The Daily Alaska empire., 1934-05-23

had any curiosity about the cause of the wound he gave no sign of it. He promised to be over in less than half an hour.
 With that detail out of the way, Sergeant Harper turned his atten- tion to the major matter in hand. He called together Officer Clymer. De- tective Lafferty, and the two plain clothesmen from Headquarters. "So far we have found no clue to the identity of the man who has been killed here," he began.
 'For some unknown reason he chose to impersonate the master of this house. If this same man wrote the threatening letter and shot at MT. Dufresne, the chances are that we are dealing with lunatic. There will be traces and want you to look for them. We haven't found this mans hat and overcoat, for instance. Look for signs of forcible entry, too. but don't go outside. want the snow left undisturbed.
 The men scattered to their tasks. Harper and Carlin were alone with the dead men, and the investigation into their strange death was on in earnest
 Well, Professor; it's time we got down to brass tacks. What do the stars in their course tell you about this?" While he asked this ques- tion. Harper was carefully looking over the man in the armchair.
 The ballistics expert smiled at the pleasantly. "Dr. Miller has emptied the pockets" he explained. "Over there you can see all that was found" On a corner of the buffet was folded, unused mans handker- chief of good quality. On it was seventy-nine cents in change.
 What has taken place here. Ser geant, is plainly written" He point ed to the body in the armchair. That man is seated there. He has been drinking. He is smoking ciga- rette. The policeman enters. Two guns are lifted simultaneously and fired. Both men are dead-they have killed each other. That is the story. The reason why all this happened? ? That is your job. Sergeant, and you are welcome to it!"
 Harper nodded. "The reconstruc- tion of the scene is quite obvious. But suppose, Carlin, told you that I don't believe everything I hear and not always what l see?"
 "A H, then, that makes a differ-
 ence. We can talk more about this simple story" Carlin's flair for the dramatic was being fled" by the detective with admirable results. There are certain parts of this story find hard to swallow. The most ex- cellent marksmanship displayed, for instance-it is almost too perfect. "One shot-right through the brain. It is true that the man in the chair needs two shots--but one goes straight to the heart, the other not two inches away. A man does not fire after he has been shot through the brain, nor after bullet has gone through his heart"
 "Yet each man died where he was found" Harper unused. There are the stains on the rug to prove it." Consider this" Carlin went on excitedly, now at full tilt with his l subject, consider the absolute non, chalance of these men. This one did not riso from his chair, an instinc- tive movement where danger threat ems. He did not even drop his ciga- rette. It burned on and on between his fingers until it was consumed, soaring the flesh"
 He screwed a jewellers glass into his eye and examined a mis-shapen bullet under direct light. This is a .38 caliber, and have no doubt that the rifiing will prove it to have is- sued from Officer Hamill's gun. And when the other two bullets are probed out have no doubt they will prove to have come from this other gun.
 Both deaths were instantaneous, yet we cannot readily admit so in credible thing as an absolutely simultaneous exchange of shots, for the man in the chair here fired twice.
 But what disturbs me most is
 this," he went on. pointing to the circular bullet mark in the strang
 er's forehead. "The bullet went in
 through the left frontal, passed
 completely through the skull and
 made its exit wound in the base oi the brain. If we did not have the bullet, and you asked me what had caused that wound, would answer
 without moments hesitation-s .45 steeljacket. But it seems that would be wrong, for there is tha mark on the wainscoting where oul .3S bullet lodged itself.
 T have a strange reluctance tt : asserting that these men killed eacl < other in the manner indicated. ye
 there are the facts staring us in tn, II face"
 lCopyright. I9SI. by Walter c. Brown II Tomorrow. pr. uIrich antaeonlzes