The Coolidge examiner., 1935-02-01
NRU
ERVtCE

q; which Doremus was pointing.
Just below Goes right shoulder
blade and near the spine was a
small diamond shaped wound about
half an inch In diameter. II was n
clean-cui wound etched with black
ooagulaied blood Apparently thers
had been no external bleeding This
fact struck me as unusual. and
Markham must have received the
same impression. for. after a mo-
nent's silence. he asked Doremus
about IL.
~All wounds do not bleed exier.
nally." Doremus explained This Is
especially true of clean. quick siabs
that pass through the membranes
into the yisccra they frequently
show little or 90 external blood
Like contusiouS The bleeding Is IN
ternal This stab closed imme
dlaiely and the lips OF the wound
adhered An internal hemorrhage
vas caused Very simple -. Now
we have an explanation % every.
thing"
Vance smiled cynlcally.
~Oh. have we. nowT We have
only an explanation Of the cause
~ Goes death And that explana-
tlon complicatcs the situation hor-
rlbly. Il makes the ease even more
Insane
Markham shot him a quick glance
Il can't see that" he said. 1T nj
least clarifies ore point We have
been discussing. We now know what
stopped him in the middle of chang
ing bis clothes
Il wonder. =" Vance crushed
out his cigarette In au ash tray on
the nlghi-tatlc. and picked up the
dressing gown which Coe had been
wearing when we found him lie
held ., up 10 the light and inspected
Il mlnuicly. There was no cut or
hole of any kind IN a. We al looked
on In siupcned silence.
"No. Markham" Vance said. plac-
Ing the gown over the foot OF the
bed "Coe didn't have on his dress.
Ing gown when be was stabbed. That
change was made later"
lie walked quickly 10 tie clothes
closet In the west wall. whose door
was slightly Ajar. Opening the door
wide. he stepped inside. A moment
later be emerged with a clothes
hanger from which depended a coat
and waistcoaf OF the same somber
gray material as that OF the trous.
ers Coe had been wearing.
Vance ran bis fingers over the
coat In the vicinity OF the right
shoulder. and there was revealed a
slit in The material the exact size
OF the wound In Goes back. There
was a similar slit in the back OF the
waisicoai. colncldlng with the one
in the coat
Vance held the two articles OF
clothing close TO the light and
touched the slit with his fingers
These holes" be said. ARE
slightly sufened at the edges. as II
some substance had dried on them.
think that substance VIII be found
to be blood. There's no doubt
that Coe was fully dressed when he
was stabbed. and tha, the blood on
the dagger. or knife. soIled the
edges OF these two cuts when II
was withdrawn
After a moment Markham ex-
pressed the thought uppermost In
all our minds
"That being the case. Vance, the
murderer must have taken Goes
coat and vest of. hung them In the
closet, and then put the dressing
gown on the stabbed man"
"Why the murdererf" Vance par.
ried. THE indications are that some
one else came here after Coe was
dead and sent a bullet through his
head Couldn't this other hypothet-
lcal person have made the change
In the corpse's hablllmentsf" :
Does that theory help US anyf"
Markham asked gruffly.
"Not a bit." Vance cheerfully ad-
mitted, -even II Il were true
which. OF course. we don't know.
And I'll admit II sounds incredible
merely made the suggestion by
way OF indicating that. at this stage
OF the game. we should not jump at
conclusions.
Doremus was becoming bored.
He gave a cavernous yawn.
stretched himself. and reached for
his hat which he had placed on the
floor beside the bed
well. that lets me out" He
squinted at Heath. Il suppose you
want a quick autopsy"
"I'll say we do" The sergeant's
head was enyeloped In n cloud OF
cigar smoke. when can we get
TT"
"Tonight-if you must have II. "
Doremus drew a sheet over the
prone figure on the bed. and made
out an order for the removal OF the
body. He shook hands cordially
with every oes and walked brisk