Evening star., 1925-06-28

was open or shuttle hadn't given a
thought to 1t. He had seen no one in
the corridor, before or after the
tragedy.
Q. Q. nodded gravely.
We'll. Mr.. Oglethorpe, there is a
possibility don't want to enlarge
upon ft-that Arbuthnot was muir
dered by one of the clerks in his own
department.
"Impossibler'
Nevertheless. Mr.. oglethorpe, it is
a suggestion that has been made-and
one that l am bound to probe You
would, Of course. do all you could to
assist in finding poor Arbuthnot s
Notwithstanding that he was mur-
dered?"
"Of course I should-though. 1 re-
peat. can't for moment believe it.
What do you require of me?"
Il want to submit the six confiden.
tial clerks in your department to a
little psychological test. 1t is one
which-1f I can trust the experience
OF the Viennese police and sundry lit.
tie efforts Of my own-can scarcely
fail in such circumstances. You
nave heard OF the word association
method?"
Something to do with psychoanaly.
sis, isn't 1t? Sheer Quackery, all Of it,
in my opinion" Mr.. Oglethorpe let it
be seen that he was old fashioned and
proud Of 1t.
Precisely" Q. Q. concurred, with a
smile. 1T is method much used by
psychoanalysts. l put a word to YOU
You answer as quickly as possible
with the first word that rises In your
mind in association. I measure the
time interval in each case between my
question and your answer. In my list
or words are one or two which have q
direct bearing upon the case When
those words are put to the concealed
criminal he instantly recognizes their
danger and instinctively-no matter
what his command of himself-hesi
tates for safe word to give in an
sWer. 1t is quite automatic on his
part. And accordingly. to those key
words his time interval Of association
VIII show as appreciably longer than
his average Now I want YOU
to have the goodness to send your
clerks across to me. one by one. this
afternoon Mr.. Oglethorpe-and since
l want to get as wide a basis as DOS
slole for my averages 1 should be very
siad II you would commence with
yourself now"
Il haven't the slightest faith in any
OF this psychoanalytic charlatanry.
salo Mr.. Oglethorpe, with q superior
note or condescending disdain in his
voice. but If you think It will heir
you go ahead by all means. Fire
away-I'm ready"
.. .. drew his sheet Of paper in
front OF him, sat with pencil poin,
poised. f''''
Bread" he said. and his pencil
point began to dot across the paper
Butter" answered Mr.. Oglethorne
promptly. Q. Q. stopped dottine AT his
hrst syllable. scribbled the word rap
"ssar.-dot-dot.
Horser'-dot.dot.
Cartv
."aouse"-dot-dot-dot.
Desk"-dot. dot.dot.dot.
"Tabler'-dot-dot.dot
Cloth"
board"-dot dot-dot.
bone! Mr.. Oglethorpe eave }b<
answer. an obvious nursery rbvn,e
memory, almost desperately. The
strain or keeping his brain alert he
sVtoentiy found more difficult than he
had anticipated. Q. @. scrtbbIed dow
eacn answer as it was given.
Carpetr'-dot-dot.
Floor
And so on through a list Of ahou
oo words where. at intervals, I re
marked only code, revolver and mur
oer as specially significant.
When he had got to the end, @. @
looked up. ~' ~
"Thanl, yo, ,yr D., .
said. And now will YOU carry Il ~ ~
the length of sending along Won,
clerks In order Of their seniority?"
X X X
Mr.. DARCY VAUGHAN was an
nounced- He was younger mar
than Mr.. Oglethorpe, struck NOR.
modern note of smartIy tailored. keen
edged efficiency. The little dark mus
tache on his good looking face wa.
neatly trimmed; his monocle gave hin
@ touch of aristocratic differentiation
from the usual office-worn type; hi.
manner had the self-confident cas-,
produced by the best Of public school:
and a university.
'Oglethorpe tells me you want tf
see me about pood Arbuthnot's death
Mr.. Quayne." Anything I can do
Of course" He made a gesture o,
perfect readiness to oblige. But In
afraid that's not much"
Q. Q.'s quiet eyes were summing
him up.
$50 I understand. You were a
lunch. believe, when the tragedy oc
Cured
"Yes. I knew nothing about It unit
I returned and the Scotland Yard fel
low told me-"
did Mr.. Oglethorpe tell you pre-
cisely why wanted to see you. Mr.
Vaughan"
"No. He merely said that yol
wished to talk to me on the matter.
"Then I will tell you, Mr.. Vaughan
There is reason to suspect that Mr.
Arbuthnot did not commit suicide
but that he was shot by one of tht
clerks in his personal Department.
clerk who had an urgent motive t.
suppress him promptly"
Mr.. Vaughan manifested only TIT
startled vivihcation of interest nor
NAL in such circumstances.
"You mean-murdered?" he gasped
IT mean murdered" The Chief wa!
impressively specific.
"But-my dear sir!'' Mr.. D'Arc.
Vaughan was obviously much per
turbed. "It seems to me fantastic
Oglethorpe almost saw him shoot him
self-he was in ~the room a momen
later-before any murderer coul'
have escaped, Who could possibl.
have shot Arbuthnot? Unless Ogle
thorpe did it himself-which Is gro
tesquely absurd"
THAT is what we are going to tr.
and find out. Mr.. Vaughan" replied
the Chief quietly. I'm sure I cal
call upon you to give me any assist
ance in your power?"
Certainly - certainly" said Mr.
Vaughan. But what do you want m,
to do?"