Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1937-05-20
CHAPTER vi

Sk1f1x LIN VI r.H
"But see here, Vance," Markham
leaned forward protestingly. "No
amount of mere psychological anal
ysis can make a crime out of a stu
alton as seemingly obvious as this
me-. i must have more definite
reasons than you have given me be-
fore / would be justified in dis
carding the theory Of suicide"
ooh, I dare say" nodded Vance.
"But / have more tangible evidence
that the johnnie did not eliminate
himself from this life"
"Well, let's have it," Markham
fidgeted impatiently in his chair.
"Imprimis, my dear Justinian, a
bullet wound in the temple would
undoubtedly cause more blood than
you see on the brow of the deceased.
There are, as you notice, only a
few partly coagulated drops, where
as the vessels of the brain cannot
be punctured without a considerable
flow of blood. And there is no
blood either on his clothes or on the
tiles beneath his chair. Meanin'
that the blood has been, perhaps,
spilled elsewhere before I arrived
on the scene-which was, let us
say, within thirty seconds after we
heard the shot"
"a far-fetched theory" muttered
Markham. "All wounds don't bleed
the same"
Vance ignored the district attor-
ney's objection.
"And please take a good look at
the poor fellow. His legs are
stretched forward at an awkward
angle. The trousers are twisted out
of place and look most uncomforta-
BILE. His coat, though buttoned, is
riding his shoulder, so that his col
lar is at least three inches above
his exquisite mauve shirt. No man
could endure to have his clothes so
outrageously askew, even on the
point of suicide - he would have
Strengthened them out almost I'M
consciously. The corpus deficit
shows every indication of having
been dragged to the chair and
placed in it,"
Markham's eyes were surveying
the limp figure of Swift as Vance
talked.
Gwen that argument is not en-
tirely convincing" he said dogmat-
ically, though bis tone was a bit
modified; Especially in view of the
fact that he still wears the ear
phone . . :"
"Ah, exactly" Vance took him up
quickly. "That's another item to
which I would call your attention.
The murderer went a bit too far
there was a trif1e too much thor
oughness in the setting of the stage.
Had Swift shot himself in that chair,
/ believe his first impulsive move
ment would have been to remove
the head-phone, as it very easily
could have interfered with his pur-
pose. And it certainly would have
been of no use to him after he had
heard the report of the race. Fur
thermore, I seriously doubt if he
would have come upstairs to listen
to the a C. with his mind made up
in advance that he was going to
commit suicide in case his horse
didn't come in. And, as I have
explained to you, the revolver is
one belonging to Professor Garden
and was always kept in the desk
in the study. Consequently, if Swift
had decided, after the race had
been run, to shoot himself, he would
hardly have gone into the study,
procured the gun, then come back
to his chair on the roof and put the
head-phone on again before ending
his life. Undoubtedly he would have
shot himself right there in the study
at the desk from which he had
obtained the revolver"
Vance moved forward a little as
if for emphasis.
another point about that head
phonetic point that gave me the
first hint of MURDERS the fact
that the receiver at present is over
Swift's right ear. Earlier today l
saw Swift put the head-phone on
for a minute, and he was careful
to place the receiver over his left
ear-the custom'ry way. But now
the head-phone is on in reversed
position, and therefore unnatural.
I'm certain, Markham, that head
phone was placed on Swift after he
was dead"
/TO pE r0NTyNTrrD