Independence monitor., February 13, 1914, Image 5

l"H"I"I"l -l"I"l"H-!-H-l-I-: i H-HH
The
Mystery
of the
Boule Cabinet 3
By BURTON E. STEVENSON
Copyright, K'13, by Burton G.
Stuveneou
lure and oue tor five, and tnere were
two or three dollars la silver nod four
8ve-Cutiuie pieces In a small ruiu
purse whirl) be curried in Lis trousers'
pocket. The lurye purse had four or
Ave calling cards In one of Its com
partment's, each bearing a different
name, none of theiu his. On the bacK
of one of them Yautiue's address was
written lu pencil.
There were no letters, no fiapers. no
written documents of nny kind in the
pockets, the remainder of whose con
tents consisted of such odds and ends
as any uinu tulfrht carry about with
him a cheap watch, a penknife, a
half empty packet of French tobacco,
g sheaf of cigarette paper, four or Ave
keys on a riiiy, u silk handkerchief,
nnd perhaps some other articles which
I have forgotten, but not a thing to
assist In establishes his Identity.
'Tliis proves that he's French," said
Godfrey.
"II is best girl?"
For answer. Godfrey held up the
watch, which he had been examining,
lie had opened the case and inside It
was a photograph the photograph of
a woman with bold, dark eyes and
full lips and ovnl face, a face so typi
cally French that It was uot to be mis
taken. "A lady's maid. I should say," added
Godfrey, looking at it again. "There
Is one fact which we have apparently
overlooked, but it proves beyond the
shadow of a doubt that this fellow
didn't drift In here by accident He
came here of Intention, and the inten
tlon wasn't to kill himself, either."
"How do you know that?" demanded
Goldberger Incredulously.
Godfrey picked up the purse, open
ed It and took out oue of the cards.
"By this." he said, and held it up.
"Ton have already seen what Is writ
ten on the back of It Mr. Vantine'i
name and the number of this bouse.
That proves, doesn't it. that this fel
low came to New York expressly to
ie Mr. Vantine?"
"l'erhaps you think Mr. Vuutine kill
ed blm," suggested Goldberger sarcas
tically. "No." said Godfrey. "He didn't
hare time."
"Thanks." said Vantine drily.
"I suppose, then, you think it wai
Parks." said Goldberger.
"It may quite possibly hare bees
Parks." agreed Godfrey gravely.
"Nonsense!" broke in Vantine imps
tlently.
"Of course it's nonsense." assented
Goldberger. "If s nonsense to say thai
be was killed by anybody,. Be killed
himself."
'Til cable to Parts." said Slmmonds
"If he belong there we'll soon Sod out
wfco he Is."
JJYou'd better call an ambulance and
have him taken to the morgue." went
on Goldberger. "Somebody may Iden
Ufy him there. There'll be a crowd
tomorrow, for. of course, the paper
will be full of this affair"-
"Tbe Record at least will have a very
full account." Godfrey assured him
"And I'll call the Inquest for the day
after." (Joldlierger continued. "HII
send my physlciun down to make a
post mortem rlcht away If there's
any poison In this fellow's stomach
we'll find It"
Godfrey did not speak, but I knew
what was Id his mind He was think-
In that If such poison existed the ves- j
el which bad contained It had not jet
been found. The same thought no
doubt occurred to Slmmonds. for after
(VI critic the policeman In the hall to i
call the ambulance he returned and!
beitan a careful search of the room,!
nslnsr his electric torch to Illumine
every shadowed comer. Godfrey de- j
rutiil himself to a similar search, but
i
Ixifli -ere without result Then God
?ei made minute Insiiectlon of the
Its J t liaml. uliile Goldberger looked
'ii with ill concealed Impatience, and
''-lit Gmlrre) moved toward the
"I think I'll be Koine." he said "But
i in iiiteri-stcd iii what your physician
I'': I Coroner Will you be al
11- t'UiiL'lit. Lester?"
Yi-- l ein-i i.i in.." I answered
''': V! -it t:e Marathon T
1 - ' ! "i.it 14 "
' i ' a 'otitid to nee
;i mum, -nf laer
-, i -':: 1 him as
I Gold
Take
:,.!'.
t
"(1 t'ie
1 ,-M-tl.
worm Kin a nmn ns nines: ns rnf fur I
he must have dropped de.nl tiefore h
roe'd c t out nf the room to summon
hein if it was prnssle acid he swai
lowed It"
"I! w do yon explain the address on
the card. Mr. Goldberger?" I asked.
"My theory Is that this fellow realh
had some business with Mr. Vantine
Probably lie wanted to borrow some
money or nsk for help, nnd then while
he was wnitinu lie suddenly gave the
thins nil mid killed himself. The ad
dress has in heariti whatever, that I
can ee. on the question of suicide.
And I'll say this. Mr Lester, If this
Isn't suicide- Here's the ambulance."
The liearers entered with the stretch
er, placed the body on It and carried
It away. Goldberger paused to gather
up the articles he had taken from the
dead man's pockets.
"You gentlemen will have to give
your testimony at the inquest" he
said; "so will Parka and Rogers. It
will be (lay after tomorrow, probably
at 10 o'clock, but I'll notify you of the
Hour''
"Very well." 1 said: "we'll be there,"
and Goldberger bade us coodby and
left the house. "And now." 1 added
to Vantine, "I must be netting back to
tiie ollice. They'll be asking the police
lo look for mo next. Man ulive" and
I glanced at my wutcb - "it's after
o'clock !"
"Too late for the ollice," said Van
line. "Heller ime upstairs and have
n drink Besides. I want to talk with I
you '
"At least I'll let t Mem know I'm still j
alive." I said, and I called up the .it j
the and allayed tiny anxiety that ma)
nave been felt there concerning me I I
must admit that it did uot sceui m ute
"Tell rue, Lester." said Vanillic, and
lie looked at me earnestly, "do you
Ihiiik that poor devil came In here Just
to get a chance to klil himself quietly?"
"No. I dou t," 1 saiil
Then w hat did be couie in for?"
"1 think Goldberger' theory a prot
ty good one that he had beard of you
as a generous fellow and cauie In here
lo ask help and w hlle he was waiting
suddenly gave It up"
"And killed himself)" Vantine com
pleted.
1 hesitated. I was astonished to (lint
at the back of my mind a growing
doubt
'"See here. Lester," Vantine demand
ed. "if he didn't kill himself, what
i.appeued to him?"
"lleaveu only knows." 1 answered
in despair. "I've been asking myself
the same question without Qnding a
reasonable answer to It But if any
body nu see through It Jim Godfrey
can."
Vantine seemed deeply perturbed.
"Tell me, Lester." be said, "do you
believe that theory of Godfrey's that
that insignificant wound on the band
caused death?"
i asked myself the same question
before I answered.
"Yes, I do," I said finally.
"Lester, I have u queer feeling that
the business which brought this man
here in some way concerned the Boule
cabinet I was telling you about Per
haps it belonged to him."
"Hardly," I protested, recalling his
shabby appears tire.
"At any rate. 1 remember ns I was
looking at bis card that some such
thought occurred to me. It was for
that reason I told Park to ask him to
waif '
"It's possible, of course." I admit
ted. "But that wouldn't explain bis
excitement And that romlntis me," 1
added. "1 haven't sent off that cable."
"Any time tonighl'will do. It will
be delivered In the morning. But you
haven't seen the cabinet yet Come
down and look at If
He led the way down the stair.
Parks met na In the lower hall
"Tberes a delegation of reporters
outside, sir." be said. "They say
they've got tisee you."
Vantine made a movement of Impa
tience. "Tell them." he said, "that I posl
tlvely refuse to see them or to allow
my servants to see them. Let them
get their Information from the police."
j "Very well. Mr." said Parks and turn
I ed away, grinning
Vantine passed on through the ante
room lu wblcb we bad found the body
' of the unfortunate Frenchman and
' into the room beyond. Five or six
pieces of furniture, evidently Just un
packed, stood there; but ignorant as
I am of such things, be did not have
to point out to me the Boule cabinet
I looked at It for some moments, for
It was certainly a beautiful piece of
work, with a wealth of inlay and in
crustation little short of marvelous.
But I uiiiy as well say here that I
never really u 'predated It The florid
StVle of the t'Oirtcellth 11 r"l fifteenth
Loui-Hfr.-tnl
cold
" ....
sjl i ' I 1
lit '
a.-le
me s
1 Mil,
llttic
t'lMt V'H I I.I
fur it.
bout tus wire, and tie led the
wiiv from the room at once.
'Ki'i'.ii-uiliei'. Lester." he said a little
stern.;,, pausing; with his hand on the
front dour, "there Is to be no foolish
ness about securing that cabinet for
me Iion't you let It get away. I'm
In deadly earnest. Let me know as
soon as you have any news."
U'us Vantine quite normal? 1 wonder
ed on tny way home. Could any man
be normal who was willing to pny
$!ni.0tx for a piece of furniture, espe
cially u man who could not afford such
extravagance? I knew the size of Van
tine's fortune. It was large, but t 1.
WW represented more than a year's
Income. Anil then I smiled to myself I
Of course Vantine was merely Jesting
wlien lie named that limit. The cut.,
net could lie bought for a tenth of it
at the most.
II was about S o'clock that evening
tlnit Codfrey tapped nt my door nnd
when I let him In I could tell by the
a Ins eves were shining that he hml
some news.
"I i a n t may long." lie said "Pre
got to get down to the office and put
j the finishing touches on that story."
I Hut nevertheless he took the ciai I
proffered him nnd sauk Into the chair
opposite my own
! "I want to say this, Lester," he said,
j "thnt of all the cases 1 ever bad not
one bus promised better than this one
I does. The coroner's physician finished
I bin postmortem half an hour or so
ago."
"Well?" I said,
j "The stomach was absolutely nor
j uial. It showed no trace of poison of
any kind it u titer a facer for oin
friend Goldberger''
"What's the matter with Goldberger?
lie seetned rather peeved with you tills
afternoon."
"No wonder. lie's a Grady man, and
we're after Grady. Grady Isn't fit to
head the detective bureau. He goi tlie
job through his pull, he's stupid and
I suspect he's crooked. The Record
suys he has got to go. Once he's out
everything will 1 serene again."
"I-ook here. Godfrey." I said "If it
wasn't poison whitt was it?"
"But it was poison."
"Inserted at the hand?"
lie nodded.
"Goldberger says there's no poison
known which could be used that wuj
and which would act so quickly "
"Goldberger Is right In thut" agreed
Godfrey. "But there's a poison uu
knuwn thnt w ill, because it did."
"It wasn't a snake bite?"
"Ob. no. Snuke poison wouldn't kill
a man that quickly, not even a fer -de-lance.
That fellow practically dropped
where he was struck." i
"Then what was It?"
Godfrey was sitting erect again. lie
was not smiling now. His face was
very stern.
"That fellow was killed by some
agency outside himself." be said "In
some way a drop or two of poison was
Introduced Into bis blood by an lustra
mem uuieiuuig u iv r upuuerujiv
needle, and that poison was so power
ful that almost Instantly It caused
paralysis of the heart"
"But you've already said there's no
poison so powerful as all that"
"1 said we didn't know of any. 1
wouldn't be so sure that Catherine de
Medici didn't This case isn't as ex
traordinary as some of the old potnon
lug stories "
"No," I agreed, and fell silent shiv
ering a little, for there is something
horrible and revolting about the poi
soner. CHAPTER III
Xhm Thunderbolt.
A
FTER all." went on Godfrey.
"there Is one thing that neither
you nor I nor any rensnnnble
man can believe, abd that Is
that this Frenchman came from beav
en knows where--from Paris, perhaps
-with Vanttne's address In bis pocket
and bunted up the house and made his
way Into It simply to kill himself there
He had some other object, and be met
his death while trying to accomplish
It"
"Usve you found out who he Is?"
"No; he's not registered at any of
the hotels. The French consul nerer
beard f blm He belongs to none of
the Frem b societies He's not known
In the French quarter He seems to
have droiped Is from the clouds
Welve cabled our Taris office to look
hltn up. We may besr from there t"
night hut even If we discover the
Identity of Tbeopblle d'Aurelle. It
won t help us any "
"Why not?"" I demanded.
"Because It is evident that that isn't
his name "
"Go ahead and tell me, Godfrey,"
I wild, us he looked at me. smiling "1
don't see If
"Why. It's plain enough He had flvi
csnls in his pocket, no two nlilie Tie
sixth. seli"'tc ppMiubJy at niti'loin. h.
had sent up t- Vmitliie "
I saw it then, of course Godfre'.
snn '
"Tli.
tun. i
" !
lei:-!;
Th-
n.i nt-
rv
.-'-ill! .-it in i'X"r-.!on.
mil tl'A nrcll Iii-vcr hi
nt tli I.i'. !!"H I,.- !', ti.
1. "
."itrls
o l--.
f!ur''
Been arrested Ana, of course, we enn't
I get at motives until we find out some
thing about hluf
"Hut. Godfrey." I said, "how was It
! done? That is what stumps mo How
i was It done?"
j "Ah!" agreed Godfrey. "Thnt's It!
How was It done? I told you It was n
pretty case, I.es-ter But wait till we
hear from Palis "
"That reminds me," I said, sitting up
suddenly. "I've got to cable to Paris
myself, on some business for .Mr. Van
tine." "Not connected with this affair?"
"Oh, no: his shippers over there sent
him n piece of furniture that doosn't
belong to hltn. He asked me to straight
en the matter out "
I rang for the hallboy, asked for a
cable blank and sent off a message to
Arinund & Sou. telling them of the
mistake and asking them to cable' the
name of the owuer of the CHblnet now
In Mr Vantine possession. Godfrey
got to his feet
"I must be moving along." he said.
"There's no use sitting here theoris
ing until we have some sort of foun
dation to build on."
The rlnglug of my telephone stop
ied blm.
"Hello," I snJd. taking down the le
felver Continued on page 8
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