The Coolidge examiner., 1935-03-08

. fNF#N@ Wtt@A@A ANFA#@h ~ AAAF+
~one may speculate. Of course. but
4, would not be fair 70 voice those
speculations without definite evil
dence o, sone kind. -
Mr. CrRsslY'
IL really. Afr. Vance. I'm not
well acquainted with the man. lie
was after Goes collection Of chi
nese ceramics: but that would hard.
ly constitute q motive for murder
~So-o.~ Vance smiled frigldly
What about Mss LakeY'
WFede almost leaped from his
seat
That suggestion Is outrageous 3"
be cried. gioweTinE At Vance. How
dare you
Spare ne tie drama" Vance cut
10. sith coniemptuous smile. I'm
deueed diflcuii 70 impress"
Wrede sat back. with a mumbled
remark which We could not make
out.
What do you think Of llang the
Cookf~ Vance asked next
The man glanced up ullh a swift.
shre1d look.
LANG. eh7 That's quite differ.
ent There's something secreiive
and underhand about that China.
man. I've never wholly under
stood h.s being here Hes certain.
~ not cook by profession. and
from my apartment window I've
often seen him sitting 90 the rear
porch writing Tor hours Ny I'm
preston Is he's SPY of some kind.
And he knows Chinese art dis
trusted him from the first" Wrede
nodded his head sagcly. II you
knew more ~ what was back or
his presence here. you might know
more % Archer Goes death.
80 least. he fastened 10 add. ~ihat
IS my impression
Vance stifed a mild yawn.
The oriental temperament Is fun
% mystic poieutlal.iles." he com.
menied And my own impression
Is that Llarg knows something about
whal happeaed here last night. But.
as you suggest. a motive IN that
direction is stin lacking on the
other hard. you yourself had abun
dant motive for doing away with
Archer Coe.
Archer was admittedly opposed
70 your marriage with his niece"
Vance went on. And until he died
Mss Lake was limited To a small
allowance. She would have received
her pairimony al Areher's decease.
Thus II you had successfully put
Archer out OF the way. you would
have at once gained fairly
wealthy hrlde-wlth 90 obstacles
Is IL not SO. Sir. Wredeg"
The man gave a harsh laugh.
Yes. ! suppose 80. As you point
out. had ample motive Tor mur
derlns Archer But. on the other
hand. would have had no reason
whatever FOR numbering Brisbane
~Ah. yes brisbane. Qulte-qulte.
That second corpse compllcates the
whole natter
Where was Brishane's body
found. may ask"
in the closet AZ the end OF the
lower hall You didn't per
chance. open the coat closet this
mornlngf"
No" Wrede shuddered. But |
came very near g. Instead. | threw
my hat on chair In the drawing
room"
lie lapsed into retrospectlon.
Presently Vance resumed his inter.
rogatlon.
by the way. Mr. wrede. are you
interested In Chinese ceramlcs?"
Not particularly. have a few
pieces. but I'm no expert. However.
couldn't help learning something
about the subject during my long
association with Archer"
Vance walked 10 the table behind
the davenport. and pointed at the
Tao Kuang vase.
What's your opinion OF this Ting
yaog"
Wrede rose and came forward.
Ting yao?" There was a per
picked look In his eyes that's not
a Ting yao. is it,"
Il don't believe II is. But | was
under the impression that Archer
Coe kept a Ting yao vase OF the
same shape on this table"
wrede stood his hands behind
him. looking down al the vase. sud
denly he said:
by Cad he did. Mr. Vance. But
this isn't the vase" He looked at
Vance questionlngly HAS this
vase anything TO do with-with--T
Its difficult 10 say" Vance re
piled. 1T merely struck me as pc
culiar that Archer would have
vase ike this In his collection"
lit Is peculiar" Wrede turned
his attention again to the table.
This vase might have been substi-
tuted for the other"