The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1935-03-28
More Rloodstains

Markham looked from the needle
back to the little pile of string, and
then at Vance.
''Well, what does that mean-lf
anything? ?" he asked.
Vance slowly picked up the needle
and the two pieces of string and put
them in his own coat pocket.
"It means deeiltry, Markham. And
1t means that we are dealing with a
shrewd, subtle, and tricky brain. The
technique of this crime had been
thought out to several decimal points
and then everything went wrong.
The murderer was forced to add COM
plications to his plot to cover him
self. And he has confused the issue
out of all accountability. -"
"But who used this string and
needle? And for what purpose?"
Vance looked up gravely.
eff I knew who used them, I'd
have an important key to the entire
situation. The fact that they were in
Brisbane's topcoat means little. That
is the logical place that anyone would
have put them after having used
* them. It's always safe, don't y know,
to throw suspicion on a dead man."
Markham stiffened and his eyes be-
came hard.
"You believe the same person killed
both Brisbane and Archer?"
Vance nodded. Undoubtedly. The
technique of both murders was the
same; and the same weapon was used
in both killings"
"But," argued Markham, "the dag
ger was found in Archer's bolted bed
ROOM"
"That's another incredible compli-
cation" Vance returned. REALLY, y
know, the dagger shouldn't have been
there. It should have been here in the
library.
sHere? ?" Markham uttered the word
with establishment. "But why in the
library? Neither man was killed
here"
"Iwonder. >" Vance leaned over
the table, deep in thought. ''It would
have been the logical place and
yet neither body was found here. :"
"Why was this room the logical
placer" Markham asked sharply.
because of this substituted Tao
Kuang vase and the broken piece of
Ting yao porcelain with the blood on
\ lit" He stopped abruptly and his
eyes d1ifted into space. "That blood
stained Ting yao! i. . All! What hap
pened after that Sung vase was brok-
en?-what would the stabber have
done then? Would he have gone out,
taking the blood with him? No!
He wouldn't have dared-it wouldn't
have fitted in with his sinister pur-
pose. He would have been afraid. He
was hiding something, Markham. ;"
Vance looked about the room. "That's
it: he was hiding something!. =. .
Twice he hid it . and then some
thing unexpected happened something
startling and upsetting. The corpse
should have been here in the library,
dye see and therefore the dagger had
to be here.
81 have a theory, Markham-a the
ory to account for certain contradic-
try phase of this case-but wouldn't
dare express it-yet. It's too outland-
,ish. And moreover, it doesn't fit two
thirds of the facts. . But give me
a few minutes. Let me see if | can
verify one important item in my the
DRY. If Pm able to find what I'm
looking for, We'll be little father
along"
He walked to the mantelpiece and
stood before large blue-green vase.
~ ga beautiful example of Tsul se,"
he said, running his fingers over the
glaze. He put his finger in the neck.
"Too SMALL" he commented, and NOV
ed to anotehr vase-a bottle-shaped,
dark-red specimen-at the futher end
of the mantel
zone of the most perfect examples
of Lang yao I've ever seen-ox-blood,
or sang de boeuf, as we call it." He
fingered the vase lovingly and held it
toward the light.
Vance set the K'ang Hsi mirror
black vase back on the cabinet, and
let his eyes run over other ceremic
specimens in the room. But he did not
linger over any one of them. He gave
them merely casual inspection. He
seemed to be searching for some par