The Coolidge examiner., 1936-02-28

lounge.
How old was the young man p
he asked.
Between twenty-three and TWEEN
ty-four," answered Perilla.
"Have you known him long?"
mo, but he was my brothers
friend, and often was at the house. ,
did he seem to you like one
who would commit suicide"
Good heavens, no! The last one
l should suspect! Bob was toe
fond of life"
After Field left with the medi.
cal man Perilla said to Garth
"What do you think, ROger?"
"Not enough data to work on vet, -
Garth returned. "It seems like a nat.
ural death. hope it will prove to be
something of that sort; we don't
want any more tragic deaths. |
hope we can keep the way clear for
Fleming Stone He ought to get
here about noon or soon after"
But if Doctor Crane orders us
to have the police In at once, we
must do 1t"
They waited mostly in silence for
the doctor. When he came down his
face was very grave.
ITS a queer thing" he said, "but
l find no sign of any heart weak
ness, yet there is no sign of any
thing else. There was actually moth
ing the matter with that lad; he was
sound from head to foot"
well, then?" Malcolm spoke a
little sharply.
"Then | don't know what to say.
1t is too much for me. I'm no de-
tective and if | were l doubt if |
/ could solve this puzzle
Even considering outside posi-
bilities," said Field, "he couldn't
have been shot. There is no weapon
of any sort in the ROOM"
"Then," said Garth, "it is one of
these locked room problems so fire.
quent in the detective stories"
ITS all of that" said Hay, land
then some. l wonder what Mr..
Stone will make of it. You see, Bob
went upstairs with the rest of us.
showed him to his room myself,
showed him how to work the win
dows-they're a trifle complicated
showed him the snap lock and the
key lock, and then | left him.
eve have to agree with Doctor
Crane that it must have been a nat
ural death, brought about by an un-
suspected weakness Of the heart.
He died alone, and, presumably,
while asleep. What else could it be
but heart failure? He certainly had
no enemies here, and no one could
get in at these windows, either of
them, nor could he get out again. A
long ladder would have been needed
and even then a man could not get
through those narrow openings"
Exactly five inches, SIR" said the
meticulOuS Buckle.
well, Doctor Crane, what do you
say? May we wait while for
Fleming Stone, or must we call the
| police at once?
"Well, it's this way, Mr.. Field"
The old man shook his head slowly.
1--WE been coroner here a long time.
I've never gone back on my duty
yet, anG I guess | can't begin now.
| But | tell you there won't be such
a lot Of time, after all. It's getting
on to ten or eleven o'clock now, and
while the sheriff may mOsey along
sooner, the police from Columbus
won't arrive before late afternoon
or so. Mebbe your Mr.. Stone will
even get here first. See what |
mean? I'll call 'em, and they'll come
when they get ready, and they don't
work so everlastin' fast, anyhow. "
That's all right, DOCTOR" said
Perilla, catching on to the fact that
the old man had no intention of
| hustling the strong arm of the law.
The day was a strange one. Twice
| they had word from Stone and his
plane that he would arrive probably
about four or FIVE in the afternoon.
Early in the afternoon the sheriff,
John Gilmore, came. Field took
him in charge, and after showing
him the body and giving him the
main facts, said, do you know,
think it would be better all around
to shut up that room until Fleming
Stone, the famous detective, gets
here. You know, he's going to help
US. Then you and he start on your
work together"
Il agree" and Sheriff Gilmore
beamed. 'I'd likta see him work.
That is, if the police don't get here
first. If they do I'll string along
with them.'
Hay nodded and left Gilmore to
his own devices.
Shortly after, Stone came, and at
once took possession of BOb's room.
Zone o. them locked room puz.
zles, hey, Mr.. StOne?" and Gilmore
almost chuckled at the thought of
what a treat this would be to the
detective.
Yes, sheriff." said Stone. whats
your opinion?"