest for the murder of Tan Tock! Frisk him, Thornton." Helpless in that iron grip, the coolie could not resist. His eves went to the face of John Duck, who smjled and nodded. He sald nothing. From his clothes, Thornton took a pistol, also a large and keen knife. The captain ironed his man and dropped him into a chair. “Now,' he said, standing, over him, “d'you want to talk?" John Duck interposed, apologetically. He came forward with a small box open in bis hand and showed this box to the pris- oner. He spoke for a moment rapidly: both the words and the inflection were in- comprehensible to Thornton. Lui Yer Yuan nodded. M‘"He will tell everything, for he is badly in need of the drug,” be said. ‘‘But be knows no English—" “Tell him to speak Cantonese, nd - to speak slowly,” paid Thornton. I This was done. The prisoner, lis eye fastened on the box in the hand ol John Duck, obeyed : “We knew that Tan Tock was oming beré,”’ he said. Ve followed hin and caught him in the street below. Il was nearly 2 in the morning. 1 held him while Hip Sing cut at his throat, th_en l cuf also, We took his mones and left him. “Straight enough,'’ said Thornton, turn- id;. p'n, go down and use my tele- phone. Get Hip Sing at once. Brig the wagon heré, with an interpreter, anl get the story all over again. No dope untl the interpreter also gets the story, John luck! That'll make sure of everything.” Fifteen minutes later the prisoner yce again recited his confeseion. He neemlfi to have gone utterly and absolutely to piees, It was a somewhat unusual case, butthe opium_explained his talking so freely. He event went to the extent of signing a ca- fession in full. Then, and not until tha, John Duck gave him the little box of opim pellets. Before the wagon left a telephone mes sage came saying that Hip. Sing had beei’ arrested and protested his entire innocence But the story that Hip Sing told made uu difference whatever. When the police had departed Thornton turned to John Duck. “1 regret our suspicions of you,"" he said. “But there is one thing—'' and he went on to tell of the red drip. When he had tin. ished, John Duck beckonéd him into the | laboratory, smiling. : e been engaged on work relating he said, and went to the oriel “In order to get rid of unneces: sary fluids, which might injure the house piping, 1 constructed this outlet.”” He' lifted a small trap in the flooring by the windows and showed a pipe which led down and out. **Anything put through this pipe,' he ex-i plained. “'will pass outside to. the ground Last night 1 had been working on a red dye. What you saw was not blood, but an aniline fluid Thornton went downstairs, wondering at’ the workings of destinr. Two wecks luter John Duck gare up his lease and disyppeared from sight. Within another month Lui Vuan and Hip Sing were found guilty of muider in the first degree although Hip Sing protested innocence, and wgre 'duly executed. OME months passed. Bixby Thornto: had compietely forgotten the peculiar case of. the brazen serpent in the rush of work thrown on the service by the probibi- tion laws and the income tax. One night ThorAton came home, dead tired. His wife, with the agreeable intimation that she had corned beef and cabbage for supper, banded him a letter bearing a Chinese post- mark. In some surprise Thornton examined this letter and perceived that it had been posted in Peking. He got into slippers and settled down by the fire while Mrs. Thornfon set about getting supper on the table. Thornton drew from the envelope a type- written sheet, The letter was not long, but it contained a ;e‘tly ironic gist of informa- tion : My Dear Mr. Thornton: Perbaps you remember the brase afair? 1 cannot ot this o Tonger withont ving an explanation which fs dear friend. Y S The story which T told sou and th ofticer was fncorrect. I mysslt was t lo the brass dragon from the temple in Facts will suffice; reasons are im- s polics person ria hid myselt in New York. Tock ran me Adown presared, for him . taud 1 gied B And wtead: m & outside. Hi, Ml:t o TR a strip of his skin. you kn k! tht ming. Hip Si: I presume, had watching the house and found the body. way out was very simple. I hired Lut Yuan to dis for me, which he was glad to do order to e his honored futare poverty . He implicated. police attended to all oth ble and grateful sarvant, JOHN DUCK. Bixby Thornton pressed the letter into & crumpled ball and quietly laid it on the coals before him. A moment later his wife busfled into the room with a passing query: *‘And who was your Chinese letter from, my dear?’ Thornton startéd slightly. ‘‘That? Oh, that was just a note of thanks,”' he said reflectively, ‘‘from a young Chink I helped out of trouble some little time back." Mrs. Thornton noticed, however, that her husband ‘did not relish his corned beef and cabbage nearly so much as usual that evening. * 3