The Cass County Sun (Linden, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 8, 1937 Page: 3 of 8
eight pages : ill. ; page 20 x 14 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
r •
V$>
,... ,...,:
$Mfr ^'S «WP' '/> *-
■"'-. ,€" 1 • *;«■
':M !• 7jav ,.' ' ' • # > ' •
"y ' A.V,'". '■ ->'?'"•'•• ■ '''*-
____________
THE CASS COUNTY SUN
The Garden Murder Case
Copyright S. S. Van Dine
l Y
S. S. VAN DIV!3
WNU Service
CHAPTER VIII—Continued
—12—
"By George! I did hear some
thing, now that you put it that way
I thought nothing of it at the time,
since Woody was already dead Bui
just as I re-entered the stairway
there was an explosion of some kind
outside. I thought it was a car
back-firing down in the strfeet, and
•paid no attention to it."
"That's very interestin' . .
Vance's eyes drifted off into space.
"I wonder . . . But to continue
your tale. You say you left the roof
immediately and came downstairs
But there were at least ten min-
utes from the time you let1 tht gar-
den to the time I encountered you
■entering the apartment at the front
door. How and where did you spend
these ten intervening minutes?"
"I stayed on the landing of the
stairs and smoked a couple of ciga
rettes. I was trying to pull myself
together."
Heath stood up quickly, one hand
in his outside coat pocket, and
thrust out his jaw belligerently to-
ward the agitated Kroon.
"What kind of cigarettes do you
smoke?" he barked.
The man looked at the Sergeant in
bewilderment, and then said: "1
smoke gold - tipped Turkish ciga-
rettes. What about it?"
Heath drew his hand from his
pocket and looked at something
which he held on his palm.
"All right," he muttered. Then he
addressed Vance. "I got the stubs
here. Pickei 'em up on the land-
ing when I came up from the
dame's apartment."
"Well, well," sneered Kroon. "So
the police actually found something!
. . . What more do you want?" he
demanded of Vance.
"Nothing for the moment, thank
you," Vance returned with exagger-
ated courtesy. "You have done very
well by yourself this afternoon. Mr.
Kroon. We won't need you any
more."
Kroon went to the door without a
word.
"A good story," Markham com-
mented dryly when Kroon had gone.
"Yes, yes. Good. But reluc-
tant." Vance appeared disturbed.
"Do you believe it?"
"My dear Markham, 1 keep an
open mind, neither believin' nor dis-
believin' . . . Prayin' for facts. But
no facts yet. Drama everywhere,
but no substance."
There was a rustle in the passage-
way, and Madge Weatherby came
rushing into the study, with Heath
following and protesting vigorously.
It was obvious that Miss Weatherby
had dashed up the stairs before any-
one could interfere with her.
"What's the meaning of this?"
she demanded imperiously. "You're
letling Cecil Kroon go, after what
I've told you? And I"—she indicat-
ed herself with a dramatic ges-
ture—"I am being held here, a pris-
oner."
"The fact is, Miss Weatherby,"
said Vance, returning to his chair,
,"Mr. Kroon explained his brief ab-
sence this afternoon lucidly and
with impellin' logic. It seems that
he was doing nothing more repre-
hensible than conferring with Miss
Stella Fruemon and a brace of at-
torneys."
"Ah!" The woman's eyes glared
with venom,
"Quite so. He was breaking ofT
with the lady for ever and ever."
"Is that the truth?" Miss Weath-
erby straightened in her chair.
"Yes, yes. No subterfuge. Kroon
said you were jealous of Stella.
Thought I'd relieve your mind."
"Why didn't he tell me, then?"
"There's always the possibility
you didn't give him a chance."
The woman nodded vigorously.
"Yes, that's right, I wouldn't
speak to him when he returned
here this afternoon."
"Care to revamp your original
theory?" asked Vance. "Or do you
still think that Kroon is the
culprit?"
"I—I really don't know now," the
woman answered hesitantly. "When
I last spoke to you I was terribly
upset. . . . Maybe it was all my
imagination."
Vance looked at the woman quizzi-
cally. "Since you're not so sure
that Kroon did the deed, have you
any other suggestions?"
There was a tense silence. Miss
Weatherby's face seemed to con-
tract: She drew ih her lips.
"Yes!" she exploded, leaning to-
ward Vance with a new enthusiasm.
"It was Zalia Graem who killed
Woody I She ha'd the motive, as you
call it. She's capable of such things,
too. There was something between
her and Woody. Then she chucked
him over. He didn't have enough
money to suit her. You saw the
way they acted toward each other
today."
"Have you any idea as to how
she managed the crime?" Vance
£.sked quietly.
"She was out of the drawing-room
long enough, wasn't she?"
"Poignant question. Situation
very mysterious." Vance rose slow-
ly and bcwed to the woman.
'Thanks awfully — we're most
grateful. And we shall not hold you
prisoner any longer."
When she had gone Markham
grinned sourly.
"The lady is well equipped with
suspects. What do you make of this
new accusation?"
Vance was frowning.
"Animosity shunted from Mon-
sieur Kroon to La Giaem. Yes
Queer situation. Logically speakin',
I this new accusation is more reason-
able than her first It ha. its points
... If oi.ly I could get that dis-
connected buzzer out of my mind
It must fit somewhere . . . And
i that second shot—the one we all
| heard." *
Vance again moved to the buzzer
I and inspected it with care. "No
] indications of a mechanism."
"It could have been removed be-
j fore the repair man arrived," the-
| orized Markham without enthusi-
i asm.
"Yes, another possibility. 1 had
! thought of that too. But the oppor-
I tunity was lacking. I came in here
He Sank Limply Into a Chair.
immediately after I had found the
johnnie shot . . ."He took the cig-
arette from his lips and straight-
ened up. "By Jove! Someont might
have slipped in here when we all
dashed upstairs after tl.e shot. Re-
mote chance, though."
"Does the buzzer connect with
any other room besides the den?"
asked Markham.
Vance shook his head.
"No. That's the only connection."
"Didn't you say there was some-
one in the den at the time you heard
this shot?"
Vance's gaze swept past Mark-
ham.
"Yes. Zalia Graem was there.
Ostensibly telephonin'." His voice,
I thought, was a little bitter.
"We might get more Information
from the young woman herself,"
Markham put in sarcastically.
"Oh, yes. Quite. Obvious pro-
cedure. But 1 have a few queries
to put to Garden first. Pavin' the
way, as it were. I say, Sergeant,
collect Floyd Garden and bring him
here."
Garden came into the room un-
easily and looking slightly haggard.
"What a mess!" he sighed, sink-
ing dismally into a chair. "Any
light on the case?"
"A few fitful illuminations,"
Vance told him. ' By the by, it
seems that your guests walk in and
out the front door without the form-
ality of ringing or beir.g an-
nounced."
"Oh, yes. But only when we're
playing the races Much more con-
venient. Saves annoyance and In-
terruptions."
"And another thing: when Miss
Graem was phoning in the den
and you suggested that she tell the
gentleman to call back later, did
you actually know that it was a man
she was talking to?"
Garden opened his eyes in mild
surprise.
"Why, no. I was merely ragging
her. Hadn't the faintest idea. But,
if it makes any difference, I'm sure
Sneed could give you the informa-
tion, if Miss Graem won't. Sneed
answered the phone, you know."
"It's of no importance." Vance
brushed the matter aside. "It
might interest you to know, how-
ever, that the buzzer in this room
tailed to function because someone
had carefully disconnected the
wires."
"The devil you say!"
''Oh, yes. Quite." Vance fixed
Garden with a significant look.
"This buzzer, if 1 understand it cor-
rectly, is operated only from the
den, and when we heard the shot,
Miss Graem was in the den. In-
cidentally, the shot we all heard
was not the shot that killed Swift.
The fatal shot had been fired at
least five minutes before that Swift
never even knew whether he had
won or lost his bet."
Garden's gaze was focused on
Vance wth wide-eyed awe.
"God God, man!" He shook his
head despondently. "Tins thing is
getting hellish."
"By the by," said Vance, "Miss
Weatherby tried to convince us that
Miss Graem shot Swift."
"IIus she any grounds for such an
accusation?"
"Only that Miss Graem had, a
grudge of some kind against Swift
and detested him thoroughly, and
that, at the supposed time of his de-
mise, Miss Graem was absent from
the drawing-room. Doubts that she
was in the den phoning all the
time. Thinks she was up here,
busily engaged in murder."
Garden drew rapidly on his pipe
and seemed to be thinking.
"Do you yoursell regard Miss
Graem as capable of a cold-blooded,
skillfully planned murder?"
Garden pursed his lips and
frowned.
"Damn it, Vance! I can't answer
that question. Frankly, I don't know
who is and who isn't capable of
murder. The younger set today are
all bored to death, intolerant of ev-
ery restraint, living beyond their
means, digging up scandal, seeking
sensations of every type Zalia is
little different from the rest, as far
as 1 can see. She always seems to
be stepping on the gas and exceed-
ing the speed limits. How far she
would actually go. I'm not prepared
to say. Who is, for that matter? It
may be merely a big circus parade
with her, or it may be fundamental
—a violent reaction from respecta-
bility."
"A /ivid, though not a sweet,
character sketch," murmured
Vance. "One might say offhand
that you are rather fond of her
but don't approve."
Garden laughed awkwardly.
"1 can't say that I dislike Zalia.
Most men do like her—though I
don't think any of them underotand
her. I know I don't. There's some
impenetrable wall around hei. She's
either damned superficial or deep
as hell—I can't make up my mind
which. As to her status in this
present situation . . . well, I don't
know. It wouldn't surprise me in
the least if Madge was right about
her. Zalia has staggered me a
couple of times—can't exactly ex-
plain it. You remember, when you
asked me about father's revolver.
I told you Zalia had discovered it
in that desk and staged a scene
with it in this very room. Well,
Vance, my blood went cold at the
time. There was something in the
way she did it, and in the tone of
her voice, that made me actually
fear that she was fully capable of
shooting up the party. I Mas re-
lieved when she put the gun back
and shut the drawer . . . All I can
say," he added, "is that I don't
wholly understand her."
"No. Of course not. No one can
wholly understand another person.
If anyone could he'd understand ev-
erything. Not a comfortin thought
. . . Thanks awfully for the recital
of your fears and impressions.
You'll look after matters downstairs
for a while, won't you?"
Garden seemed to breathe more
freely on being dismissed, and with
a mumbled acquiescence, moved to-
ward the door.
"Oh, by the by," Vance called
after him. "One other little point
I wish to ask you about."
Garden waited politely.
"Why," asked Vance, blowing a
ribbon of smoke toward the ceiling,
"didn't you place Swift's bet on
Equanimity?"
Foreign Words ^
and Phrases
Novus homo. (L.) A new man;
ian upstart; parvenu.
Summum bonum. (L.) The su«
preme good; the chief good.
Tout-a-l'heure. (F.) Presently.
Oubliette (F.) A dungeon.
Pater noster. (L.) Our father;
the Lord's prayer.
Suum cuique. (L.) To each one
hij own.
Sans souci. (F.) Without care.
Piece de resistence. (F.) The
chief meat dish of a dinner.
Vide ut supra. (L.) See what is
stated above.
Succes d'estume. (F.) A suc-
cess only in the eyes of the en-
lightened few.
Semper idem. (L.) Always the
same.
Sic passim. (L.) Thus every-
where.
FOR EARLY
MORNING HEADACHES
FOR 12
2 FULL
CHAPTER IX
The man gave a start, and his jaw
dropped. He barely rescued his
pipe from falling to the flooi.
"You didn't place it, don't y'
know," Vance went on dulcetly.
"Rather interestin' point, in view
of the fact that your cousin was not
destined to live long enough to col-
lect the wager, even if Equanimity
nad won. And in the circumstances,
had you placed it, you would now be
saddled with a $10,900 debt—since
Swift is no longer able to sottle."
"God Almighty, stop it, Vancc!"
Garden exploded. He sank limply
into a chair. "How do you know 1
didn't place Woode's bet?"
Vance regarded the man with
searching eyes.
"No bookie would take a bet of
that size five minutes before post
time. He couldn't absorb it."
"But Hannix—"
"Don't make a Wall-Street finan-
cier of Hannix foi my benefit,"
Vance admonished quietly. "And
another thing: I happened t'. be sit-
ting ip a strategic position near your
table when you pretended to place
Swift's bet. You very deftly pulled
the cord taut over the plunger of
the telephone."
Garden capitulated.
"All right, Vance," he said. "1
didn't place the bet. But if you
think, for one moment, that 1 hao
any suspicion that Woody was going
to be shot his afternoon, you're
wrong."
"My dear fellow!" Vance sighed
with annoyance "I'm rot thinkin'.
Higher intellgence not at work at
the moment Mind a blank. Only
tryin' to add up a few figures. Ten
thousand dollars is a big item. It
changes our total—eh, what? . . .
But you haven't told me why you
didn't place the bet."
Garden rose angrily.
"I didn't want him to lose the
money," he asserted aggressively.
"I knew what it would mean to
him."
"Yes, yes. The Good Samaritan.
Very touchin'. But suppose Equa-
nimity had won, and your cousin
had survived—what abou' the pay-
off?"
(TO RE CONTINUED)
FOR 25c
Demand and Get Genuine
BAYER ASPIRIN
Liking Duty
The secret of happiness is not
in doing what one likes, but in
liking what one has to do—Elbert
Hubbard.
A Good Laxative
The bad feelings and dullness
often attending constipation take
the joy out of fife. Try a dose of
Black-Draught at the first sign of
constipation and see how much bet-
ter it is to check the trouble before
it gets a hold on you. Black-
Draught is purely vegetable and is
so prompt and reliable. Get re-
freshing relief from constipation by
taking purely vegetable
BLACK-DRAUGHT
Injuring Friendship
He lakes the greatest ornament
from friendship, who takes mod-
esty from it.—Cicero.
A FAMOUS DOCTOR
AS a young man the
late Dr. R. V. Fierce
practiced medicine in Pa.
After moving to Buffalo,
N. Y., he gave to the drug
trade (nearly 70 years
ago) Dr. Pierce'® Favor-
ite Prescription. Women
who suffer from "nerves,"
irritability and discom-
forts associated with functional disturbances
should try this tonic. It stimulates the ap-
petite and this in turn increases the intake of
lood, helping to upbuild the body. Buy nowt
Tabs. 50c, liquid $1.00 and $1.35.
Persistence Wins
Stubborn labor conquers every-
thing.—Vergil.
your cold
Rub your chest with
warming,soothing Pcne-
tro at bedtime. Helps
nature break up conges-
tion, its aromatic vapors
help open up stuffy nasal
passages. Sold everywhere,
I IA L V C WITH A BA*C OF'V
O FAS H ION CO MUTTON SUCT \
msm
WNU—L
14—37
Giant Radio Stations May Set Clocks,
According to a University Professor
A ticklish time for watchmakers is
ahead, Dr. Walter H. Bucher, pro-
fessor of geology at Stanford univer-
sity, predicts, states a Stanford uni-
versity, Calif., United Press writer.
The day is near, he says, when a
powerful radio station , will supply
the entire world with synchronized
time.
"Man hag become exceedingly
artful in the measurement of time,"
says Dr. Bucher, "and techniques
to register millionths of a second or
millions of years.
"The speed of detonating nitro-
glycerine, moving at approximate-
ly five miles a second, can be
observed as it passes from one
exploding molecule to the next, a
length of time which in an alge-
braic ratio would be to one second
as one second is to 414,000 years."
Dr. Bucher declares rifle bullets,
whistling through the air at 3,000
feet a second, can be photographed
with the aid of delicate timing de-
vices, as they proceed each one-
third of a millimeter.
"At the other extreme," he said,
"Scientists have found a piece of
'ore in northern Rdssia which they
estimate with fair accuracy to b«
1,850,000 000 yenrs old. •
"The age of a bit of orfe from
the Black Hills region of the United
States has been fixed at 1,466,000,-
000 years.
"Civilization hag been .exacting,"
declares Dr. Bucher, "in its demand
for exact time. At the United
States naval observatory, the in-
struments are houpqd ijnderground
and are inspectfed through peri-
scopes. Astronomers examine the
stars to find the length of the day
and radio and telegraph service ii
brought into use to spread the Qxad
time throughout the countiy."
Tax That's Collected
Someone wants to tax sin. Well,
isn't it taxed?
Watch Your
Kidneys/
Help Them Cleanse the Blood
of Harmful Body Wast©
Your kidneys arc constantly filtering
waste matter from the blood stream. But
kidneys somotimes lag in their work—do
not act as Nature intended—fail to re-
move impurities that, if retained, may
Coison the system and upset tbc whole
ody machinery.
Symptoms may be nagging backache,
persistent headache, attacks of dlzsineas,
getting up nights, swelling, puffiness
under the eyes—a feeling of nervous
anxiety and loss of pep and strength.
Other signa of kidney or bladder dis-
order may be burning, scanty or too
frenucnt urination.
There should b« no doubt that prompt
treatment i* wiser than neglect. Us®
Voan't Pill*. Doan't have been winning
new frienda for more than forty yean.
They have a nation-wide reputation.
Are recommended by grateful people the
country over. Atk your nn'phoorl
Doans Pills
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Banger, J. E. A. & Erwin, W. L. The Cass County Sun (Linden, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 8, 1937, newspaper, April 8, 1937; Linden, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth340876/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Atlanta Public Library.