The Coolidge examiner., 1933-10-13

absence?"
mo. because the place is always
under lock and key" Hayward re
piled. Short of breaking in-and
there Is no sign Of that-it Is i'm
possible to enter"
"You have the only key to the
room in the department." the detec-
i've inquired.
"Oh. no; my adviser. Professor
Harris, also owns one" the young
man returned quickly. but he as
sured me this morning that he lent
IL to no one and that II was not out
of his possession either Tuesday or
Wednesday"
Rankin's voice held the grave
note which usually accompanied an
important inquiry.
"TIave you any suspicion Of the
identity OF the culprit? Any rea-
son to believe he was some partic-
ular person?"
Hayward shrugged his shoulders
carelessly. I'm afraid not, Mr.
Rankin. But almost anyone could
have sneaked into the laboratory
Tuesday afternoon and taken the
poison"
who. for instance, was aware
you were dealing with a variety of
poisonsT
"Well. Professor Harris of
course, and the assistant professor
in organic chemistry. Mr. Nichols"
The visitor reflected a moment.
Then outside the department, my
roommate In the graduate dorms,
Frank Powell. knows OF my efforts;
he is In the medical school.
And yes, so does Ned Patterson"
he added.
Rankin remained casual "You
didn't observe Mr.. Patterson near
your workroom on Tuesday after
noon?"
Beginning a negative nod. Hey
wards eyes suddenly widened. as
at an unexpected recollection.
Yes. dIdP he exclaimed in evil
dent excitement "In fact, / re-
member he was actually In the lab
oratory Itself while was out,
though | didn't think anything of
1t. About three O'Clock. went
downstairs TO consult Professor
Harris. and stayed with him TWEEN
ty minutes. When | returned. he
was in my room standing by the
shelves of chemicals almost
as If he had been meddling with
them !"
what excuse did he make for
his presenter Rankin asked. still
unmoved.
"He said ne had merely stopped
In 10 learn how my research was
progressing. And not finding me In.
he had been waiting"
Rankin rose to his feet: He was
confident he had learned all Hey
ward could tell him; and he did
not wish to raise the train OF spec.
ulation and suspicion In his visi
tors mind that had already begun
in his.
well. whoever was guilty of the
theft" he concluded the interview,
may have left some clue In the
laboratory. Perhaps his finger.
prints; you might not have de-
stroyed them In handling the bot.
ties he also touched Anyhow. /
would like TO have our finger-print
expert accompany you back to the
university and make an examina-
ton of your laboratory. And thank
you for coming with this informa.
ton"
He did not add that one of his
first tasks. after the two men had
gone. would be to obtain a speci
men of Ned Patterson's finger
prints al the fraternity house, with
out his cognlzance. Should the
search be productive. they would
be ready for purposes of compari-
son.
Until he had Enthusiastically estab-
lished that the sponsor stole the
conine. ii would be premature to
suspect him of the crime. In his
case, however. there was no doubt
of his opportunity to commit IT.
By his own statement. he had en-
tered the initiation chamber at
eight-thirty. having relinquished his
position beside Jordan on the ex,
cuse of being i'll. From the seated
line of brothers behind the PLEDGES.
he could approach his Intended vic