The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1909-08-29
LITERARY MAGAZINE

a trlhlng quarrel. and he left the house
In anger But there was nothing In II
to lead him to destroy himself"
What did you quarrel aboutf
What do father and son usually quar-
rel abOutl Money, OF course
In nine cases out OF ten-but IN look
ing for the trutu. IL it wasn't suicide,
IL was murder And IL murder, how did
the murderer ret outT'
Rodman had not closed the door into
the bedroom, and the detective peered
within and called for a light. Griseom
turned on the switch.
This is where he slept when he was
at home he explained In subdued
voice This door opens into the closet;
this into the bathroom, you see
ANY way. out. hereY' asked the de
tectlve, tapping the panels.
EMO way, except by the door we came
detective Rafferty, stepped to the open
window, and peered out. Again the scent
OF the roses brought to ROdman subtle
underlined memories; but the detective was
lnsensible to the suggestions OF the per
fume. aud lntently followed his train OF
"A man could get out Of this window"
he said There Is a ledge broad enough
for him to walk on. How far does II
ut extends around che house." returned
II suppose there Is some place along 1t
where he would have chance to drop to
the grOundT'
''It would be good deal OF a drop, but
possible for an active man.
Detective Rafferty, looked again at the
ledge and at the ground beneath. Then
he walked back to the sitting room. and
took place 10y the chair under which the
revolver had lain.
the gun stood here" and he held out the
revolver as though he would fire II stand
there. Mr.. Rodman, about TWO feet from
the muzzle. Young Grscom could have
stood there got the bullet, staggered back
70 the door fallen against IL and braced
Il shut as he died. Now
The detectives eyes wandered upward
as ne spoke, and he paused abruptly.
Then he stepped forward TO the door,
placed his finger IN the wall a foot or
more above his head, and turned TO che
HAS a revolver been fired In here be-
foreY' he asked sharply.
Not with my knowledge or consent
replied Griscom.
Here ia n bullet hole.
II can only say that did not know II
was there" returned Griscom. II thlhk
IL must have been made tonight
Now here" said the detective, you can
sec two chances. Suppose 1t was sui.
eide lie fred shot at his head ana
heart. But there's only one chamber dis
charged and that would mean that he
took out the old she'll, and put iresn
cartridge before be shot again. Nobody
will accuse him of doing that. The sec.
ond chance is that there's been a piston
duel here-young Griscom against an uh-
known"
II think that might be the explanation.
said Rodman Suppose that Arthur
Griscom stood there where the revolver
lay The murderer comes i'm al the door.
Arthur draws his revolver. The Intruder
shoots him. Arthur fires an answering
shot which goes wild, drops his revolver
staggers forward TO close with the mur,
derer and reaches the spot only 10 ran
against the closing door as the murderer
escapes"
Detective Rafferty, received this theory
with the indugent smile OF the profes-
slOnal before the amateur.
VERY good, Mr.. Rodman, but agalnst
probabilities unless you assume that the
fellow was looking for the young man
No. the likely thing Is that the young
man opened the door, found the felloW
here started for him, and got shot. NOW,
what was the fellow here for, Mr.. Rod
man?'
II Effective Rafferty, stopped suddenly,
- his eyes eagerly scanning the carpet by
the Dashboard. He stopped and picked mp
something from the floor. Rodmans eyes
followed him.
Match ends!' exclaimed Griscom, sud
denly taking an interest In the discovery
why there are a dozen scattered along
the wall here
Yes" said the detective. Somebody
was searching along the wall. Maybe he had
dropped something and was looking for IL
with matches Here at this spot he stopped
and lighted a half dozen one after the
other" And his eyes scanned the carpet.
In the hope that the object Of desire had
escaped discovery, and might thus furnish
clew to the slayer. lie had moved the
chair back to widen the circle OF search
when GrIscOm gave an exclamation, and
pointed upward at the wall.
''The picture!' he cried THE Melan-