The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1927-09-17
MURDER!CASE
By S. S. IVAN DINE . caAn

would you say the car was here,
officer?"
"A good half hour anyway. 1t was
here before IL, and when | came
back ut 1890 or whereabouts it was
still here. But the next time came
by, it was gone"
You saw nothing else? Nobody
in the car, or anyone hanging around
who might have been the 0wnery'
mo, sir, did not"
Several other questions Of SINH
lar nature were asked him; but moth.
ing more could be learned, and he
was dismissed.
Anyway" remarked Heath, 1.-The
car story will be good stuff to hand
the reporters"
Vance had sat through the ques.
tioning Of Mclaughlin with drOwsy
inattention-l doubt if he even heard
more than the first few words Of
the officers report-and now, with
a stifled yawn, he rose and, saunter-
ing to the comfortable, picked up one
Of the cigaret butts that had been
found in the replace. After rolling
it between his thumb and forefinger
and scrutinizing the tip. he ripped
the paper open with his thumb nail,
and held the exposed tobacco to his
nose.
Heath. who had been watching him
gloweringly, leaned suddenly forward
in his chair.
"What are you doing there?" he
dem handed, in a tone Of surly trucu-
lence.
Vance lifted his eyes in decorous
establishment.
Merely smelling Of the tobacco
he replied with c0ndescending un-
concern. '1t's rather mild. v know,
but delicately blended"
! The muscles in Heath's cheeks
worked agrily. well, you'd better
put it down, sir" he advised. Then
he looked Vance up and down. ITO
bacco expert?' he asked, with i'll
disguised sarcasm.
dulcet. "My speciality is scarab-car-
Markham internosed automatically.
You really shouldn't touch any
thing around here, Vance, at this
stage Of the game. You never know
what'll turn out to be important
Those cigaret stubs may quite pos
sibly be significant evidence"
'Evidence?' repeated Vance sweet
ly. my word! You don't say, real
~! Most amusin!"
Markham was plainly annoyed
and Heath was boiling inwardly, but
made no further comment: he even
forced mirthless smile. He evil
IDENTIFY felt that he had been IL little
too abrupt with this friend Of the
district attorneys however much tn.
friend might have deserved being
reprimanded
Heath, however. was no sycophant
in the presence Of his superiors. He
knew his worth and lived up to il
with his whole energy, dischargine
the tasks to which he was ASSIGNED
with logged Indifference to his
own political well-being. This stub.
bornness Of spirit, and the solidity
Of character it implied, were re.
spected and valued by the men owe,
him.
He was a large, powerful man
hut agile and graceful in his move
. ments. like highly trained boxer
He had hard, blue eyes, remarkabl.
!. 4 broad oval chin, and a stern straight
, mouth with lips that appeared al
/. ways compressed. His hair. which
though he was well along in hi
forties, was without trace Of gray
. ness. was cropped about the edges
and stood upright in short bristly
/. pOmpadour. His voice had an aggres
sive resonance, but he rarely blus
tered. In many ways he accorded will
the conventional notion of what
, detective is like. But there wa
something more to the mans person
/ atty, an added capability an
strength, as it were; and as | sa
watching him that morning, fel
!. myself unconsciously admiring him
. despite his very obvious limitations
Whats the exact situation, Sc:
geant?" Markham asked. "Din
: widdie gave me only the bares
!. facts"
Heath cleared his throat.
!, I'VE got the word . little befor
, seven. Benson's housekeeper, q Mr..
Plate, called up the local station an
: reported that she'd found him deaf
and asked that somebody be ser
, over at once. The message, of course
was relayed to headquarters.
! wasn't there at the time. but Burk
and Emery were on duty. and afte
IN uD here. Several Of the men fror
. the local station were already on tn
Job doing the usual nosing abou
When the inspector had got here an
looked the situation over. he tele
/ ph0ned me to hurry along. When
arrived the local men had gone. IN
three more men from the homicid
bureau had Joined Burke and Emer!
The inspector also 'phoned Capital
Haeedorn-he thought the case bi
, enough to call him in on it st ono