The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1914-10-01


be no life in that livid face. In those
CLASSY eyes
Don't touch him." / said. for van
ms had started forward It's too
1 drew him back and we stood for
O moment shaken as one always In by
sudden and unexpected contact with
WHO is her" I asked at last.
Il don't know" answered Vantine
hoarsely. Il never saw him before"
Then he strobe to the bell and rang
1t violently. Parks" he went on
sternly, as that worthy appeared at
the door. what has been going on In
Going on. sir?" repeated Parks,
with a look of amazement, not only at
the words, but at the tone In which
hey were uttered. I'm sure I don't
Then his glance fell upon the hud-
died body, and he stopped short, his
eyes staring, his mouth open.
Well said his master sharply.
Who Is he? What is he doing here7"
Why-why, stammercd Parks,
thickly, that's the man who was
waiting to see you. SIR"
You mean he has been killed IN this
house?" demanded Vantine.
He was certainly alive when he
came In, sir" said Parks. recovering
something OF his self possession.
Maybe he was just looking for a quiet
place where he could kill himself. He
seemed kind OF excited"
.Of course" agreed Vantina. with q
sigh OF relief, that's the explanation.
Only i wish he had chosen some place
else. / suppose we shall have to call
q police, Lester2'
Yes" I said. "and the coroner. Sup
pose you leave ii to me. Well lock
up this room and nobody must leave
the house until the police arrive"
Very well" assented vantine, Wis
IDLY relieved, TIL see to that" and he
FASTENED away, while I went to the
phone, called up police headquarters,
and told briefly what had happened.
twenty minutes later. there was a
ring at the bell, and Parks opened the
door and admitted four men.
why. hello, Simmonds,I' ] said. roc
ognizing In the first one the detective
sergeant who had assisted In clearing
up h Marathon mystery. And back
OF him was Coroner GOLDBERG, whom
1 had met I'm two previous cases;
while the third ~countenance, looking
at me with a Quizzical smile, was that
or Jim Godfrey, the Records star re-
porter. The fourth man was a po-
liceman In uniform, who, at a word
NSOh AA0 eNhNAOh -
yes" said Godfrey, as we shook
hands, II happened to be talking to
Simmonds when the call came in and
1 thought / might as well come along.
What Is it?"
Just a suicide, / think" and / N
locked he door into the room where
the dead man lay.
Simmons, G~oldberger and Godfrey
stepped inside. I followed and closed
the door.
Nothing has been disturbed 1 said
mo one has touched the body"
Simmonds nodded and glanced In
quirfngly about the room, but Cod
frey's eyes, l noticed, were on the face
Of the dead man. Goldberger dropped
to his knees beside the body, looked
into the eyes and touched his fingers
to the left wrist. Then he stood erect
again and looked down at the body,
and as ! followed his gaze, I noted its
attitude more accurately than / had
done in the first shock OF discovering it.
It was lying on its right side, half
on its stomach, with its right arm
doubled under 1t, and its left hand
clutching at the floor above its head.
The knees were drawn up as though
In a c~onvulsion, and the face was nor
ribly contorted, with a sort OF purple
tinge under the skin, as though the
0AO0A AAoA 0SCAA ~ -
The ayes were wide open and their
CLASSY stare added not a little to the
apparent terror and suffering OF the
face. 1t was not a pleasant sight and
after a moment / turned my eyes away
with q shiver Of repugnance.
The coroner glanced at Simmonds.
Not much question as to the cause"
he said. Poison. of course"
"Of course" nodded Simmonds.
But what KIND? ~ asked tGodfrey.
1T will take a ~postmortem to tell
that" and Goldberger bent for an
other close look at the distorted faca
I'm free to admit the symptoms aren't
the usual ones"
Godfrey shrugged his shoulders.
Il should say not" he agreed and
turned away to an inspection Of the
room.
what can you tell us about IL, Mr.
L~ester?" Goldberger questioned.
/ told all / knew-how Parks had
announced q mans arrival. how Van-
tine and I had come downstairs to-
gether. how Vantine had called me.
and finally how Parks had identified
the body as that of the strange caller.
"Have you any theory about itr"
Goldberger asked.
"Only that the all was merely q
pretext-that what the man was really
kill himself unobserved."
How long O time elapsed after
Parks announced the man before you
and Mr.. Vantine came downstairs? p
Half an hour. perhaps"
Goldberger nodded.
Let's have Parks In" he said.
I opened the door and called 20
Parksy who was sitting ON the bottom
step OF h stair.