The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1935-04-25

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at Vance with a questioning steady
stare.
"I've been thinking about that door
for several hours" she said tensely;
land I can't find an answer to it.
Uncle Brisbane and Mr.. Wrede and I
often talked about these tricky Grim
inal devices. We worked out various
ways and means of doing seemingly
impossible things; but boiling this
door from the outside was something
we could never figure out"
Vance took his cigarette from his
mouth with slow deliberation.
"You mean to tell me that you and
Brisbane and Mr.. Wrede actually dis
cussed the possibilities of boiling this
door from the outside? ?"
ooh, yes" She appeared quite
frank. Many times. But we decided
it couldn't be successfully DONE"
Vance hesitated, and strange kind
of chill ran over me. I felt as if we
were approaching something particu-
larly pertinent and, at the same time,
sinister.
"Did anyone else"- Vance's cool
sever hear these discussions ?"
"No one but Uncle Archer" Hilda
Lake had become frigid and indiffer-
ent again. "He always ridiculed our
speculations."
"What if Liang?" Vance asked cas-
ually.
"The cook? Oh, I suppose he heard
our idle chatter. l believe we talked
over our dire plots at dinner occa-
| sionally."
"And now the problem that troubled
all of you has been solved" Vance
rose and strolled meditatively toward
the door. every sad. :" He opened
the door and held it ajar. "Thank you,
Miss Lake. say, you won't mind re-
naming in your room till dinner time,
will your"
eff l did mind, it wouldn't do me
any good, suppose" She spoke with
obvious resentment as she walked
toward Vance. "May l be permitted to
get book from Uncle Brisbane's
room to while away my hours of de-
tention?" Her eyes were narrowed,
and her lip curled in an ugly arc.
Vance's calm gaze did not alter.
"I'm dashed sorry, and all that sort
of thing" he said politely, "but I'll
send you up any book you'd like
later I've a bit of browsing to do
first"
The woman turned on her heel and
walked away without word.
Vance waited until he heard her
door close with bang; then he turn
ed and came back into the room.
"Not a sweet, Victorian clinging
vine," he lamented; "but lady Of
parts, none the less. Curious, her
telling us of her discussion with Bris-
bane about the possibilities of boiling
this door from the outside. There was
something back of that, Markham.
The young woman had ideas. Now
why should she have tried to be so
helpful? And that suggestion about
rigor mortis and the revolver. u.
Amazin'."
eff you want my candid opinion,
Markham commented, "she knows, or
suspects, more than she's telling us;
and she's trying to throw US off the
track"
Vance considered this for a time.
eyes it's possible" he agreed at
length. "On the other hand :"
Markham was patiently puzzled.
"Any suggestion?" he asked.
whats our next move?"
ooh that's Indicated" Vance sighed
deeply. painful as it may prove, I
simply must run my eye over Bris-
bane's books"
Markham also sighed deeply, and
rose.
We went into Brisbane Goes room,
which was at the front of the house
on the west side. On the north wall
beside the window was a series of
simple builtin book-shelves extending
to the ceiling. There were, estimated
betwoon three and four hundred vol
umes on them, all neatly and meticu-
lousy arranged.
Vance went to the window and threw
up the shades, andbegan running his
eye Systematically over the volumes.
For so small a number of crimino-