The Coolidge examiner., 1935-03-22

Uncle Brlsbane's having 'dahhlrd
In crlmlnolo.y believe that was
your phrase. What form did his In.
terest in criminolosy takef
"Only reading. Criminal cases.
court cases. court records. de,ec.
tive siorles--Jhe usual thing. There
are hundreds 81 volumes In his
room"
Were you, too. Interested ln your
Uncle Erlshane's tnoks7"
"Oh. yes. There's nothing else In.
tercsfine In the house"
Then you. too, have 'dabbicd 10
criminoloEy'7"
She shot Vance a quick look and
gave 3 forced laugh
"You might call IL that"
"Ah, Then perhaps you can help
US" yance's mir became jocular.
"Ne crave 10 know how this door
could have been bolted on the in.
sifAs. obviously Archer couldn't
have done Il with Il bullet 10 his
head"
"IIaye you ever heard of cada.
vcr.c spasm. or rlgor mortlstr She
asked cortempiuously. Men. w!fh
rcyolyeys IN their hands at death.
have teen known 20 FIRE them hours
after they were dead. as n result
~ muscular contraction"
Vance nodded. without changing
his expression or shifting bis gnEe.
quite true, There was the IA.
nous case In Prague Of the suicide
who later shot the police Inspector.
And there was a more recent case
In Pennsylvania. Bot I hardly
think that condition applies here.
Archer. a sc see. died OF stab IN
the back. And the position Of his
hand holding the revolver was not
such as would indicate that be him
SELF pulled the trigger
Perhaps you're right" was
surprised AZ her ready acceptance
os Vauce's dismissal Of her surges.
don. some one else must have
bolted the door" She spoke with
cynical liEhiuess. "Ii's quite a prob.
lem. isn't itT'
Are you sure you can't help usT'
Vance gazed AZ her steadily.
She became thoughtful; curious
change came over her. and she
looked az Vance with q questioning
steady stare
"rve been thinking about that
door FOR several hours" she said
tensely: ''and can't end an answer
70 lt. Uncle Brisbane aud Mr..
Wrede and often talked about
these tricky criminal devices. We
worked out various ways and means
~ dolug seemingly impossible
things. bat boiling thls door from
the outside was something we could
never figure out"
Vance took hts cigarette from bis
mouth with slow dellberatlon.
You mean 70 tell me that you
and Brisbane and Mr. Wrede actual.
~ discussed the possibilities of bolt.
ing this door from the outslde1"
"Oh. yes" She appeared quite
frank. MANY times. But We decld.
cd II couldn't be successfully done "
Vance hesitated. and strange
kind of chill ran over me. felt as
II we were approaching something
particularly pertinent and. at the
same time. sinister.
did anyone else"-vance's cool
voice brought me back 10 reality
~ever hear these discussions
mo one but Uncle Archer" HIlda
Lake had become frigid and iudlf-
fercnt again "IIe always ridiculed
our speculauons"
what OF LiangT' Vance asked
casually.
The cook? Oh. | suppose be
heard our idle chatter. believe We
talked over our dire plots at dinner
occasionally"
"And now the problem that trou-
bled all OF you has been solved a"
Vance rose and strolied mediiatlye-
ly toward the door. Every sad. -
He opened the door and held Il
ajar. Thank you. Miss Lake say.
you won't mind remaining In your
room till dinner time. viii youi"
IF I did mind. Il wouldn't do me
any good. | suppose" She spoke
with obvious resentment as she
walked toward Vance. May be
permitted to get book from Uncle
Erlsbane's room TO while away my
hours OF detentionY
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 Ike
later. I've bit Of browsing to do
first"
The woman turned on her heel
and walked away without a word.
Vance waited until he heard her
door close with a bang; then he
turned and came back into the
room.
mot a sweet, Victorian clinging
vine" he lamented; but a lady OF
parts, none the less. Curious,
her telling US OF her discussions
with Brisbane about the possibIli-
ties OF bolting this door from the
outside. There was something back