Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

THUSSDAT, OCTOBER 18, 1888. TENTH INSTALLMENT ' WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE Simon Judd, amateur detective, and Wil liam Dart, an undertaker, visit John Drant, an eccentric man of wealth, at the Drane place. Suddenly John Drane is murdered, and Dr. illessington, after examining the body, makes the astounding • revelation to Amy Drane that her “uncle" is a woman and not a man. All the servants in the household are •ick, it is noted, and it is found that Drane never discharged a servant for ill health. Dick Bremen, detective, arrives at the house and makes thorough investigations. Simon Judd tells him the story of the actual John Drane with whom he (Judd) was acquainted in Riverbank. Judo pro poses to Brennan that he "go partners" with Brennan in the solution of the crime. Brennan accepts, then Judd declares that Amy is not John Dratie’s niece or any rela tive of Drane. Mrs. Vincent, housekeeper, tells Brennan that Drane picked his ser vants from among the chronic patients at the hospital. Dr. Blessington is asked if a he had ever noticed any special change in Drane. Dr. Blessington has but little information to give. The talk Tcehs to Drane’s employ ment of chronic invalids, and suddenly Judo astonishes the doctor^ by asking when "Drane murdered the first of those hired hands of his!" NOW GO ON WITH 1HE STORY That Dr. Blessington was utterly amazed and genuinely shocked by this brazen question discharged at him by Simon Judd is putting it mildly. He glared at the fat Iowan and when he tried to speak he could only splutter. Brennan him self looked at Simon Judd with smiling curiosity, but as Judd’s possible thought suggested itself to him he straightened with a per ceptible jerk. "Murdered!” spluttered the doc tor. "I take exception to that word, sir! I—I demand that you explain—” "Well, black my cats!” Simon Judd said good naturedly. "You don’t have to go fiyin’ off the handle at me, doc. I ain’t said you murdered anybody. It just sort of struck me that maybe this dead lady had been doin’ some. I don’t know but what—if I was a female person tryin’ to let on to be a male man, and if I had all-fixed big rea sons for keepin’ it dark—I would sort of like to get rid of any nosey hired help that got a notion I wasn’t what I let on to be. Seems reasonable to me, some ways. I ain’t sayin’ you had anything to do with it, doc Don’t think you had. my self. You ain't that sort" “Why—why—” Dr. Blessington stammered, still too angry to have control of hinasalf. "Never mind, Blessington,” Brennan said soothingly. "Our friend here is a new hand at this business. He only thought he had found something inter eating. Don’t let it worry you. Stop as J rou go out, if you want to talk t over; it’s probably unimportant.” But when the doctor had entered the house Brennan did not act as if he thought the suggestion unim portant "Have you seen anything to make you think there has been murder of that sort done?” he s^ked Judd, but the Iowan was un able to say that he had. "Now, don’t you go payin’ too much attention to what I say from time to time, Dick,” he said. ”I'm aabby, I am. Always was an old tool when it come to shootin' off my mouth* notion hits me in the head and I blat out like a kicked billy goat. Wouldn’t surprise me a mite if I was all wrong about these sick and halt hired hands bein’ murdered; prob’ly ju|t one of my fool notions. Doc wouldn’t go and bury nobody without hndin’ out what they died of.” • * "He certainly would not—if he suspected anything,” Brennan said. "But if he had no reason to sus pect? If he saw in a death only the operation of the disease he had been treating? There may be a lot in this idea of vours.” "Pshaw, no!” Simon Judd said with exaggerated carelessness. "Just the fool talk of a fat old feller that don’t know nothin’ much. You better forget it, Bren nan. Go on and *sk some more of the help about things.” "I never forget anything, Judd,” Brennan said, but he did continue, as his next step, the questioning _ of the servants. The local reporters other positions as their health im proved, or had been sent to sani tariums by John Drane when they became too ill to work. To get Maggie to say this in telligibly was not easy for she been drinking and as Brennan’s questioning proceeded she was al ternately angry—shouting her an swers at the top of her voice—and maudlinly tearful, her huge body shaken by rather ridiculous sobs. She became so hysterical finally that Brennan told her he would not bother her more then, for it was plain she was an apoplectic and he was afraid she might break a blood vessel if she carried on any worse. But she would not go. All Brennan had managed to get from her were assertions that John Drane, "poor woman that she was” had been a "heavenly angel, God rest him,” and that a poor woman had a right to a “swaller” of drink when her heart was broke, and that she could tear the hair from the heads of "them that came sneakin’ an’ snoopin’ tryin’ to blacken folk’s car-ack-ters.” "All right, then, Maggie,” Bren nan told the excited cook, "we won’t sneak and snoop any more. You go back to the kitchen and take it easy, and don’t let it worry you. And just send the chauffeur in, will you?” The cook flared up again. "I’ll not have him bulldozed by the likes of you,” she shouted. "All shame to you, stirrin’ up strife in th’ house. Go on about your busi ness an’ leave us be, why don’t you?” "Now, be easy,? Brennan urged good naturedly. "I’m Irish myself and you don’t want to get me angry, you know. It’d'be a terrible row.' You just tell George I want to see him here, that’s all” The cook went out mumbling and growling, but George did not come and Brennan had to send Norbert for him. "What got into that stout lady cook, do you think?” Simon Judd asked while they waited for the chauffeur. "Some of the worst sort of whiskey now beitur bootlegged.” Brennan said, smiling. "I imagine John Drane kept the lady pretty severely off the stuff and she’s having her first real happy time for many a month.” "Black my cats!” Simon Judd exclaimed. "It beats my time how they get ahold of the stuff, with prohibition ,and all.” "They get it,” Brennan said drily, but Norbert’s return cut short further explanation. He said George the chauffeur was sorry but he had gone to bed and didn't think he could bear to get up. "He says, Mist Brennan, how the growth in his stomach ^ot mighty bad all-of-a-sudden-like while back and he ain’ able to stand it. Yes, sir. He says how the pain is mighty terrific. He ain’t hardly, able to stand it, he says. So he took some of the medicine what he’s got and went to bed. Yes, sir.” "Well, what’s the rest of it?” Brennan asked. "I can see that's not all; you’ve got something else on vour mind.” "i was only thinkin’, Mist Bren nan,” Norbert said, "that if he got a pain or ain’ he got a pain' it ain’ goin’ to be much use troublin’ George right now. No, sir. Seems like he been indulgin’ in alcoholic liquor to a very considerable ex tent” "Drunk, is he?” ^He certainly has been indulgin’,” Norhmt said seriously. "I ain' teen 3r man w hat has indulged mordpcompletely fo’ quite some timer No,‘ sir!” "We’ll put George off for the S resifett then,” Brennan said. "Are lere any other servants I have not seen?” "No, sir,” Norbert assured him. "We you has seen is all.” "This George,” Brennan asked. "What do you know about hwn, Norbert?” ~ r -had hy_this time had word of the murder aiuTbegan to arrive, and Brennan referred the first to Dr. Blessington and the officers Hj|>- etairs and told Norbert to send any others to Dr. Blessington. To have privacy for his further questionings he. went into the library and had the servants sent to him there. From the servants, however, he was able to draw nothing new. With Simon Judd’s murder sugges tion in mind he dug a little more into that phase of the life in the Drane home. Norbert said that t|e had succeeded a houseman who had died, and the cook Maggie Maney admitted that she had come while her predecessor still lay dead above stairs, but she insisted she had known the former cook and that she had always been sickly and weakly. The others had fol lowed servants who had gone to The negro told what he knew. Like the others George—who had the odd name of Firmandick—had been in John Drane’s service some-little time. He had been an orderly in the hospital before coming to Drane and had had an operation for a growth in the stomach, but the operation had not been entirely successful — the growth had returned. Dr. Bles sington said, Norbert told Bren nan, that the growth was a serious matter and would kill Firmandick some day if there was not another operation, but the chauffeur was set ggainst another. The chauffeur, Norbert sai^, was supposed by the servants tn the house to be engaged to marry Maggie, but no one .believed the marriage would ever occur because they did not beKrve George would Kve to be married. He was too 111 when his bad spells came apoa him. Norbert said he supposed George got his liquor from some bootlegger; the servants knew j George usually had whiskey in his room but the chauffeur seldom drank it—only when the pain was bad. Probably, Norbert said, Maggie had got the whiskey from George, but she should not drink. Dr. Blessington said she had a mighty high blood pressure and r whiskey was dangerous for her. He had scared her good, Norbert said, when she had a sort of stroke. The doctor told her she was pretty sure to drop dead if she took much whiskey. When Norbert was gone Bren-/ nan lighted a cigarette. "It’s a queer bunch altogether, Judd,” he said, "but you’d be amazed how many queer bunches there are in this world if you mixed around as I do. 1 see them at their worst usually, when they are keyed up by some catastrophy and their eccentricities stick out strong. I think my next job is to talk to this man Dart, our under taker friend. He may not yield much but we'll get another angle on John Drane. I have a notion Dart must have know Drane was a woman.” ^ "Pshaw, now,” Simon Judd ex claimed, chuckling “You don’t mean it, do you, Dick? Why the old rascal! A hairy old boy like him, seventy years old if he’s a day, bangin’ around this old lady Hke he was tryin’ to be her hus band!” Brennan snapped his fingers. "There’s an idea!” he said. "There’s a lead worth following! If this man Dart discovered that Drane was a woman he might very well try to blackmail her into mar rying him. John Drane was a very rich person, Judd. We may have the reason for the murder there— Dart trying to force Drane to mar ry him to avert exposure.” "Nope!” said Simon Judd. "Nothin’ like that, Richard.” "But why not. I’d like to know?" Brennan demanded, rather amused at the fat man’s decided tone. "Why black my cats, DickP said Simon ludd. "He couldn't b# wantin’ to marry her when he was marrisd to her already, could he?” “How do you make that out?” Brennan wanted to know. Simon Judd chuckled his heav ing chuckle again. 'I just sort of suspicion it, Richard,” he said. "Seems so to me, as you may say. A fetter don’t always have to have reasons, doe# her ”ln my profession he does,” said Brennan coldly. "Well, then,” said Simon Judd, "how about him cornin’ to play cards and stayin’ over, night quite freouent, Richard. If 'I was tryin* to figuer this out I’d sort of say ’John Drane was a woman and she didn’t want it known. If she didn't want it known she wouldn’t be havin’ a feller sfay over night much, especial if he didn’t need to, seein’ as the feller lived right here in town. And if she did let a feller stay over night it’d sort of show they was married. If he was tryin’ to bulldoze her into marryin’ him she wouldn’t want him around, would she?” "You may be right,” said Bren nan thoughtfully. "And does your mind tell how long they had been married ?” "Oh, pshaw, now, Richard,” Simon Judd laughed. "You don’t want I should have a head on me that could tell you the day and date, do you?” But Brennan was nabbing his chin, considering this new idea. He did not tell Bimon Judd what he was thinking but it was that if William Dart was indeed John Drane’s wife the last will and testa ment made by John Drane mipht * be of great importance in solving the mystery, such as it was, of the murder. If Drane had made a will leaving everything to Amy, as Amy said Drane had told her he would, William Dart would have been foolish indeed to kill Drane, but if the latest will left a large sum to Dart and Dart feared the making of a new will this might be a reason for the murder of Drane by Dart. Coupled with the flight of the undertaker from the house on the night of the murder this might all mean something. "YouVe wrong, Richard,” Simon Judd said, interrupting the detec tive’s thoughts. "Wrong? What about?” Brennan asked. "You're thinkin’ maybe this undertaker feller murdered John Drane, so-called,” Simon Judd said. "How do you know what I was thinking?” Coatiaued Next Week Don’t Fail to Read this Great Mystery Story in The People-Sentinel Each Week. Small First Payment—Easy Terms on O.K.’d Used Cars ft Ecinmieml Tranefrttti** See these used cars today! You can get the car of your choice at an exceptionally low price—and you can buy it for a small first payment and on easy terms. These cars* carrying the red w O, JK* That Counts 99 tag* provide you with a definite assurance ofhon* value, dependability and satisfaction because they have been thoroughly checked by expert mechanics and reconditioned for thousands of miles of satisfactory service. Come in and make your selection today while stocks are complete. • A 'few of our exceptional Used Car values “with an OK that counts” Now on Display in Our Showrooul. ~ • . * * * .1* / i ' _*1 . Grubbs Chevrolet Co Barnwell, S. C. Dependability, Satisfaction and Honest Value * You feel the difference with this oilier ofl because H gives your motor a better / , , ,c<r %. piston seal and cuts down friction, so that there is greater actual power at the point you want power MORE POWER TO THE REAR WHEELS An oil that form* a perfect teal between platan and cylinder wall, prevent* the low of the expiodve power of your gasoline. This make* it work for yon. In engine tests, the effective power developed by a motor is commonly measured by dynamometers. In almost dally tests with them devices, "Standard” Motor Oil is being rompartid with other motor oils, commonly used. Results show the seme motors develop from 4 to 10 per cent more power with "Standard” Motor OIL No wonder motorists my of "Standard”: Ton ectuuOy /oof the difference. * * VTAHDAR "Standard” Products made in tip Car pile as.