The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1948-05-06
By
GENE BROCKHAVEN OIIUI OltUlt VGUA

"They settled here, naturally, and
Dahlgren joined this club He was
a good golfer. You played with him
a lot, pretending to like him, but in
your heart hating him.
at didn't take you long to learn
of golf habit of his, a habit
which ultimately caused his death.
Invariably after he hit, even if
others were to hit after him, he
walked off the tee to the rigs and
then straight ahead.
Then a few weeks ago you de-
cided to kill him. There would be
very few more opportunities, and you
could do it without danger to your
self. 1t would be an accident If
you missed, nothing lost. I've learned
you've been spending some evenings
in your workshop the past few
weeks doctoring the ball that was
to kill Dahlgren and clear the way
for the renewal of your romance
with Evelyn. 1 know how you doc
tored that ball, Tilton, and I know
why. You thought the regulation
ball would not be heavy enough to
do the job, so you punched four
holes through the cover with this
nail.
"You worked out some of the ma
terial and then poured in four small.
pellets Of this solder. The four
pellets were so placed in the bali
that it would lose none of it's bal
ance, thus travelling straight. That's
an old trick of the fancy shot
artists, Tilton, but they usually
weighted the ball on one side only
so it would act crafty in flight.
''That solder came from this bar
which picked up from your work
bench. The manufacturers will
vouch for that, because it contains
ingredients used only by them. The
scrapings in this envelope came
from the ball you used. I can prove
that, too. After plugging the holes
you covered the openings and paint
ed them. Unfortunately for you, the
ball, after striking Dahlgren,
dropped nearby. And you, Tilton,
picked up that ball and tossed it
into the rough. Bates saw you.
"And, to clinch my case against
you, I've got the evidence of sew
eral of the caddies who watched
you day after day on the practice
tee. Listen, Tilton. They watched
you slice balls from that tee and hit
the tree which stands off tp the
right. And those balls struck that
tree within small radius, approx
mately 5 feet 9 inches from Vie
ground. Dahlgren was feet II.
"On the Saturday morning you
killed DahIgren you waited until
he held the honor over you. After
he hit and walked off the tee you
set up the murder ball, waited for
Dahgren to reach a spot equiv
a1ent to the distance of that tree
from the practice tee, and struck
with murder in your heart"
Tilton, tongue Ticking over dry
lips, rose, gripping the back of his
chair to steady shaky legs.
"You never could prove that!"
"Oh, yes I cam" said MCGOWAN
and reached into the package be-
side him. "This doctored ball =. :"
''Where'd-" Tilton checked his
outburst and his eyes fiicked mo-
mentarily to the fireplace mantel.
There it is, Tilton," MCGOWAN
continued evenly. "a perfect first
degree murder rap motive, pre-
meditation, opportunity. And I'll
have to take you along. Get your
hat and coat. I'll wait here
AS Tilton walked unsteadily to
the hall clothes rack, MCGOWAN rose
and went to the fireplace, reached
into a heavy silver vase - a golf
trophy-lifted out discolored golf
ball, hefted it and exclaimed:
Hot dog, my bunch was rightp