The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1927-11-11
.B5[;! !! |! A !! ii d! CASE
N s. s. WAN DINE oaAss ssnB -

him to death, because my bri1jiauk
and sagacious friend, Mr.. Ihilo
Vance, the inventor Of stuffed poech,
says this man has . wicked nature
Vance gave IN almost impercep.
tible shrug.
II sha'n wither away With grjef
If you don't even arrest the guilty
man. But I thought it no more
than humane to tell you who ~
was, if only to stop you from chiy.
vying all these innocent people"
"All right-tell me: and let No
get on about my business"
/ don't believe there was any
longer = question in MarkhamS
mind that Vance actually knew
who had killed Benson. But & VA
not until considerably later 81 tie
morning that he fully understood
why Vance had kept him Tor days
upon tenter-hooks.
When. 1T last, he did understand
it, he forgave ''ance: but ct tho
moment he was angered to the limit
Of his control.
"There are one or two things
that must be done before can r..
veal the gentleman's name," Vance
told him. First, let me have =
peep at those alibis."
Markham took from his pocket
. sheaf Of typewriter pages and
passed them over.
Vance adjusted his mcnocle, and
read through them carefully. Then
he stepped out Of the room: and ]
heard him telephoning.
When he returned he re-read the
reports. One in particular he lin.
gered over, as if weighing its pos.
sibilities.
There's a chance, v Know" 10
murmured at length, gazing inde-
cisively into the fireplace.
He glanced at the report again.
Il see here" he said, sthat Col
onel Ostrander, accompanied BY =
Bronx alderman named Moriarty,
attended the Midnight Follies ah
the Piccadilly theater in Forty.
seventh street on the night Of The
thirteenth, arriving there = little
before IL and remaining through
the performance, which was over
about half past two q. N. s. Are
you acquainted with this particular
alderman"
Markham's eyes lifted sharply %
the others face.
1--WE met Mr.. Moriarty. What
about him." I thought / detected
q note Of suppressed excitement in
"Where do Bronx aldermen loll
about in the forenoons?" asked
Vance.
AT home, I should say. or pos-
sibly at the Samoset Club.
Sometimes they have business ct
City Hail."
my word!-such unseemly &C.
tivity for politician! Would
you mind ascertaining Il Mr.. Nori-
arty is at home or Ct his club. II
it's not too much bother, ID Nka to
have a brief word with him"
Markham gave Vance q pene-
tratins gaze. Then, without 4 word.
he went to ne telephone in the den.
"Mr. Moriarty was at home, about
to leave for City Hail." he an
nounced, on return. II asked
him to drop by here on his way
down town."
II do hope he doesn't disappoint
u.s.. sighed Vance. "But it's worth
trying"
"Are you composing = charade :"
asked Markham; but there was
neither humor nor good-nature in
the question.
"'Pon by word, old man, Tn
not trying to confuse the main
ISSUE" said Vance. Exert . little
of that simple faith with which you
are so GENEROUSLY supplied,-it's
more desirable than Norman blood,
" know.
s'I'll give you the guilty man be-
fore the mornings over. But, d We
see, / must make sure that you'll
accept him. These alibis are,
trust, going to prove most profitable
in paving the way for my coup de
boutoir. An alibi-as I recent
ly confided to you-is . tricky and
dangerous thing, and open to grave
suspicion. And the absence Of m
abb means nothing at all.
"For instance, / see by these Re.
ports that Miss Hoffman, has no
alibi for the night Of the thirteenth.
She says she went to q motiou-pic.
ture theatre and then home. But
no one saw her at any time. She
was prob'bly ct Benson's visiting
mamma until late. Looks suspicious
-eh, what? And yet, even i she
was there, her only crime that
night was filial affection. On
the other hand, there are several
alibis here which are, Is one says,
cast-iron,-silly metaphor: cast
irons easily broken, and ] hap
pen to know one Of 'em is spurious
So be q good fellow and have pa
thence; for it's most necessity that
these alibis be infinitely inspected
(To be Continued.