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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1928)
PAGE SIX HEPPNER GAZETTE TIMES, HEPPNER, OREGON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1928 WHAT HAPPENED BEPOBE Simon Judd. amateur detective, and William Dart an undertaker, are visit ing John Drane, eccentric man of wealth, at the Drane place. Suddenly the household is shocked to And that John Drane has been murdered. The dead man Is first seen by Josie, the maid, then by Amy Drane and Simon Judd. The latter faints. Police officers call and investigations begin. Dr. Blessington is called, and after seeing the murdered John Drane, makes the astounding revelation to Amy that her "uncle" is not a man but a woman. Dr. Bleasington discounts the theory of suicide, saying that Drane was defi nitely murdered: Dr. Blessington com ments on the fact that all the servants in the household of Drane are sick, and that Drane has never discharged a ser vant for ill health. Dick Brennan, the detective, arrived to investigate the Brennan questions the persons in the house, asking Amy 11 anyone naa aujr rAnsnn tn kilt her "uncle." Amy says no one had any reason to kill her uncle. After further question ing, she is asked about Dart Meanwhile Judd has told the story of his acquaint ance with the actual John Drane in Pivorhnnlf Simon Judd proposes to Brennan that he help in the solution of the case, serv ing as Brennan'8 partner. Brennan an cepts the proposal immediately. Judd confides that Amy "ain't what she says she is." NOW OO OH WITH THE STOBT mean by that?" "You mean she's "What do you Brennan asked. crooked?" "Oh, black my cats, no!" Simon Judd exclaimed. "If I know folks she's the straightest sort there is and the nicest, too. She ain't this late John Drane's niece, nor yet his grand-niece that's what I mean. You hear her say oft that rigama role about John Drane's brother Daniel going to California in 78, and man-yin' a Mary O'Ryan, and havin' a son Thomas that was this Amv's ta? And about this Thomas Drane marryin' some Ameria Gart ner that come to be this Amy girl s ma? Well, black my cats, it's all true except none of It! There was n't iui hrnther Daniel. No, sir! I take mv oath to that I knowed that Drane family as well as I know myself, and there wasn't no Dnaiel in it That's all lies. "Are you sure of that?" Brennan "Whv listen!" said Simon Judd. "This girl got the story from John Drane. John Drane told her this Daniel Drane went West in 78. In 78 John Drane was twenty-five years old and him and me had been chums since we was born never dav we didn't see each other. was at their house more than I was at my own. I knowed them from A to Z. And there wasn't any Dan iel Drane, I tell you. There was just two kids in the family John and this sister of his named Ella, and knew them both all the time." "He made up this story to tell the trirl." said Brennan. "Because he was a woman," said Simon Judd, "and hadn't no chil dren to love and oherish. He was she.' mind you, Brennan. And when she this John Drane, who ever she was got along oldish she had to have some child to love. &o if I ain't an old fool and guessin wrone. she picked out some orphan child somewhere and told a lot of lies. Just to have a kid to come back here and love her when she got too old and feeble to fuss with this Wall Street stuff and so on.' "This may be mighty important if it is true," Brennan said. "It might account for the murder some con nection of the child, her father per haps, wanting money. Something along that line." "It's true," Simon Judd insisted. "Why, look here, you! This old wo man, this John Drane, made It all up. Take the names Mary O'Ryan was a girl we both knew out there in Riverbank when we were all kids. She died out there only last year. And Daniel! she had a brother Daniel, this Mary did. And 'Amelia Gartner1 that was said to be Amy's ma she was another kid we both knew in Riverbank when we were kids together. She's alive yet, out there, and she had a brother Thom as that gave the.notion of a Thom as Drane. You go out to Rievrbank and you'll find that's all the solemn truth; you go out to California and I bet you don't find any trace of a Daniel Drane, or a Mary O'Ryan his wife, or a Thomas Drane, or of" "Hush!" Brennan said. "The girl is coming." Amy returned with the notebook for which Simon Judd had sent her and almost immediately Mrs. Vin cent came out, leaning on the arm of Bob Carter. She had been rest ing on her bed, being in great pain, and had been obliged to put on a dress before she could answer Bren nan's summons. The poor woman seemed to be In a very bad state in deed, but she did her best to answer Brennan's questions, and her an swers were full and quite circum stantial. She was a widow, she said, and been employed by the supposed John Drane for five years. He had personally engaged her as house keeper at an employment agency in the city where she had registered, and his offer had been a great relief to her because It had been hard to find a position on account of her poor health. He probably would not havs taken her, she said, except that the house had been two months without a mistress, the for mer housekeeper having died. The wages were all she could have ex pected. She said, furthermore, that she was a widow and the antecedents aha gave were such that Brennan could easily look up. Mr. Drane had always left the household expenses to her. On the first of each month about the seventh, to be exact- he had given her a check for the estimated expenses; if the expenes ran higher he gave her extra money, if they ran less he made the check less. He was always very particu lar in checking the bills with her but they had never had any quar rels; he was fair that way. She had never had, she said, the slightest idea that "John Drane" was a female. He was peculiar in some ways but no more so than oth er people. She considered him a finicky old bachelor his shaving twice a day, for instance, which she now saw was in order that the lack of beard might not be noticed, has seemed to her one exemplification of his "old-maidishness. Very few people came to the house, Mrs. Vincent said, although the young folk began to come after Amy's arrival, and Mr. Drane liked that He encouraged it, telling Mrs, Vincent to do all she could to make the place pleasant for them. Mr. Dart, the undertaker, had been the most frequent visitor, often coming to play cards and staying the night The blue room had been used by him so often that the servants us ually called it "Mr. Dart's room Personally she did not like Mr. Dart much; he was apt to be "upp ish" when Mr. Drane was not pres ent By "uppish" she meant bossy, she explained, for he acted as if he thought he had a right to order the servants around, which he hadn't He never acted so when Mr. Drane was around, of course. Mr. Drane always had a way with him and knew how to keep people in their places. The servants, Mrs. Vincent thought, were all decent and re liable. She had personally looked into the references of all of them when they were engaged. 'Mr. Drane," she said, got them from the hospital. You mean he took the hospital employees away from the hospi tal?" Brennan asked her. Oh, no indeed!" Mrs. Vincent ex claimed as if afraid Brennan might think ill of John Drane. "It was quite the other way, sir. Mr. Drane took a great interest in the hospi tal, you see; he helped build it and all. That was one of the few places he ever went at night to the meet ings of the hospital board. The hospital, you see, sir, can't keep chronic patients but so long- couple of weeks, maybe and then out they must go, and where to go very few of them know. So M Drane took them. That is why they are all so sickly, one way and another. It was easy work for them here, almost no family, and Mr. Drane always wanted them to rest when ill. The hospital would let him know when there was a case that could work but was incurable, as you might say. Ah, sir, so many of them never did get well!" Died, you mean? Brennan ask ed. Yes, sir. Dr. Blessington can tell you," the housekeeper said. There's no house in the town where he comes oftener. Nor where that man Dart comes oftener, the more pity it is!" The undertaker Dart? That same," Mrs. Vincent said. "And if I may say so, sir, I think it was for that reason he made up to Mr. Drane so persistently. It's not nice thing to think, and I'm ashamed to think it, but there have been a great many funerals from this house, and no expense ever spared." Mrs. Vincent wiped her eyes. "Just when you get to like a person it was another funeral, it seemed. Like Norbert, the poor fellow! I've a great fondness for him, even if he is black, for he is a good man, Norbert it He's not long to live. "Great heavens, what a house!" Brennan exclaimed. Yes, there were times when felt it was lugubrious," said Mrs. Vincent, shaking her head. "It was not always cheerful, knowing that all those under me would almost surely die and make place for those that would die in their turn." Brennan glanced at Simon Judd. The fat man was listening with his eyes closed but he was not asleep, he was rubbing his plump hands back and forth across his enor mous pouch slowly. "I think that will be all, Mrs. Vincent," Brennan said. "Send me Norbert next, will you?" When Mrs. Vincent had gone Brennan sat a few moments tapping the veranda floor with his toe and frowning. He turned to Amy sud denly. This isn't pleasant for you," he said, "and there is no need of you listening to all this. It is only what you know already, I imagine. If there is anything else you'd like to do you need not stay. Bob Carter took her by the arm. "He's' right," he said. Suppose we go and sit in the summer house a while. We've enough to talk over ourselves, Amy," and the girl arose and went with him. "What do you make of all this, partner?" Brennan asked Simon' Judd. "It's queer all through, don't you think? It sounds to me as if this John Drane woman was crazy slightly touched in the head, any way. An alienist could give it name, I suppose. When a woman masquerades as a man all her life, and gathers around her a lot of chronic invalids and nothing much else, and makes an undertaker her best friend and chum, she's crazy. Or what do you think about it?" "Well, I don't know as she's been masqueradin' as a man all her life, Richard," Simon Judd said delib erately. "I wouldn't go so far as to say 'all her life;' not yet, anyway." "Oh, you know what I mean!" Brennan said. "A long time." "I dont know as I'd say 'a long time;' not yet," Simon Judd insist ed. "For all I know, mister, she may have started in half an hour before I came here. The whole bunch of these folks may be lyin' to me, far as I know. I don't know what they may be tryin' to cook up on us. There's one thing I would like to know." His opportunity to learn It came promptly, for Dr. Blessington drove up to the veranda at that moment, his other affairs having received at tention. Brennan, who knew him fairly well, asked him to sit a while. 'I guess you re the very man 1 want to ask a couple of questions of," Simon Judd said. "This Mrs. Vincent lady says you've been com ing here purty regular right along, and you look like you had a couple of eyes in your head. About this John Drane is there any time you noticed any special change In him?" (Continued Next Week. The maid had been surreptitious ly using the bath tub of her em ployer, an elderly bishop. He was a bachelor, very fastidious about his toilet, and desired the exclusive use of his tub. He reprimanded the maid with much indignation: "What distresses me most, Mary, is that you have done this behind my back." Learn the Lesson of Thrift! The truly educated man has learned this important lesson. He knows the value of putting money aside for a rainy day. He knows the danger involved in making no provision for the future. Saving money is as important as earning money. It is essential to be protected against emergency. Start an account today one dollar will do it. It will be a great comfort to you to know that you have a nest egg stowed away for the fuure. It will make you happier. Farmers & Stockgrowers National Heppner Bdnk Oregon Mrs. Vincent Is Ledin For Questioning SHOP THE ADS EVERY ISSUE OF THE brings to you not only news of local happenings of interest, but more news of savings on merchandise and where the new may be had right here at home in Heppner. Shop the advertisements in this issue, every issue, and don't overlook a one. Even a two-line "want ad" may contain -a message of great importance to you. PAYS. ALWAYS rv1 :, ,; iiiiiiiiiiiiiipBiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiii miiiiiiiia a iwatir mm The Famous EDLOW Inner-Spring Mattress at a Very Special Price for 6 Days Only Here is a mattress that will not sag will not stretch will not harden mattress that is permanently resilient, supremely comfortable, longer lived. Unlike the average mattress, the Edlow does not become hard and packed and sunken-in where bodies lie. 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