Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-28


G Just given you makes plauSl-
Il BILE the guilt of any absent
person, and consequently re-
moves one OF your strongest counts
against Dr. Bliss-namely, proximity
and opportunity. . . And this fact,
taken in connection with the opium
found in the coffee, gives him con-
vincing, though not an absolute, alb"
eyes. :" Markham spoke with
deliberate and pensiye slowness. 1.-THE
negative clues you have found tend to
counteract the direct clues of the scarab
and the financial report and the bloody
footprints. There's no doubt about 1t;
the doctor could present strong de-
"a reasonable doubt, as it were-eh.
what?" Vance grinned;. "A beautiful
typically legal. AS if the mind OF man
were ever capable of being reason
ablel And don't overlook the
fact, Markham, that if the doctor had
merely intended to brain Kyle with the
statue of Sakhmet the evidences of the
death trap would not have been pres
ent. If mis- object was only to XIII Kyle,
why should the whitfield .pencil-in the
shape of an 'upright'-haVe oeen on
top of the cabinet
you're perfectly right" Markham
admitted. IA shrewd defense attorney
could make shambles of the case I
have against the doctor.
And consider your direct evidence
for a moment" Vance seated himself
and crossed his legs. THE scarab pin.
which was found beside the body, could
have been palmed by any one of the
conference last night and deliberately
placed beside the murdered body. Or, II
the doctor had been put to sleep by
the opium in his coffee, it would nave
been an easy matter for the murderer
to have taken the pin from the cesk
this morning-tae door into the study,
v know. was never locked: Ana Wnat
would have been simpler than to have
taken the financial report at the same
time and slipped it into Kyle's dead
hand? AS for the bloody foot
prints. any member of the household
could have taken the tennis shoe from
DR.. Bliss bed room and made the prints
in the blood and then chucked the shoe
in the waste-basket while the doctor
slept under the influence Of the OPT
ate And that closed east Win
dow on the court-doesn't that closed
window, with its drawn shade, indicate
that some one in the study didn't want
the neighbors next door to see what
was going on?"
Vance took a slow draw on his Gig
arctic and blew out a long spiral OF
smoke.
"I'm no Demosthenes, Markham, but
I'd take Dr. Bliss case in any court and
guarantee him acquittal."
Markham had begun walking up ana
down. his hands behind his back.
"The presence of this death trap and
of the opium in the coffee cup" he con-
ceded at length, casts an entirely new
light on the case. 1t throws the af-
fair wide open and makes possible. and
gsen plausible, some one else's guilt"
He stopped suddenly and looked sharply
at Heath. What's your opinion, SER
geant?"
Heath was obviously in a quandary.
I'm going cuckoo" he confessed,
after a pause II thought we had the
damn affair sewed up in an alright
bag, and now Mr.. Vance pulls lot
of his subtle stuff and hands the doc
q loophole. He gave Vance belligerent
glare Honest to Gawo, Mr.. Vance. you
shoulda been lawyer" His contempt
was devastating.
Markham could not help smiling, but
Vance shook his head sadly and looked
at the sergeant with an exaggeratedly
injured air.
"Oh, / say, sergeant; must you be
insultin'?" he protested whimsically.
sim only tryin' to save you and Mr..
Markham from making silly blunder.
And what thanks do I get? I'm told
I should have been a awyeri Alack
and welladay!"
Lets forego the cynicism." Mark
ham was too upset to fall in with
Vance's frivolous attitude. you've
made your point And, in doing so,
you've saddled me with serious and
weighty problem"
"Still and all" pursued Heath,
"there's plenty of evidence against
Bliss
"Quite true, sergeant Vance had
again become thoughtful. But I'm
afraid that evidence will not bear the
closest scrutiny"
"You think, take it." said Mark
ham, that the evidence was. deliberately
planted-that the actual murderer ma
liciously placed these clues SO that they
would point to DR.. Bliss"
els such a technic so unusual?"
asked Vance. Hasn't many murderer
sought to throw suspicion on some one
else? Isn't criminal history filled with
cases of innocent men being convicted
on convincing circumStantial evidence?
And is it not entirely possible that the
misleading evidence in such cases was
deliberately planted by the real Gull
prits."
STILL" Markham returned, "I can't
afford, at this stage of the game. to
ignore entirely the indicatory evidence
pointing to DR.. Bliss I must be able
to prove a plot against him before
can completely exonerate him."
"Aud the arrest"