The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-12-24

VIII his IlngeT UPS upon bne lONeI
end of that short piece of board.
And slowly 1t swung inward, the
top part slanting outward.
He had found the secret hiding
place. And Dundee silently agreed
with Judge Marshall that it was
"the simplest and most ingenious
arrangement you ever saw" for it
was nothing more or less than a
shelf set between the two closets,
in those eleven inches Of unac-
counted for space!
81 take off my hat to Roger
Crainl" Dundee reflected. mo bur-
glar in the world ever would have
thought of pressing upon short
piece Of board in foyer closet, in
search of a safe. But how did
Judge Marshall know Of its exist
ence?"
The only answer Dundee could
think of was that Grain, overseeing
the building Of his house, sudden
ly had conceived this brilliant and
simple plan, and had tipped one of
the carpenters to carry it out for
him.
Possibly or probably, he had
Dragged to Give or Ralph Ham
mond, his architects, of his clever
invention. And the Hammond boys
had passed on the information to
Marshall, when, after Grains fall
ure and flight, the house had be-
come the property of the ex-judge.
These thoughts rushed through
his mind as his fiashlight explored
the shelf through the tilted opening.
The gun and silencer must be here,
since they could be no place else
But the shelf was bare except for
a small brass box, fastened only by
clasp. In his acute disappoint-
ment Dundee took little interest in
the collection of pretty but ineXpen-
sive jewelry-Nita's trinkets, I'M
doubtedly-which the brass box con-
tanned. No wedding ring
among them.
In spite of his chagrin at not
finding the gun, Dundee studied the
simple mechanism which Roger
Grains ingenuity had conceived
From the outside, the eight-inch
length CT board fitted smoothly, Civ
ing no indication whatever that it
was otherwise than what it, seemed
part of a cheaply built wall. But
Dundee's flashlight played upon the
beveled edges of both the short
board and the two neighboring
planks between which it was f1tted.
The pivoting arrangement was of
the simplest, the small nickel-plated
pieces being set into the short board
and the other two planks with
small screws which did not pierce
their painted outside surface.
IT'S curiosity satisfied, Dundee
l. l. stepped out of the closet into
the tiny foyer. He was about to
leave when terrific truth crashed
through his mind and froze his feet
to the floor.
OF course the gun and si1encer
were not there!
This was the guest closet. In it
had hung the hat of every person
who had been iNta'S guest, either
for bridge or cocktails, that fatal
Saturday afternoon!
And to this closet, to retrieve hat,
stick, or-in the case of the women,
summer coat and hat-had come
every person who had been ques-
toned and then searched by the
police.
Dundee tried to recapture the
picture of the stampede which had
followed upon his permission for
all guests to go to their homes. But
1t was useless.
He had stayed in the living room
with Strawn, had taken not the
slightest interest in the scramble
for hats, coats and sticks. For
Strawn had previously assured him
that the guest closet had been
searched thoroughly.
So quickly that he felt slightly
dizzy, Dundee's thoughts raced
around the new discovery. This
changed everything, of course.
Any one Of half dozen persons
could have arrived with the gun
and silencer-not screwed together.
of course, because of the lngainly
length-and seized the opportunity
presented by .Nita's being alone in
her bedroom to shoot her.
What easier, then, than to hide
the weapon on his secret shelf?
And what easier than to retrieve
the weapon after permission had
been granted to all to return to
their homes?
1t had been vitality necessary, too,
to retrieve the weapon, since any
innocent member of that party
might have remembered later to
mention the secret hiding place to
the police-secret no longer since
Judge Marshall had goSSiped about
it..
Then another thought boiled up
and demanded attention. In the
new theory, what place did the
bang or bump" have-tIlat noise
which Flora Miles, concealed in
Nita's closet, had dimly heard?
Dundee had been positive, when
Lydia had discovered the shattered
electric bulb in the big bronze lamp,
that its position in Nita's room in
dicated the progress of the flight of
the murderer-flight diagonally
across the room toward the back
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