The Barnwell people-sentinel. (Barnwell, S.C.) 1925-current, March 25, 1937, Image 6
The Barnwell People-SentlneU Bernwcll. 8. C- TTmraday, March 25, 1937
THE GARDEN MURDER CASE
SYNOPSIS
Philo Vane*, famous detective, and John
P. X. Markham, district attorney for New
York county are dining in Vance's apart'
meat when Vance receives an anonymous
telephone message Informing him of a "dis
turbing psychological tension at Professor
Kphriam Garden's apartment" advising
that he read up on radio-active aodium,
consult a passage in the Aeneid and coun
seling that ‘‘Equanimity is essential." Pro-
Garden is famous in chemical re
cti. The message, decoded by Vance,
reminds him that Professor Garden's son
Floyd and his puny cousin. Wood* Swift,
are addicted to horse-racing. Vance says
that “Equanimity" is a hors* running next
gay in the Rivermont handicap. Vance la
convinced that the message was sent by Dr.
•Mart, the Gardens’ family physician. He
arranges to have lunch next day at the
Gardens' penthouse. Vance is greeted by
Floyd Garden and meets Lowe Hammle, an
elderly follower of horse racing. Floyd ex
presses concern over Swift's queer actions.
Mrs. Garden, supposedly ill, comes down-
stairs and places a $100 bet on a horse.
Gathered around an elaborate loud speaker
service, listening to the racing are Cecil
Kroon, Madge Weatherby and Zalia Graem,
who bet varying amounts on the race.
There is tension under the surface gaiety.
Zalia and Swift are not on speaking terms.
Kroon leaves to keep an appointment be
fore the race atarts. Miss Beeton. a nurse,
and Vance bet on “Azure Star." Swift reck
lessly bets $10,000 on "Equanimity" and
goes to the roof garden to hear the results.
Floyd follows Swift, remaining away sev
eral minutes. Zalia Graem answers a
phone call in the den. Soon after the an
nouncement that "Azure Star" wins, the
guests hear a shot. Vance finds Swift
dead, shot through the head with a revolver
nearby. He says Swift has been murdered.
After calling the police, he finds the door of
a vault ajar. Kroon returns and is sharply
questioned by Vance, who finds he had not
left the building. Vance orders Miss Bee*
ton to guard the stairway and prevent Mrs.
Garden and Zalia from viewing Swift's body.
Floyd Garden admits the revolver belongs
to his father. Further questioning by Vance
reveals that the revolver had been found
recently by Zalia in the presence of the
fMbor guests. Floyd hints that Swift bet
ao recklessly because of Zalia. Markham,
Sergeant Health and two detectives arrive.
Markham and Sergeant Heath scorn the
murder theory. „
CHAPTER VI—Continued
——
Markham meditated on this for
Several moments.
“Still, Vance,” he said at length,
Reasonable objections could be
raised to all the points you have
brought up. They are based almost
entirely on theory and not on dem
onstrable facts.”
“From a legal point of view,
you’re right,” Vance conceded.
“And if these had been my only
reasons for believing that e crime
had been committed, I wouldn’t
have summoned you and the
doughty sergeant. But, even so,
Markham, I can assure you the few
drops of blood, you see on the chap
pie’s temple could not have thick
ened to the extent they had when
1 first saw the body—they must
have been exposed to the air for
several minutes. And, as I say, I
was up here approximately thirty
seconds after we heard the shot.”
“But that being the case,” re
turned Markham in astonishment,
“how can you possibly explain the
fact?”
Vance straightened a little and
looked at the district attorney with
unwonted gravity.
“Swift,” he said, “was not killed
by the shot we heard.”
“That don’t make sense to me,
Mr. Vance,” Heath interposed,
scowling.
“Just a moment, Sergeant.”
Vance nodded to him in friendly
fashion. “When I realized that the
shot that wiped out this Johnnie’s
existence was not the shot that we
bad heard, I tried to figure out
where the fatal shot could have
been fired without our hearing it
below. And I’ve found the place. It
was in a vault-like store-room—prac
tically sound-proof, I should say-
on the other side of the passageway
that leads to the study. I found the
door unlocked and looked for evi
dence of some activity there ...”
Markham had risen and taken a
few nervous steps around the pool
in the center of the roof.
“Did you find any evidence,” he
asked, “to corroborate your the
ory?”
“Yes — unmistakable evidence.”
Vance walked over to the still fig
ure in the chair and pointed to the
thick-lensed glasses tipped forward
on the nose. “To begin with, Mark
ham, you will notice that Swift’s
glasses are in a position far from
normal, indicatin’ that they were
put on hurriedly and inaccurately
by someone else—just as was the
head-phone.”
Markham and Heath leaned over
and peered at the glasses.
“Well, Mr. Vance,” agreed the
sergeant, “they-certainly don’t look
as if he had put ’em on himself.”
Markham straightened up, com
pressed his lips, and nodded slowly.
“All right,” he said; “what else?”
“Perpend, Markham.” Vance
pointed with his cigarette. “The
left lens of the glasses—the one
furthest from the punctured temple
—is cracked at the corner, and
there’s a very small V-shaped piece
missing where the crack begins—
an indication that the glasses have
been dropped and nicked. I can
assure you that the lens was nei
ther cracked nor nicked when I last
saw Swift alive.”
“Couldn’t he have dropped his
glasses on the roof here?” asked
Heath.
“Possible of course, Sergeant,”
Vance returned. “But he didn’t.
I carefully looked over the tiles
round the chair, and the missin’
bit of glass was not there.”
■ Markham looked at Vance
shrewdly.
“And perhaps you know where it
bj S. S. VAN DINE
Copjrrifht S. S. Via Dine
WNU Service
“Yes—oh, yes.” Vance nodded.
“That’s why I urged you to come
here. That piece of glass is at
present in my waistcoat pocket.”
Markham showed a new interest.
“Where did you find it?” he de
manded brusquely.
“I found it,” Vance told him,
“on the tiled floor in the vault
across the hall. And it was near
some scattered papers which could
easily have been knocked to the
floor by some one falling against
them.”
Markham’s eyes opened incredu
lously.
“I’m beginning to see why you
wanted me and the sergeanl here,”
he said slowly. “But what I don’t
understand, Vance, is that second
shot that you heard. How do you
account for it?”
Vance drew deeply on his ciga
rette.
“Markham,” he answered, with
quiet seriousness; “when we know
how and by whom that second shot
—which was obviously intended for
us to hear—was fired, we will know
who murdered Swift ...”
At this moment the nurse ap
peared in the doorway leading to
the roof. With her was Doctor
Doremus, and behind the medical
examiner were Captain Dubois and
Detective Bellamy, the finger-print
men, and Peter Quackenbush, the
official police photographer.
Miss Beeton indicated our pres
ence on the roof and made her way
back downstairs.
Doremus acknowledged our joint
greetings with a breezy wave of
the hand.
He made a cursory examination
of the limp figure, scrutinized the
bullet hole, tested the arms and
legs for rigor mortis, and then
swung about to face the rest of us.
“Well, what about it?” he asked,
in his easy cynical manner. “He’s
dead; shot in the head with a small-
caliber bullet; and the lead’s prob
ably lodged in the brain. No exit
hole. Looks as if he’d decided to
shoot himself. There’s nothing here
to contradict the assumption. The
bullet went into the temple, and is
at the correct angle. Furthermore,
He Made a Cursory Examination
of the Limp Figure.
there are powder marks, showing
that the gun was held at very close
range—almost a contact wound, I
should say. There’s an indication of
singeing around the orifice.”
Vance took the cigarette from his
mouth and addressed Doremus.
“I say doctor; speakin’ of the
blood on the johnnie’s temple, what
would you say about the amount?”
“Two damned little. I’d say,”
Doremus returned promptly. “But
bullet wounds have a queer way of
acting sometimes. Anyway, there
ought to be a lot more gore.”
“Precisely,” Vance nodded. “My
theory is that he was shot else
where and brought to this chair.”
Doremus made a wry face.
“Was shot? Then you don’t think
it was suicide?” He pondered a
moment. “It could be, of course,”
he decided finally. “Find the rest of
the blood and you’ll probably know
where his death occurred.”
“Thanks awfully, doctor.” Vance
smiled faintly. “That did flash
through my mind, don’t y’ know;
but I believe the blood v as wiped
up. I was merely hopin’ that your
findings would substantiate my the
ory that he did not shoot himself
while sitting in that chair, without
any one else around.”
Doremus shrugged indifferently.
“That’s reasonable enough as
sumption,” he said. “There really
ought to be more blood. He died
instantly.”
“Have you any other sugges
tions?” asked Vance.
“I may have when I’ve gone over
the body more carefully after these
babies”—he waved his hand toward
the photographer and the finger
print men—“finish their hocus-poc
us.”
Captain Dubois and Detective Bel
lamy had already begun their rou
tine, with the telephone table as the
starting-point; and Quackenbush
was adjusting his metal tripod.
Vane* turned to Dubois. “I say,
Captain, give your special attention
to the head-phone, the revolver,
and the glasses. Also the doon
knob of the vault across the hall in*
side.”
Quackenbush, his camera having
been set up, took his pictures and
then waited by the passageway door
for further instructions from the
finger-print officers.
When the three men had gone in
side, Doremus drew in an ex
aggerated sigh and spoke to Heath
impatiently.
“How about getting your corpus
delicti over on the settee? Easier
to examine him there.”
“O. K., Doc.” .
Two detectives lifted Swift’s limp
body and placed it on the same
wicker divan where Zalia Graem
had lain when she collapsed at the
sight of the dead man.
Doremus went to work in his usu
al swift and efficient fashion. When
he had finished the task, he threw a
steamer rug over the dead man,
and made a brief report to Vance
and Markham.
“There’s nothing to indicate a vio
lent struggle, if that’s what you’re
hoping for. But there’s a slight
abrasion on the bridge of the nose,
as if his glasses had been jerked
off; and there’s a slight bump op
the left side of his head, over the
ear, which may have been caused
by a blow of some kind, though the
skin hasn’t been broken.”
“How, doctor,” asked Vance,
“would the following theory square
with your findings—that the man
had been shot elsewhere, had fallen
to a tiled floor, striking his head
against it sharply, that his glasses
had been torn off when the left
lens came in contact with the floor,
and that he was carried out here
to the chair, and the glasses re
placed on his nose?”
Doremus pursed his lips and in
clined his head thoughtfully.
“That would be a very reasonable
explanation of the lump on his head
and the abrasion on the bridge ef
his nose ... So this is another of
your cock-eyed murders, is it? Well,
it’s all right with me. But I’ll tell
you right now, you won’t get an
autopsy report tonight. I’m bored
and need excitement; and I’m going
to Madison Square Garden.”
He made out an order for the re
moval of the body, readjusted his
hat, waved a friendly good-by which
included all of us, and disappeared
swiftly through the door into the
passageway.
Vance led the way into the study,
and the rest of us followed him. We
were barely seated when Captain
Dubois came in and reported that
there were no finger-prints on any of
the objects Vance had enumerated.
“Handled with gloves,” he finished
laconically, “or wiped clean.”
Vance thanked him. “I’m not in
the least surprised,” he added.
Dubois rejoined Bellamy and
Quackenbush in the hall, and the
three made their way down the
stairs.
“Weil, Vance, are you satisfied?”
Markham asked.
Vance nodded. “I hadn’t expect
ed any fingerprints. Cleverly
thought-out crime. And what Do
remus found fills some vacant spots
in my own theory. Stout fella, Do
remus, understands his business. He
knows what is wanted and looks for
it. There can be no question that
Swift was in the vault when he was
shot; that he fell to the floor, brush
ing down some of the papers; that
he struck his head on the tiled floor,
and broke the left lens of his glasses
—you noted, of course, that the lump
on his head is also on the left side—
and that he was dragged into the
garden and placed ip the chair.
Swift was a small, slender man;
probably didn’t weigh over a hun
dred and twenty pounds; and it
would have been no great feat of
strength for someone to have thus
transported him after death ...”
There were footsteps in the corri
dor and, as our eyes involuntarily
turned toward the door, we saw the
dignified elderly figure of Professor
Ephraim Garden. I recognized him
immediately from pictures I had
seen.
He was a tall man, despite his
stooped shoulders; and, though he
was very thin, he possessed a firm
ness of bearing which made one feel
that he had retained a great meas
ure of the physical power that had
obviously been his in youth. There
was benevolence in the somewhat
haggard face, but there was also
shrewdness in hls gaze; and the con
tour of his mouth indicated a latent
hardness.
He bowed to us with an old-fash
ioned graciousness and took a few
steps into the study.
“My son has just informed me,”
he said in a slightly querulous voice,
“of the tragedy that has occurred
here this afternoon. I’m sorry that
I did not return home earlier, as is
my wont on Saturdays, for in that
event the tragedy might have been
averted. I myself would'have been
in the study here and would probab
ly have kept an eye on my nephew.
In any {vent, no one could then have
got possession of my revolver.”
“I am not at all sure, Doctor Gar
den,” Vance returned grimly, “that
your presence here this afternoon
would have averted the tragedy. It
is not nearly so simple a matter as
it appears at first glance.”
Professor Garden sat down in a
chair of antique workmanship near
the door and, clasping his hands
tightly, leaned forward.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
UNCOMMON
AMERICANS
By Elmo
Scott Watson
• Western
Newspaper
Union
Kitten Twins Pose
For Your Pleasure
\
The Kitten Twins, as much alike
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have the gayest wall panel ever—
a panel that will be a delight in
any room! Just single and outline
She Modeled Lincoln
IN THE rotunda of the United
States Capitol at Washington
stands a statue of Abraham Lin
coln. Among all the sculptured like
nesses of the Great Emancipator
this one is unique. It is the only
One which was modeled from life
and it is the work of a young girl.
Vinnie Ream was her name and
she was born in Wisconsin in 1847.
As a girl she amused herself by
sketching the Indians whom she saw
when her father, a surveyor, took
her with him on his trips in the
West. They were crude sketches
but an old 4 Italian who saw them
recognized her latent talent and en
couraged her.
When she was fourteen her father
secured a position for hur as a copy
ist in the post office department
at $50 a month. She became ac- 1
quainted with Clark Mills, the fa
mous sculptor, and while watching
him at work, exclaimed, “Oh, I
could do that if I had some clay!”
Mills told her to help herself and
he was delighted with the progress
which she made.
Then Vinnie Ream conceived the
idea of modeling President Lincoln
from life. When this was first sug
gested to him he refused, but after
talking to the girl and becoming
impressed with her earnestness,
he gave his consent with the under
standing that she was to come to
the White House every afternoon
during his rest period. She was not
to talk and he was to sit, walk, or
lie down to take a nap, as his
mood dictated.
So for five months she spent part
of every afternoon in his study. As
he lay on the couch she took life
masks of his face and hands. As
he walked about or sat at his desk,
she sketched his figure again and
again. ^
After Lincoln’s assassination con
gress decided to erect a statue in
his memory and asked sculptors to
submit sketches. Many famous art
ists responded but the work of this
sixteen-year-old girl was the one se
lected. In 1869 congress advanced
her $5,000 and she went abroad to
study and complete the statue.
After nearly two years of steady
work she finished it and it was un
veiled in 1871. When the statue was
placed in the rotunda of the Capi
tol an old servant who had lived
in the White House exclaimed “the
real Lincoln has returned to us.”
Vinnie Ream later married Lieut.
Richard L. Hoxie but continued her
work as a sculptor until her death
in 1914. She made many other stat
ues and modeled medallions and
busts of many notables, both here
and abroad. But she is best re
membered as the only sculptor who
ever modeled Lincoln from life and
the pioneer woman sculptor of
America.
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stitch, in silk, cotton or angora
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To obtain this pattern send 15
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Write plainly your name, ad
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OF IHTEREST TO
THE HOUSEWIFE
Soldier-Painter
TF YOU think of a painter as an
1 impractical idealist, revise that
view before applying it to Charles
Willson Peale. Born in Maryland in
1741 he was apprenticed to a sad
dler at the age of thirteen and was
such a good workman that he won
his freedom by the time he was
twenty. Then he went into busi
ness for himself and later formed a
partnership with a chaisemaker
who promptly absconded with all
of the firm’s money. To get out of
debt" Peale next tried clock and
watch making and set himself up
as a silversmith. )
Becoming interested^ui painting,
Peale took lessons from a Swedish-
American artist and paid for them
with a saddle which he had made.
Next he spent twj years studying
under Copley in Boston and then
went to England to learn more
from the famous Benjamin West.
Returning to this country a few years
before the Revolution, he be
gan painting portraits of Colonial
celebrities, one of which was des
tined to make him famous. It was
the picture of a young colonel in
the Virginia militia named George
Washington.
At the outbreak of the Revolu
tion Peale, who was an ardent pa
triot, organized a company of mi
litia and became a captain. For the
next three years he mixed painting
and soldiering, winning distinction
in both. Next he went into poli
tics and in 1779 and 1780 served as
a member of the Pennsylvania as
sembly.
After the war, Peale gathered to
gether all of the portraits of Revo
lutionary leaders he had painted-
including several of Washington—
and started a picture gallery in
his home, which was so popular
that he had to seek larger quarters.
In 1802 he opened the famous Peale
museum on the second floor of In
dependence hail. There he exhib
ited not«inly his paintings but also
a remarkable collection of natural
history specimens he had collected.
At the age of eighty-one Peale
turned ffom portraiture to paint re
ligious pictures. When he died in
1827 he left behind him-a collection
of 269 portraits and historical
scenes as a memorial to one of
America’s greatest painters and
also one of her most versatile
geniuses.
Rugs should be turned around
every six months. Frequent turn
ing causes them to wear evenly.
• • o
Clear boiling water will remove
tea stains from table linen.
• • *
Cretonne slip covers will retain
their color better if washed in
bran water.
0*0
Agateware is easily chipped, so
don’t scrape out food that be
comes stuck in it.
0 0*
A little salt added to an egg
before beating makes it light and
easier to beat.
0 0 0
Sweet Prunes—A very delicious
as well as unusual way of serving
prunes for breakfast is to soak
them in fruit juices. Whenever a
jar of fruit is opened save the
juices and put a few prunes in
the jar. When they have become
swollen they are ready to be
eaten.
C Associated Newspapers.—WNU Service.
Duke of Wincfeor
George VI created his brother
Duke of Windsor on December 12,
1936. This title was given in 1331
by King Ect/ard I to his son, the
Black Prince, and has been in
abeyance since the latter’s death.
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