White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1937-05-20
CHAPTER 1

There were two reasons why the
terrible and, in many ways, incredi-
BILE Garden murder case-which
took place in the early spring fol-
lowing the specta cular Casino MUIR
der case-was so designated. In
the first place, the scene of this
gl4agedy was the penthouse home
of Professor Ephraim Garden, the
great experimental chemist of Stuy-
vesant university; and secondly, the
exact situs crininis was the beauti-
full private roof-garden over the
apartment itself.
It was both a peculiar and i'm
plausible affair, and one so cleverly
planned that only by the merest
accident-or perhaps, should say
a fortuitous intervention--was it dis
covered at all.
The Garden murder case involved
curious and anomalous mixture
OF passion, avarice, ambition and
horse-racing. There was an adrnix-
ture of hate, also; but this potent
and binding element was, inag-
inc, an understandable outgrowth
of the other factors.
The beginning of the case came
on the night of April 49, 1t was one
of those mild evenings that we often
experience in early spring following
a spell of harsh dampness, when
all the remaining traces of winter
finally capitulate to the inevitable
seasonal changes. There was a
mellow softness in the air, a sud-
den perfume from the burgeoning
life of nature-the kind Of atmos-
phere that makes one lackadaisical,
and wistful and, at the same time,
stimulates ones ina gination.
i mention this seemingly irrele-
want fact because | have good rea-
son to believe these meteorological
conditions had much to do with the
startling events that were imminent
that night and which were to break
forth, in all their horror, before an
other "a hours had passed.
ZAAA0 OCA4GVS U1dt Ill0 SGdSOll,
with all it's subtle innuendoes, was
the real explanation of the change
that came over Vance himself dur
ing his investigation Of the crime.
Up to that time had never con-
sidered Vance man of any deep
personal emotion, except in so far
as children and animals and his in
innate masculine friendships were
concerned. He had always i'm
pressed me as man SO highly
mentalized, so cynical and inper-
sonal in his attitude toward life,
that an irrational human weakness
like romance would he alien to his
nature. But in the course of his
deft inquiry into the murders in
Professor Gardens penthouse,
saw, for the first time, another and
softer side of his character. Vance.
was never al happy man in !. thef|
conventional sense; but, after thea4
Garden murder case there were evil
dences of an even deeper neliness4
in his sensitive nature. " ,..
AS nave Sald,; the case Opened--%t
so far as Vance was concerned WithaI
ton thes%night Of April 13. John
FIX. Markham, then district attor-
ney Of New York county, had dined
with Vance at his apartment in
East Thirty-eighth street. The din
ner had been excellent-as all of
Vance's dinners were-and at ten
o'clock the three of us were sitting
in the comfortable library.
Vance and Markham had been
discussing crime waves in desul-
tory manner. There mad been a
mild disagreement, Vance discount
ing the theory that crime waves
are calculable, and holding that
crime is entirely personal and there
fore incompatible with generaliza-
tions or laws.
It was in the midst Of this dis
cussion that Currie, Vance's old
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