Evening star., 1928-06-09
GaYiYa1naNa
The Greene Murder Case
A Philo Vance Story
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By S. S. Van Dine
Copyright 1878. Dv chare. scr'hners Sons.

the admittedly abnormal situation at
the Greene mansion?"
There are ma tangible links--that's
the horror of II But the joinders are
there however shadowy. / began to
sense them the minute i entered the
house: and all this afternoon ! was
reaching for them blindly But they
cluded me at every turn. 1t was like a
house of maZes and false passages and
trapdoors and reeking oubliettes: MOTH
ing normal, nothing sane--a house IN
nightmare. peopled by strange, abnor-
NAL creatures. each rejecting the sub
tie, monstrous horror that broke forth
last night and went prowling about the
old Railways Didn't you sense 1t? Didn't
you see the vague shape OF this abo-
mination continually flash out and dis
appear as we talked to these people and
watched them battling against their
own hideous thoughts and suspicious
Markham moved uneasily and
Strengthened a pile OF papers before
him. Vance's unwonted gravity had af-
fected him.
Il understand perfectly what you
mean" he said. But l don't see that
your impressions bring us any nearer
to a new theory of the crime. The
Greene mansion is unhealthy S
granted--and so, no doubt, are the
people in it, But I'm afraid you've been
oversusceptible to its atmosphere You
talk as II last NIGHTS crime were CON-
parable to the poisoning orgies of the
Borgias
You're shutting your eyes to the
facts. Msrlham" Vance declared earn.
estly. You're overlooking several
strange features of last nights crime
the Mortified, astounded attitude Of
Julia at the moment of death: the il
logical interval between the two shots.
the fact that the lights were on IN !,
both rooms Ada's story OF that hand
reaching for her; the absence OF any
signs of forced entry"
What about those footprints In the
snow?" interrupted Heath's matter-of-
fact voice
what about them. indeed?" Vance
wheeled about. They're as incompre-
hensihle as the rest of this hideous
business. Some one walked to and from
the house within half-hour OF the
crime; but 1t was some one who knew
he could get in quietly and without dis
turbing any ONE
There's nothing mysterious about
that," asserted the practical Sergeant.
There are four servants in the house,
and any one Of EN- could've been In on
the Job
Vance smiled ironically.
And this accomplice in the house,
who 50 generously opened the front
door at a specified hour. failed TO in
form thu intruder where the loot Was.
and omitted to acquaint him with ths
arrangement of the house: with the
result that. once he was inside, he went
astray. overlooked the dining room.
wandered upstairs went cropping about
the hall. got lost in the various bed
rooms. had seizure OF panic, shot two
women. turned on the lights by switches
hidden behind the furniture made his
Sprcot was within a few feet of him.
and walked ont the front door TO free
doml A strange burglar, Ser
geant And an even stranger inside ac-
complice. No: your explanation won't
decidedly 1t won't do" He turned
back to Markham, And the only way
you'll ever find the true explanation
for those shootings Is hV understand
ing the unnatural situation that exists
in the house ITSELF
But we know the situation. Vance "
Markham argued patiently. "I'll admit
it's an unusual one But it's not nee
essarily criminal. Antagonistic human
elements are often thrown together
ana UluluAt HaLG Is 'IltIabeu as
result. But mere hate Is rarely motive
for murder; and 1t certainly docs not
constitute evidence Of criminal actiyi-
tys'' sTss m ~
Perhaps not. But hatred and en-
forced propinquisv may breed all man.
nsr Of abnormnIities~-ou outrageous pas
si0ns, abomlnnble evils. deyilish in
trigues. And In the present case there
are any number OF curious and sinister
facts that need explaining"
"Ah! Now you're becoming more tan
gible Just what are these facts that
call for eyplanation?"
Vance lit cigarette and sat down
on the edge Of the table.
For instance. why did Chester
Greene come here in the first place
and solicit your heln? Because Of the
disappearance of the gun? Mambe
but oibt II 1t Is the whole explana-
ton. And what about the gun itself? Did
II disappear? Or did Chester Secretr
IT.? Deuced queer about that gun. And
Sibclla said she saw II last week. But
did she see It? Wen know lot more
about the case when We can trace the
pertgrinations Of that revolver. And
why did Chester hear the first shot 50