Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-06-10

AAS liz 4O4OCO tllC pdUCI
and slipped it into his pocket.
when the time comes . -. -"
he murmured. "Yes-quite." He
raised his eyes lazily to Kroon. Gas
you say. When the time comes.
The time has now come, Mr.,
Kroon."
The man stiffened, but did not
speak.
do you, by any chance" Vance
continued, "know a lady named
Stella Fruemon? Has a snug little
apartment on the seventeenth floor
OF This building-only two floors be-
loW. Says you were visitin' her
around four o'clock today. Left her
at exactly four-fifteen. Which might
account for your not using the ele-
vator. Also for your reluctance to
give us your aunt's name and adj
dress. Might account for other
things as well Do you care to
revise your story?"
Kroon appeared to be thinking
fast. He walked nervously up and
down the study floor.
"Puzzlin' and i~nterestin' situa-
tion," Vance went on. Gentleman
leaves this apartment at-let's say
ten minutes to four. Family doc
uments to sign. Doesn't enter the
elevator. Appears in apartment two
floors below within a few minutes
been a regular visitor there. Re-
mains till Ais. Then departs.
Shows up again in this apartment at
half-past four. In the meantime,
Swift is shot through the head
exact time unknown. Gentleman
is apparently familiar with various
details of the shooting. Refuses
to give information regarding his
whereabouts during his absence. A
lady accuses him of the murder,
and demonstrates how he could
have accomplished it. Also kindly
supplies the motive. Fifteen min
utes of gentleman's absence-name-
ly, from 4:15 to 4:30-unaccounted
for"
Vance drew on his cigarette.
II say, Mr.. Kroon, any sugges-
tions?"
Kroon came to a sudden halt and
swung about.
He sucked in a deep noisy breath
and made a despairing gesture.
cali right, here's the story. Take it
or leave it. I've been mixed up
with Stella Fruemon for the past
year. She's nothing but a gold-dig-
ger and blackmailer.. Madge Wealth
erby got or to it. She's the jealous
member of this combination-not
me. And she cared about as much
for Woode Swift as / did. Anyway,
I got involved with Stella Fruemon.
1t came to a showdown, and I had
to pay through the nose. To avoid
scandal for my family, of course.
At any rate, we each got our law
yers, and a settlement was reached.
She finally named a stiff figure and
agreed to sign a general release
from all claims. In the circum-
stances, I had no alternative. Four
o'clock today was the time set for
the completion of the transaction.
My lawyer and hers were to be at
her apartment. The certified check
and the papers yer ready. So I
went down there a little before four
to clean up the whole dirty bust
ess And I cleaned it up and
got out. I had walked down the
two flights of stairs to her apart
ment, and at Ais, when the hold-up
was over, I walked back up the
stairs"
Kroon took a deep breath and
frowned.
II was so furious-and relieved
that I kept on walking without real
izing where I was going. When I
opened the door which I thought led
into the public hallway outside the
Garden apartment, I found I was
on the terrace of the roof. When I
saw where I was I thought I'd come
through the garden and go down
the stairway there. 1t was really
the natural thing to do :"
"You knew about the gate lead
ing into the garden, them"
"I've known about it for years.
Everybody who's been up here
knows about it. Anything wrong
with my knowing about the gate?"
"No. Quite natural. And so, you
opened the gate and entered the
garden?"
eyes"
"And that would be between a
quarter after four and twenty min
utes after four?" 80:
II wasn'taholding a stop-watch on
myself, but I guess that's close
enough . . . When I entered the
garden I saw Swift slumped down
in his chair. His position struck me
as funny, but I paid no attention to
it until I spoke to him and got no
answer. Then I approached and
saw the revolver lying on the tiles,
and the hole in his head. 1t gave
me a hell of a shock, I can tell
you, and I started to run downstairs
to give the alarm. But I realized it
would look bad for me. There l was,
alone on the roof with a dead man
"Ah, yes. Discretion. So you
played safe. Can't say that I blame
you entirely-if your chronology is
acc1,ratn So T foko II vo,, ro-op-