The Monmouth inquirer., 1918-03-21

You're stiII the babe to him. Come
up to my room and Wen talk" / said'
steering him to the elevator. Just
notice how this machine works." l
suggested as we stepped inside. Il
push the button for my floor, the sixth
see? and nothing happens because the
door is open. l close the door, then
push-" We started up with the
smoothness of well-oiled mechanism.
(which proves the door was closed
when YOU pressed the button last
night-this morning, I mean," said
Holme.
"Just that and this much more.
When the elevator ran down from the
sixth floor a few seconds before l
brought It back up with the lady
aboard, It either ran down empty as
the result of button call from the
first floor, or it ran down with the
corpse inside for the same call, or 1t
held in 1t the corpse and another, the
other pushing the button here for de-
scent. That's all the possibilities"
"Then either the body was placed
In it here at the sixth and was taken
down by the murderer who used the
elevator in making his escape, or the
body was placed Inside at the first
floor between the time of the lifts de-
scent and your call. wouldn't you
have heard that?"
Il might not but the time was
short"
"show me-" Holme pulled his
watch, while went to my door and as
nearly as could repeated my perform
ance of the night before. I heard the
elevator again in fancy, closed my
door walked to the shaft, and touched
the button.
TWENTY-FIVE seconds" said Hoime,
putting back his watch. mighty lit
tie time that. Now tell me just now
the body was placed"
'Come inside then," l said, and af-
ter / had closed my window to shut
out the din we got comfortable in my
quarters. l told hom exactly the po-
sition of the body, and my theory Of
the hat, which was new to him, the
police having either discredited it or
refrained from its mention.
Holme agreed with me that 1t had
been placed on her head after she was
arranged in sitting posture in the lift,
and 1t made more impossible the the
ory of the first floor.
''She was killed up here" he said,
fand taken down. You interfered with
the removal OF the body by your sig
nal"
"And no shot heard?" countered.
SIS that impossible?"
Improbable rather. The walls here
are not thick"
"A silencer?"
"Not on a revolver. There are
none"
might have been a rifle"
/ smiled. Bullet would have gone
through here. By the way. what was
the caliber Of that bullet?@
'Forty-one."
''They do not make silencers for
heavy caliber rifles, nor is a forty-one
a customary rifle size. 1t is a revolver
size"
Holme studied, the matter graveIy
for moment.
"The only other theory is that she
was placed in that elevator in sitting
position-none to easy a job with a
limp body-and her hands crossed in
a natural position. her hat placed on
her head, and the door closed, all so
quietly that you at the top of the open
shaft did not hear, in less than twen-
ty-two seconds"
/ nodded. "Take your choice" l
said lightly. ''You noted the direction
of the bullet?"
'Yes. Shot from above"
''She might have been sitting way.
forward in sitting position" said.
wait I'll show you"
I went to my bureau, returning with
my own revolver SELL in its holster.
Taking it out, threw the leather case
on the chair and broke the pistol to
extract the cartridges. AS they fell
into the palm of my hand I gave
gasp. One cartridge was an empty
shell, and that revolver held a full
cylinder of ball cartridges when /
placed 1t in my bureau drawer.