Evening star., 1930-10-26
INSTALLMENT XIV.

SCOWlIUS al tLle 1OOL uhA
V smoking furiously. The shoe
4 kepisode had disconnected him.
But now he looked up and
made an impatient gesture.
You're making mountain out OF
this affair, Vance," he asserted ag-
gressively. "A number OF simple ex-
plantations suggest themselves. The
most plausible one seems to oe that
DR.. Bliss, when he came down stairs
this morning, picked up his tennis
shoes to have them handy in his study.
and in his nervousnesS-or merely &C
acknowledgement one, or even failed
to pick both of them up, and did not
discover the fact until he was here
And then continued Vance, with
japish grin, "he took of one slipper and
put on the tennis shoe, murdered Kyle,
re-exchanged it for his temporarily dis
carded slipper, and tucked the tennis
shoe in the waste-basket."
Its possible"
Vance sighed audibly.
''Possible-yes. suppose that al
most anything is possible in this illogi-
Cal world. But really, Markham, can't
subscribe enthusiastically to your
touchin' theory of the doctors having
picked up one shoe instead OF two and
not having known the difference. He's
much too orderly and methodical-too
conscious of'detail.
Let us assume. then" Markham per-
sisted. that the doctor actually wore
one tennis shoe and one bed room slip
per when he came to the study this
morning. Scarlet told us his feet
troubled him a great deal"
If that hypothesis is correct" count,
cred Vance. "how did the other bed
room slipper get down stairs He would
hardly have put it in his pocket and
carried it along
Brush perhaps. :"
Heath had been following the discus
sion closely, and now went into action.
I'VE can check that point pronto,
Mr.. Vance" he said; and going briskly
to the hall door, he called down the
stairs to the butler.
But no help came from Brush. He de-
clared that neither he nor any member
of the household had been near the
study after Bliss had gone there at
O'Clock. with the one exception Of the
time when he carried the doctors
breakfast to him. When asked what
shoes the doctor was wearing, Brush an
swered that he had taken no notice.
When the butler had gone Vance
shrugged his shoulders.
Lets not fume and whirret our
selves over the mysteriously separated
pair of tennis shoes My prim'ry rea-
son for Turing you to the study was to
inspect the remains Of the doctors
breakfast.
Markham gave percsptible start,
and his eyes narrowed.
Good Heavensi You don't believe.
a.. :? I'll confess I thought Of 1t, too.
But then came all that other evi-
dence. :"
Thought Of what, sir?" Heath was
frankly exasperated, and his tone was
irritable.
both Mr.. Markham and l." explain
mA eOnf11fxzoIxy ttVa0fod the Aa
condition Of DR.. Bliss when he ap-
peared this morning in answer to my
continued pounding on the door,"
He'd been asleep. Didn't he tell
us SOP"
quite And that's why I'm SO dashed
interested in his matutinal coffee"
Vance walked to the end Of the desk
upon which rested a small silver tray
containing q rack Of toast and a cup
and saucer. The toast had not been
touched, but the cup was practically
empty. Only the CONCEALED brown dregS
Of which had evidently been coffee re-
manned in the bottom. Vance leaned
over and looked into the cup. Then he
lifted 1t to his nose.
There's q slightly acrid odor here"
he remarked.
He touched the tip of his finger to
the inside Of the cup and placed 1t on
his tongue.
"Yes! Just what thought"
he nodded, setting the cup down.
"Opium. And it's powdered opium-the
kind commonly used in Egypt. The
such as laudanu1n, morphine, heroin,
thebain and codefn-are not easily OBJ
tainable there"
Heath had come forward and stood
peering belligerently into the cup.
well, suppose there was opium In the
coffee" he rumbied. What does that
mean?"
"Ah, who knows?" Vance was light
ing a cigarette, his eyes in space. 1T
might. of course, account for the doc
tors long siesta this morning and for
his confused condition when he an
swered my knock Also. it might indi-
cate that some one narcotized his cof-
fee for a purpose. The fact Is. sergeant,
the opium in the doctors coffee might
mean various things. At the present
moment I'm expressing no opinion.
tention to the drug. I'll say this,
however: As soon as saw the doctor
this morning and observed the way he
acted, guessed that there would be
evidences Of an opiate in the study.
And being fairly familiar with condi-
tions in Egypt, I surnised that the
opiate would prove to be powdered
very thirsty That Is why I wasn't In
the least astonished when the doctor
asked for a drink of water" He looked
at Markham Does this discovery Of
the opium affect the doctors legal
status?"
"It's certainly a strong point in his
favor" Markham returned after several
moments.
That he was deeply perplexed was
81 n,aft t1o NNoe hath m
forego his belief in Bliss guilt; and when
he spoke again it was obvious that he
was arguing desperately against Vances
new discovery.
IT realize that the presence of the
opium will have to be explained away
before a conviction can be assured.
But. on the other hand we don't know
how much opium he took. Nor do we
know when he took 1t. He may have
drunk the coffee after the murder
we have only his word that he drank
1t at 8 o'clock. . No, 1t certainly
doesn't affect the fundamental issue
though 1t does raise very grave ques-
ton. But the evidence against him Is
too strong to be counterbalanced by
this one point in his favor. Surely, you
must see, Vance, that the mere pres
ence Of opium in that cup Is not con-
elusive evidence that Bliss was asleep
from 8 O'Clock until you knocked on the
study door"
THE perfect public prosecutor" !"
sighed Vance But q shrewd defense
lawyer could SOW many fecund seeds
OF doubt in the jurors so-called minds
eh. what?"
True" The admission came after a
moments thought. But we can't over
look the fact that Bliss was practically
the only person who had the opportu-
nifty to kill Kyle. Every one else was
out Of the house, with the exception Of