The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-01-18
By Sidney c.. Partridge

did You carry him anywhere. per-
hance. on the evening of the eigh-
,enth OF the moon?'
Indeed we did. and on the nine
teenth also"
DO you remember where you took
him."
'On the eighteenth we went to the
ms nsion OF the widow Wang. the one
who sold her property for the foreign
mill. and on the nineteenth We went
into the foreign quarter and to the
great hotel"
Wang Zoos thoughts were working
faster as he saw the outline closing
in. He stopped the sedan at the City
Temple and. paving the coolies a double
fare. said: The night Is clear. 1 will
walk the few remaining streets He
crossed the bridge into the French
Concession and took the first jin-rik.
sha for the basket-maker's home Once
secure within the upper room. he I'M
locked the trunk. and turning over
slowly the pages OF q well -thumbed
volume called The Poisons of the An.
cient Dynasties" he came to this: The
berries of the South Formosa lacquer
tree distlll noxious odour. which Is
| supplying and deadly in its effect
rs
the most virulent poisons known. It Is
generally spread upon a fan and the
victim becomes quickly unconscious.
Perfume OF some kind is always added
| to conceal it."
Before his interview with the Inspec-
tor on the following Monday. Wang
Foo had ascertained these further
| facts: first the widow Wang had Left
| for a long Journey to Picking the day
| following the dinner at the hotel; sec
/ ond. Long Wing was formerly a resi-
dent of South Formosa: third. his
brother, a compradore in the Pen.nsu-
lar s. s. Co.. had deposited five thou
sand taels in one lump in the Anglo
Asiatic Bank on July eighteenth.
Monday afternoon he completed the
chain and when the doors OF the private
ONCE closed upon him, the Chief, and
| Morehead that evening, there was I'M
| folced TO them the various steps of a
crine almost unparalleled in their long
| experience They were shown how
Long Wing had accepted a bride of
five thousand taels from the widow
! Wang to have her property substituted
for that OF the other parties and how,
to avoid suspicion. he had secretly
passed this money over to his brother
to deposit in the bank. He had roma
to the hotel earlier in the evening and
under the pretext of Arranging some
| flowers on the table, had secreted the
| duplicate deed beneath IT. Then. at the
critical moment he had pushed the
first deed onto the floor and In pre-
tending to pick II up. had dexterously
| substituted the second for 1t and II
was this that the Deputy sealed He
returned later in the evening. looking.
he said. for a lost memorandum. and
| 81 h.
derneath the table.
| But how did he come to go to the
Deputy's slider" asked the Inspector.
Please explain that to U.S."
| our Excellency looks warm he
said answered Wang Foo: "Iet me re-
| fresh you with some fragrance from
the Southern Isles and drawing a
beautiful sandal-wood fan from a box
| WITHIN his sleeve. he stepped to his side
ana began to fan him vigorously The
! upper portion of the fen was covered
with tho deadly lacquer. you see. but
the odor OF the sandal-wood concealed
AZ. 1t TOOK but few moments for the
poison to do its work. but those mo-
nents were quite enough for the i'm.
pressing OF the Tao-tai's seal In tho
excitement that followed. he deftly re-
placed the fan within its air-tight case
| SO that no others were affected nv a."
/ But did not the Secretary ana 9TH
ers have their fans7'
All! That IL Just the important
point. 1t was the eighteenth of tho
! moon. you know. and the Book OF
Rites and Ceremonies is very strict
about the etiquette of fans Feather
fans alone are used after the fifteenth
OF the moon. and these. you see. could
not have held the poison or concealed
the odor of IT. That is why sandal
wood alone would answer"
"Morehead." said the Inspector, lyon
and have still few things to learn
about our Celestial friends. Let us cali
this The Case of the Sandal-wood
| Fam"
Not bad idea." replied the Detec-
| tive.
| In the Third Book Of the Arkhects
II Is written: The Superior Man IN
Careful to Follow the Rites and Cere.
| monies" said Wang Foo.
| Or. in other words" added the In
spector. whenever he wishes to refresh
himself he should use the proper fan
for the season."