Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-27
INsTALLNrENT XIV.

" ANC6 WSUb QuGCb W tlAC CiiNi
cabinet before which Kyle s
NJ body had been found, and
dropped the two sofa pillows
on the fioor Then he looked
again speculatively at the upper edge
Of the cabinet.
81 wonder. :" he murmured.
sDash IL all! I'm almost afraid to carry
on. II I should be wrong, this entire
case would come topplin' about my
Come, come!" Markham was growing
Of date, Vance. If you have ANYTHING
TO show me. let's get it over with"
Right you are"
Vance stepped to the ash-tray and
resolutely crushed out his cigarette.
Returning to the cabinet he beckoned to
Markham and Heath.
"By way of proeludium,' he began,
rI want to call your attention to TINS
curtain. You will observe that the
brass ring at the end has been slipped
of of the rod and Is now hanging
down"
For the first time noticed that the
small ring on the corner of the curtain
was not strung on the rod, and that
the left edge of the curtain sagged cor
aYou viii also observe" Vance con-
tinued, that the curtain Of this cabl-
net is only half drawn. It's as II some
one had started to draw. the curtain
and, for some reason, had stopped.
When saw the partly drawn curtain
this morning it struck me as bit pc
culiar, for obviously the curtain should
have been entirely closed or else entirely
open. We may assume that the cur
tain was closed when Kyle arrived here
we have HAMS word for 1t that he
had pulled shut the curtain OF this par
ticular cabinet because OF the disorder
Of its contents; and DR.. Bliss mentioned
to Kyle on the telephone that the new
treasures were in the end cabinet
the cabinet with the drawn curtain.
=. Now, in order to open the curtain.
one has only to take hold Of the left
hand edge of 1t and pull it to the right:
the brass rings would slide easily over
the metal pole. But what do we
ind? We find the curtain only half
drawn! Kyle unquestionably would not
have opened the curtain half way to
inspect the contents of the cabinet.
Therefore, concluded that something
must have halted the curtain at the
halfway point. and that Kyle died
before he could draw the curtain en-
tirely open. :. I say, Markham; are
you with nne?"
go on" Markham had become In
terested Heath, too, was watching
Vance with close attention.
"Perpend, then. Kyle was found dead
directly in front of this end cabinet;
and he had died as the result of having
been struck over the head by the heavy
statue, as we know, had been placed
by Hani on the top Of the cabinet.
When I observed that the curtain of
the cabinet had been only partly
opened and then discovered that the
Arst brass ring Of the curtain-the
ring on the extreme left end-was not
on the rod, began to speculate-es-
pecially as I was familiar with DR..
Bliss orderly habits. Had that ring
been on the rod last night when DR..
Bliss came into the museum, you may
Are you suggesting, Vance" asked
Markham, that the ring was DELHI
erateiy taken OF Of the rod some time
this morning and for o purpose?"
"Yesl At some time between DR..
Bliss phone call to Kyle last night and
Kyles arrival this morning, ! believe
that some one removed that ring from
the roland. as you say, for q pur-
what purposea" Heath put the ques-
ton. His voice was aggressive and an
tagonistic.
THAT remains to be seen, sergeant"
Vance spoke with scarcely any modula-
ton of tone. "I1l admit I have a
rather definite theory about it. In fact,
had theory about it the moment I
saw the position in which Kyle's body
lay and learned that HAM had placed
the statue atop the end cabinet. The
partly drawn curtain and the unstrung
brass ring substantiated that theory"
II think understand what's in your
mind, Vance" Markham nodded slowly.
WAS that why you inspected the top
OF the cabinet and got Hani to show
you exactly where he had placed the
Precisely. And not only did ind
what ] was looking for, but HAM con-
6rned my suspicious when he pointed
Thet spot was several inches back from
the edge Of the cabinet; but there was
also Q deep scratch at the very edge
and o second outline Of the statues
base In the dust, showing that the statue
had been moved forward after HAM
had put It in place.
But Dr. Bliss admitted he moved 1t
last night before retiring" suggested
Markham.
"He said only that he had straight
ened the statue" Vance answered. And
by the front Of the statues base are
exactly parallel, 80 that the adjustment
20 which DR.. Bliss referred could not
have been the moving Of the statue 6
inches forward"
81 zee what you mean. Your
theory 10 that some one moved the
statue to the very edge Of the cabinet
after Or. Bliss had Strengthened 1t. And
is not an unreasonable assumption"
fS~kA
lenly with half-shut eyes, suddenly
mounted one of the chairs in front Of
the cabinet and peered over the mold
ing.
II want 10 see this" he mumbled.
Presently he descended and wagged his
head heavily at Markham. TITS like
Mr.. Vance says. all right. But
what's all this hocus-pocus got to do
with the case"