The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-01-13


 had an opening been made |. But in the foyer closet he read a different story. It's back wall had an amateurish look This closet was not ceGar-lined. as was Nita s, but was painted throughout in soft ivory. But it was the back wall of the closet in which Dundee was interested. Unlike the other walls, which were of plaster. the back was constructed of six-inch wide boards the cheapness of the lumber not concealed by it's coat of ivory paint No self-respecting builder had put in that wall of broad. horizontal boards.
 And then directly beneath the shelf which was set regulation swung dozen coat hangers, Dun- dee found what he was looking for. A short length of the board cheap board a queer scrap to have been used even in so shoddy job as that wall was. Eight inches long. And set square in the center of the wall, just below the shelf and pole. If he had not been looking for something odd, how ever,- he acknowledged to himself he would not have noticed it. Did anyone ever notice the back walls of closets?
 Sure of the result he pressed with his finger tips upon the lower end of that short piece of board. And slowly it swung inward, the top part slanting outward.
 He had found the secret niGing place. And Dundee silently agreed Nuif !, T,,1
 'the simplest and most ingenious arrangement you ever saw" for it was nothing more or less thna a shelf set between the two closets in those Il inches of unaccounted for space!
 "I take off my hat to Roger Crain!" Dundee reflected. No bur glar in the world would ever have thought of pressing upon short piece of board in q foyer closet, in search of a safe. But how did Judge Marshall know of it's exist ence?'
 The only answer Dundee could think of was that Grain, overseeing the building of his house, had sud- denly conceived this brilliant and simple plan. and had tipped one of the carpenters to carry it out for him. Possibly. or probably he had bragged to Give or Ralph Ham, mond. his architects, of his clever invention. And the Hammond boys had passed on the information to Judge Marshall when. after Grains failure and flight. the house had become the property of the cx- judge.
 These thoughts rushed through his mind as his flashlight explored the shelf through the tilted opening. The gun and slencer must be here. since they could be no place else. But the shelf was bare except for small brass box. fastened only by clasp. In his acute disa ppoint- ment Dundee took little interest in the collection of pretty but inexpen- sive jewelry-Nita's trinkets, un- doubtedly - which the brass box contained. .. 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 of board fitted smoothly, giv- ing no indicatoin whatever that it was otherwise than what it seemed part of cheaply built wall. But Dundee's flashlight played upon the beveled edges of both the short board and the two neighboring blanks between which it was fitted. The pivoting arrangement was of the simplest, the small nickel plated pieces being set into the short board and the other two blanks with small screws which did not pierce their painted outside sur face.
 His curiosity satisfied, Dundee 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 silencer were not there.
 This was the guest closet, In it had hung the hat of every person who had been Nita'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- tioned and then searched by the police.
 Dundee tried to recapture the p'N'''S oi tHC olbIllDt'lc WHICH nau followed apon his permission for all guests to go to their homes. But it 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 thoroughly searched.
 So quickly that he felt slightly dizzy, Dundees thoughts raced around the new discovery. This changed everything. of course. Anyone of half a dozen persons could have arrived with the gun and silencer-not screwed together, of course. because of the ungainly length--and seized the opportunity presented by Nita's being alone in her bedroom to shoot her. What easier. then, than to hide the wea- pon on this secret shelf? And what easier than to retrieve the weapon after permission had been granted to all to return to their homes? It had been vitally 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-that noise which Flora Miles, corcealed in Nita's closet, had dimly heard? Dundee had been positive when Lydia had discovered the shattered electric blub in big bronze lamp, that it's position in Nita's