The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1934-06-15

!. HARPER,s THEORY

ss Chapter SS
s HARPER's THEORY
IN FTERWARD. Dufresneis abb
RI was so confoundedly air-tight
that itsannoyed me-" Harper contin-
led. 'But how to get around It? /
had that idea in mind when | left
Acre right after the discovery Of the
bodies and dashed back to the Aus
EeTlItz-but there he was. dead
drunk. and our own men on guard
HE shook his head. "That's q
tough nut to crack. guess ven
have to look elsewhere for the muir
dtfer. There are two vital questions
Mes1I have to answer before we can
pin Il on anybody. The first one IS.
who is the dead man? Certainly the
man lived somewhere. ate his meals
somewhere. bought things. and met
people to some degree. You can't
live In any city without some per
eonal contacts.
1.-THE second question is. How did
the murderer escape from this
house without leaving tracks IN the
shbw7 Each Is a vital question and
@e've got 70 supply the answers.
1.-THE newspapers viii help US es-
fepIish his identity" Laffert proph
ytled. with all the publicity
we're getting. something IS bound to
come out. But the question OF the
escape through the snow we'll have
70 solve ourselves Do You suppose
W. could possibly be wrong about
t1et? Maybe the murderer hid and
Aldp't leave untli later"
Harper smoked in silence. "It,s
1ot me guessing. but I'm convinced
kwas done. That's where the muir
ffrsr showed his devilIsh Ingenuity.
picking bis time and arranging the
circumstances so that 1t was nearly
Impossible that his presence at the
scene Of the crime should even be
R9spected We've been over every
Inch Of the house half a dozen times.
No hidlng-place for anything larger
than q cat has escaped attention.
Add 10 this the presence Of the Dn.
ffetnes. the Croydens. the servants.
and you see how Impossible it would
Be Tor an outsider to escape notice.
r can't conceive OF one outsider
eeming into this house TO meet and
kiii another outsider. That wouldn't
Be reasonable. n you take that line
you've got to explain why any one
n this household should be moved
q coFef np the evidence. as this
aiding Of the gun proves.
''No. every indicatIon points to
Ne murderer as being among those
present. There's some trick to that
escape and we've got to fathom il.
We know from the evidence IN hand
that there we're previous meetings
u this room between some one from
this house aud our man Of mystery.
The killing was carefully planned.
With every detail worked out in ad.
rance"
s~You think the snowst0rm was ar.
kauged for By the klller?" Laifesty
demanded faeetlously.
II THINK the presence Of snow was
essential to the whole scheme"
Harper replied, seriously. Assume
there was some guilty relationship
bstween the person who met here.
s6y. . blackmaiier and bis victim.
TIE killer has determined on muir.
der as the only way out. But that
murder must be made To look like
suicide.
: sE6r the past three days the
weather Bureau has been reporting
8 blixxard sweeping the Middle
west and warning that we were sure
tp.catch the tan OF II. The killer saw
ne big chance A completely de-
lached and unoceupIed house. with
snow All around It. and no prints 10
TIE snow. That person had forty
sight hours to ilgure out q way TO-
tnfn that unmarked snow Into an
enassailable ailhi."
Harper tapped down the ashes IN
NE pipe. ~By the way. you haven't
bsid = word about your check.up In
the nearby houses. suppose Il was
3 Hash-outie
Lafferty nodded disgnstingly. ri
couldn't gather two cents worth OF
evidence" be growled.
did you cover al the honsesf"
every one ~ this block. both
aides Of the street. and the three
nearest the back OF this house
Harper stirred restlessly. ~Everys
thing hinges ca that get.away. Until
We can discover that our story viii
nol Be fully credited. What hap
fkped here last nIght Is almost as
Rl4l4 10 me as though I had been
hiding behind the door. The trouble
q that the murderer's face & Just .
blank and eImosl any one oE our
eight faces could gu that space