Evening star., 1922-03-09
~ kR. JAMES HANSON. coro-
Nu ner's physician. Criminal
Courts Building" read

Nh nerS physician. Criminal
F Courts Building" read
Craig Kennedy, as he held
a visitors card in his hand. Then to
the visitor he added. Take chair.
DOCTOR
The physician thanked him and sat
down. prof Kennedy" he began.
II have been referred to YOU by In
spector oConnor of the detective bu-
reau. 1t may seem an impertinence
for city official to call on you for
assistance, hut-well, you see, I'm
completely fioored. l think. too. that
the case will interest you. It's the
Vandam case"
Ii Dr. Hanson had suddenly turned
on the current oil an induction CON
and j had been holding the handles
/ don't think the thrill l received
could have been any more sudden.
The Vandam case was the sensation
of the moment triple puzzle. as noth
Kennedy ana myself had agreed
Was it suicide, murder or suuuen
death: Every 1neory. SO far. had proved
unsa siSfau.oIy.
Il have read only what the news
Papers have pubnshed." replied Craig
To the doctors look of inquiry. YOU
see my friend Jameson here is on the
staff of the Star. and we are in the
habit of discussing these cases
Very glad to meet you. MI jane
son." exclaimed DIR. Hanson at the I'M
piled introduction Ihe RELATIONS
between my office and your paper nave
always been very satisfactory, L can
assure you"
"Thank YOU. doctor. Depend on me
to keep them So l replied, shaking
his proffered hand.
Now, as to the case. continued the
doctor slowly. Here is beautiful
woman in the prime of life. the Wlte
of a very wealthy retired banker con-
siderably older than herself-perhaps
nearly seventy-of very fine family.
OF course you have read it all. out
let me sketch il SO you will look at
1T from my point of view. rms "oni
an, apparently in good health. with
every luxury money can ouy: IS GER
tain within a very few years, from her
dover rights, to be numbered among
the richest women in America YET
she is discovered in the middle of the
night by her maid, seated at the Ia
BILE in the library of her home un-
conscious. She never rega:nS con-
seriousness, but dies the following
morning.
"The coroner is called in. and as his
physician. ! must advise MN. me
family physician has pronounced IL
due to natural causes. the uremic
coma of latent kidney trouble some
Of the newspapers, think the Star
among them. have hinted at suicide
And then there are others VINO nave
aatly asserted it was murder.
The coroners physician paused TO
see if we were following him. Need
less to say Kennedy was ahead OF
him.
Have you any facts in your posses
sion which have not been given to the
public YETI asked Craig.
I'm coming to that in a moment: ,.a'.h
replied Dr. Hanson. Let me Sketch
6rS Nandam had be-
come-weli. very eccentric in his OLD
age, we will say. Among his eccen-
tricities none seems to have impressed
the newspapers more than his devo-
rion to a medium and her manager.
Mrs May Pepper and Mr.. Howard
Harrington. Now, Of course. the case
does not go into the truth or falslty
q spiritua lism:. you understand. s.S You
What This aspect OF the case involves
is merely the character Of the medium
and her manager. You know. OF
course. that Henry Vandam IS COM
pletely under their control"
He paused again, to emphasize the
point.
sion of any facts which have not been
Just there lies the trouble. They are
SO very conflicting as to be almost
. worse than useless. as far as l can
see. We found near the unfortunate
woman small Pill UoA with Iii &C
capsules in it. 1t was labeled One be-
fore retiring and bore the name Of
certain druggist and the initials ,Dr.
&. w. Fl Now. l am convinced that
rot give any clue. The druggist says
the initials are merely blind and do
that a maid from the Vandam house
brought in the prescription, which. OF
course. he filled. 1t is harmless
enough escription-contains: among
other things. four and a half grains
of quinine and one-sixth of grain
Of morphine. Six capsules were pre-
pared altogether.
Now, Of course. my first thought
was that she might have taken sew
eraI capsules at once. and that it was
d case of accidental morphine poison
ing. or it might even be suicide. But
it cannot be either, to my mind, Tor
only three of the six capsules are
gone No doubt. also. you are ac-
quainted with the fact that the one
invariable symptom of morphine
poisoning is the contraction of the
pupils of the eyes to a pinpoint-oft-
en- so that they are unrecognizable.
Moreover, the pupils are symmetrical
ly contracted, and this symptom is the
one Invariably present in coma from
morphine poisoning and distinguishes
"On the other hand, in the coma OF
kidney disease one pupil is dilated
and the other contracted-they are
unsymmetrical. But in this case both
little dilated, and they are symmetri-
cal So far we have been able to find
no other poison than the slight traces
of morphine remaining in the stomach
after so many hours. l think you are
enough of a chemist to know that no
doctor would dare go on the stand
and swear to death from morphine
poisoning in the face Of such evidence
against him. The veriest tyro OF an
expert toxicologist could too easily
confute him.
Kennedy nodded. ''Have you the
pill box and the prescription"
"I have" replied DIR. Hanson, plac-
ing them on the table.
Kennedy scrutinized them sharply:
81 shall need these" he said: "Of
course, you understand I will take
thing else of Importance"
Really. 1 don't know" said the
physician. obviously. Its rather out
Of my province. but perhaps you
would think it important. It's mighty
uncanny. anyhow. Henry Vandam. as
YOU doubtless know. was much more
deeply interested in the work of this
medium than was his wife. Perhaps
Mrs. Vandam was a bit Jealous
don't know. But she. too, had an in
terest in spiritualism. though he was
much more deeply Influenced by Mrs.
Pepper than she.
Here's the strange part of it. The
old man believes so thoroughly in
rappings and materialiZations that he
constantly keeps a notebook in his
pocket, in which he records all the
materializations he thinks he sees
and the rappings he nears. along with
pened that on the night Mrs. Vandam
wos tokep ill he had retfred-I be-