Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-08-05
THE GARDEN MURDER CASE

OUT WORD. she was followed by
Miss Weatherby and Kroon, who sat
down uneasily beside her on the
davenport. Floyd Garden and his
father came in together. Miss Bee
ton was just behind them and
stopped hesitantly in the doorway,
looking uncertainty at Vance.
"Did you want me too?" she
asked diffidently.
| II think it might be best, Miss
Beeton," said> Vance. eve may
need your help"
At that moment the front door
bell rang, and Burke ushered Doc
tor Siefert into the den.
II just got your message, Mr..
Vance, and came right over" He
looked about the room questioning
ly.
II thought you might care to be
present." Vance said, Gin case we
can reach some conclusion about
the situation here. I know you are
| personally interested. Otherwise I
wouldn't have telephoned you.'
"I'm glad you did," said Siefert
blandly, and walked across to a
chair before the desk.
Vance lighted a cigarette with
slow elaboration, his eyes moving
aimlessly about the room. There
was tension over the assembled
group.
The taut silence was broken by
Vance's voice. He spoke casually,
but with a curious emphasis.
IT have asked you all to come
here this afternoon in the hope that
we could clear up the very tragic
situation that exists"
He was interrupted by the
startling sound of a shot ominously
like that of the day before. Every
one in the room stood up quickly,
aghast at the sudden detonation.
Everyone except Vance. And be-
fore anyone could speak, his calm
authoritative voice was saying:
'There is no need for alarm.
Please sit down. I expressly ar
ranged that shot for all of you to
hear-it will have an important
OcdI 11lS VII tl1G case
Burke appeared at the door.
"Was that all right, Mr.. Vance?"
'Quite all right" Vance told him.
"The same revolver and blanks?"
"Sure. Just like you told me.
And from where you said. Wasn't
it like you wanted it?''
eyes, precisely" nodded Vance.
"Thanks, Burke"
The detective grinned broadly
and moved away down the hall.
''That shot, I believe" resumed
Vance, sweeping his eyes lazily
over those present, twas similar to
the one we heard yesterday after
noon-the one that summoned us to
Swift's dead body. Ii may interest
you to know that the shot just fired
by Detective Burke was fired from
the same revolver, with the same
cartridges, that the murderer used
yesterday = and from about the
same spot"
"But this shot sounded as if it
were fired down here somewhere"
cut in Siefert.
txaCLly, SAID vance With sat-
isfaction. "It was fired from one
of the windows on this floor"
''But I understand that the shot
yesterday came from upstairs" Sic
fert looked perplexed.
"That was the general, but err
roneous, assumption" explained
Vance. Actually it did not. Yes
terday, because of the open roof
door and the stairway, and the
closed door of the room from which
the shot was fired, and mainly be-
cause we were psychologically
keyed to the idea of a shot from
the roof, it gave us all the i'm
preston of coming from the gar
den.''
zalia Graem turned quickly to
Vance.
'"The shot yesterday didn't sound
to me as if it came from the garden.
When came out of the den I won
dered why you were all hurrying
upstairs"
Vance returned her gaze square
ly.
''No, it must have sounded much
closer to you," he said. "But why
didn't you mention that important
fact yesterday when I talked with
you about the crime?"
Ct don't know" the girl SIAM
mered. "When I saw Woody dead
up there, I naturally thought I'd
been mistaken"
''But you couldn't have been mis-
taken," returned Vance, half under
his breath. "And after the revolver
had been fired yesterday from a
downstairs window, it was surrep-
titiously placed in the pocket of
Miss Beeton's top-coat in the hall
closet. Had it been fired from up-
stairs it could have been hidden to
far better advantage somewhere on
the roof or in the study" He turned
again to the girl. "By the by, Miss
Graem, didn't you 60 to that closet
after answering your telephone call
here in the den?"
The girl gasped.
"How-how did you know"
"You were seen there" explained