The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-04-18
CHAPTER FoRTY-sIx


DONNIE DUNDEE cheerfully had
ID endured a good deal Of kidding
from his uncle, Police Commits
sioner O'Brien, and from his chief,
Captain StraWn, because of his use
Of q parrot as a Watson" when he
felt the need of an audience for his
summing up of case.
1--WE tried talking aloud to my
self, but I feel foolish. Cap'n Is an
ideal audience, for while he some
times laughs at me, he can't waste
my time by arguing or telling me
I'm a fool,'' he answered them.
Now, after five hours of sleep, to
clear his brain of all speculations
and conclusionS-worthless now, in
the light of his new discoveries-he
sat with the parrots cage before
him, his thick sheaf of typewriter
! notes ready for ref renee.
He had been valking steadily for
zen minutes, telling the parrot just
how and when Doris Matthews had
died. And Cap'n had listened,
head cooked inquiringly, beady eye
bright with interest-or so Dundee
chose to believe.
'Now, my dear Watson that is
, kHie crime which you and I must
try to solve" he summed up. But
behind that crime lies another,
which did not come off.
"Our primary problem, therefore,
D to find the person who plotted
AIRS. Berkeleys death by wood
alcohol poisoning, but who was
forced, by fear, to murder Doris
Matthews instead. Is that clearP'
"Perfumel" Cap'n croaked sud-
denly. proud Of the new addition to
his vocabulary.
"Exactly!" Dundee grinned. Some
one transferred more than two
ounces of deadly wood alcohol from
the lighter fountain in Mrs. Berke-
ley's sitting room, to the flask of
Fleur glamour which Seymour
Crosby presented to his hostess Fri
day evening. And was caught In the
act by Doris Matthews"
'sPerfumel" Cap'n repeated and
tapped his wings excitedly.
Exactly-again!" his master ap-
plauded. Where is the perfume
which Mrs. Berkeley's would-be
murderer removed from the flask
to make way for the wood alcohol?
"Gipi had wasted about an ounce
of the Fleur glamour. Mrs. Berke-
lev knew Just how much was LETT IN
the bottle, for she took tne TASK
from Gigi herself.
wherefore, the would-be murderer
had to remove about two and
half ounces of perfume before
putting that amount of wood alcohoI
into the bottle.
@ATOW, It is not at all likely that
IN the surplus perfume was
poured down the drain pipe OF Mrs.
Berkeley's bathroom basin, for the
very good reason that Mrs. Berke-
lev would have been almost sure
to smell it when she came up to
bed.
Therefore it seems logical to sup
pose that the surplus perfume was
poured into another bottle-and
what more logical than a perfume
bottle to hold perfume?
Mrs. Berkeley's would-be muir
derer probably counted on several
days elapsing before the victim
drank the Fleur glamour, since she
had another new bottle of perfume
on hand, as the plotter could have
seen by glancing at her dressing
table-or could have known already.
"NoW-why the choice Of Fleur
glamour instead of the new bottle
of department store perfume? To
incriminate Crosby, provided the
would-bee murderer was not Crosby
himself? Or because the Fleur
glamour had come from abroad?
You see, my dear Watson, if the
wood alcohol causing Mrs. Berke-
ley'S death were traced to perfume
she had drunk, 1t would be much
safer for the poisoner if the per-
fume had come from France, rather
than from q local department store.
eff my reasoning is correct so
far, the would-be poiSOner expected
to have ample leisure in which to
dispose of that discriminating sur
plus Of Fleur glamour before Mrs.
Berkeley's death.
But consider the problem which
confronted the poiSoner when he
or she-but let's say he for the
sake of convenience-waS caught in
the act by Doris Matthews.
1--WE know there was a struggle,
that Doris was pushed so violently
against the bathroom mirror that
the Smudged print of her rouged
mouth was left-aS one of our few
clues to what took place.
''Then what happens? Doris
succeeds in wrestling the flask of
poisoned perfume from the would
be murderer, fees with it-not
taking time to get her coat or the
key to the back door.
"Her goal is the SummerhouSe,
where she believes she will find her
fance, Arnold, waiting for her.
But the poisoner knows Arnold
is not there, that he is driving the
Benjamin Smiths home. So he
purSues Doris.
But he does not leave behind
him, in Mrs. Berkeley's bathroom,
the bottle containing the surplus
Fleur glamour And he does not
take it with him when he follows
Doris to the SummerhouSe.
If he had, he would have cast
1t into the lake, along with the frag-
ments- of the crystal flask. Those
fragments have been fitted together.
Captain Strawn tells me, and they
form one complete crystal flask. No