The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1935-03-21
THE KENNEL.
MURDER c A 5 E
By S. S. VAN DINE

"No-o." Vance smiled frigidly.
"What about Miss Lake,"
Wrede almost leaped from his seat.
"That suggestion is outrageous!
he cried, glowering at Vance. GLOW
dare you-?" >
"Spare me the drama" Vance cut
in, with contemptuous smile. I'm
deuced difficult to impress"
z Wrede sat back, with mumbled
~semark which we could not make out.
"What do you thing of LANG, the
cook" Vance asked next.
The man glanced up with a swift,
shrewd look.
"Liang, Ell? That's quite different.
There's something secretive and I'M
derhand about that Chinaman. I've
never wholly understood his being
here. He's certainly not cook by
profession;, and from my apartment
window I've often seen him sitting on
the rear porch writing for hours. My
impression is he's spy Of some kind.
And he knows Chinese art. distrust-
ed him from the first" Wrede nodded
his head sagely. eff you knew more
of what was back Of his presence
! here, you might know more of Archer
Goes death. At least" he hast
ened to add, "that is my impression"
Vance stiffled mild yawn.
"The oriental temperament is full
of mystic potentialities," he COM
mented. "And my own impression is
that LANG knows something about
what happened here last night. But,
as you suggest, motive in that di-
rection is still lacking. On the other
hand, you yourself had abundant mo-
tive for doing away with Archer
Coe."
Wrede, to my surprise, did not ap-
pear to be offended by this remark.
"Archer was admittedly opposed to
your marriage with his niece" Vance
went on. And until he died Miss Lake
was limited to a small allowance. She
would have received her patrimony
at Archer's decease. Thus, if you had
successfully put Archer out of the
way, you would have at once gained a.
fairly wealthy bride-with no obsta-
cles. Is it no so, Mr.. Wrede?"
The man gave harsh laugh.
eyes, I suppose so. AS you point
out, I had ample motive for murdur-
ing Archer. But, on the other hand,
= would have had no reason whatever
for numbering Brisbane"
, "Ah, yes-Brisbane. Quite-quite.
That second corpse complexities the
whole matter"
"Where was Brisbane's body found,
may I ask?"
"In the closet at the end of the
lower hall. You didn't perchance,
open the coat closet this morning."
"Now Vance shuddered. "But l
came very near it. Instead, I threw
my hat on a chair in the drawing
ROOM"
He lapsed into retrospection. Pres
emily he spoke.
"What I can't understand is that
bolted door upstairs"
"Neither can we," said Vance, in a
matter-of-fact tone. cts most con-
fusin'. Pm thoroughly convinced you
didn't bolt it."
The man jerked his head up in a
queer way.
ooh, thanks" His attempt at pleas
antry was unsuccessful. "Have you
found the weapon?" he asked lamely.
"That might give you clew."
"I'm sure it would" agreed Vance.
Heath, who had been standing by
the front windows, stepped forward.
"That reminds me. The boys and l
are going to give this house a swell
6ooking-over. All right with you,
Mr.. Markham ?"
go to it Sergeant. The sooner the
better"
Heath went from the room, and
Vance resumed his Interrogation.
"By the by, Mr.. Wrede, are you
interested in Chinese ceramics ?"
"Not particularly. I have a few
pieces, but Pm no expert. However,
I couldn't help learning something
about the subject during my long as
ISOLATION with Archer"
Vance walked to the table behind
the davenport, and pointed at the Tao
Kuang vase.
"What's your opinion of this Ting
yao?'
Wredo rose and came forward