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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 24, 1934)
MEDFOTtD MAIL TRIBTJNE, IfEDFORD, OKEGOS, THURSDAY, MAY 24, 1931 PAGE TEN DM" MOCKING HOUSE BY WALTER C. BROWN 87XOPSIS: The evidence nolnf to the tact that the two men found shot dead in Pierre Dufresne'e breakfast roam killed each other. Bergeant Harper does not belter that, however, atthounh the only act that supports his theory eo Jar seems to implicate Hrs. Dufresne herself. The Eeraeant beoins a re construction Of the crime. Chapter 20 RECONSTRUCTION "ALL right, let's try to recon J Btruct the whole thing," raid Harper. "We've got certain basic facti to servo as foundation! and we'll fit them In as we go along. We'll take eight o'clock last night as our starting point. Hamlll had just made bis report from the call box. It was snowing heavily, there was a cold, high wind. "Hamlll walked along on bis beat (or three blocks. That would bring It to ear. ten minutes past eight. He crossed the street above here but halfway over he changed bis mind and came down Powhatan Terrace Instead. What made him do that? Obviously, something he saw or something he heard. "From the spot wbere Hamlll turned off it Is doubtful that he could have heard any sound from Inside tbls bouse, even a shot or a scream. If there had been a noise loud enough tor blm to hear, cer tainly some of the neighbors would have been up ana investigating. We'll have to make inquiries about that." Harper Jotted down a memo randum, adding other pertinent questions from time to time as he pursued the course of the mystery. "It Is much more likely," be con tinued, "that Hamlll saw something. What could It have been? A light In the bouse? The electric switch bad been turned off at tbe source. The ourtalns of this one lighted room were drawn close. That fireplace here's an Idea, Jack. Suppose that man stirred up the lire, poked the logs. You know hearth fires don't burn so well on a rainy or snowy Dlght, for a damp chimney chokes off the normal draught. "A shower of sparks would shoot isut the top of the chimney. I've often seen It on winter nights. There would be something to draw Hamlll's attention. Tbls Is assum ing that Hamlll knew tbe house was unoccupied. Tbe whole Idea hinges on that. We've got to find out whether he knew the Dufresnes were staying elsewhere."- "That's a neat piece of deduc tion," Lafferty advised, "but you've overlooked an Important point. What Hamlll heard was tbe front door banging about In the wind. That was the sound that led Con nelly and HUleary here so quickly." "1 doubt that," was Harper's re joinder. "I've not overlooked tbat banging door. Tbe Idea that a heavy door like this one could go on booming from a quarter past eight to nearly ten o'clock without arous ing the other residents of Powhatan Terrace Is nearly Impossible, But there again Is something we can In quire about. "However, be tbat as It may, we have Officer Hamlll coming up tbe walk. We're safe In assuming that bis suspicions were aroused. Now, did he find the door shut and locked or open and banging? It should have been shut and locked. It Hamlll tound It that way, he knocked or rang the bell." "Wrong again, Stove," Lafferty objected. "If be were suspicious he'd go first and have a quiet look around the outside of the bouse. But tbe footprints In the snow prove that he didn't, he Walked straight up to the front door without any de tours." HARPER thought that over. "You're right about that, Jack. We're not olssr seem tbat J oar. Assuming that 11 was tost, Iron the mere tact that Hamlll entered some one most Biwitarilj tars opened to him. Here, thee, ws ears our nnanewa a&a tula tot police man. That veala .tare Mas the logical place for any iheotug If the fellow had bt a homicidal maniac, for Instance. "Instead, they go Into the break-fast-room, through an enllghied ball. Why, In Hstrm's urns! Suroly Hamlll would have bees aus picious and kept bis gun In his hand. Our mystery man lha slu 4on In that chair, lights t cigarette, whips out his gun and shoots Hamlll In cold blood! "On the other band, assuming that tbe door was unlocked, and possibly banging, as Hamlll's direct approach might Indicate, then he'd probably step Inside and try to torn on the llgbls. Tbat rotultlng In noth ing, he'd probably call or whistle to attract attention, perhaps he no ticed the light shining undor the breatast-room door. He would open It and look Inside. Town of Shevlin Moved Ten Miles BEND, Ore., May St. (UP) Today tht entire town ot Shevlin was 10 mites from itt scene of operstlons of Isst Saturday. The town, Including a llihtlns plsnt, postofflcs, sohool, community hsll, store snd homes, wsa loaded on railroad cars with Its S00 population and taken to t mora central location for logging opera tions, alter sir ynra at Itt old stsnd. BIRTHS Mr. and Mrs frans UcKllrtck uf Osnvrat Point arm ths partnu of t dtughto, wstt-blng H pounds, horn Tuesday, VUj 95 lomr tad tlaugh Ur wtrt report (Mint along nicely GlwuUn. at "Our stranger Is sitting very com fortably at tbe table, drinking and smoking, very much at borne and at ease. Everything Is In normal order. The man Is In formal dress and bears a startling resemblance to Mr. Dufresne. So, If Hamlll recognised blm at all, he would mistake blm for the master of the bouse. Cer tainly there Is no reason why Hamlll should want to shoot Dufresne, but nevertheless tbey killed each other with a remarkable unity of purpose. That's a pretty stiff dose of theory to swallow!" "It sounds craiy to me," Lafferty agreed. "As you say, a door could hardly be banging away for nearly two hours without soma of the neighbors doing something about It On tbe other hand, doors don't open of themselves and set their locks so that they can't shut again. If Hamlll had left the door unlatched behind him, it would have banged shut Just once and locked Itself." "Well, like It or not, all our evi dence states that the door could not have been touched alter the shoot lng, since both men were dead. We have only to 'examine the snow to see that Connally and HUleary wera the next to enter the house. Con sidering the shooting as a separata action, we get Into another mate, "Our mystery man must have shot Hamlll twice before Hamlll fired at blm, for Doe Miller assured me tbat death must have been In stantaneous and his position In that chair confirms It. But there we have the dilemma either our Intruder shot Hamlll after he himself was shot through the brain, which Is surely Impossible, or else Hamlll fired with extraordinary accuracy after being shot In the breast twice, once through the heart. "VfOW In a single exchange ot L shots there exlBts a bare mathe matical chance for two men to plug each other so neatly, but that third bullet throws It Into contusion. It has me guessing and It has Carlln guessing, too." They sat silent for a tew momenta and both pairs of eyes were thought fully focused on the little row of twisted bullets. The thin wires that held their tags glistened brightly In the pleasant morning sun. Harper straightened up with de termination. "Let's pass on to the unknown man's movements," be suggested. "So far as we know, he was not hiding here In the bouse all the time. Assuming that he was the writer of the threstenlng letters to Dufresne. It works out something like this: "He somehow managed to trail Dufresne when the latter left the city. On the return trip, he must have followed his Intended victim until he learned which route he was taking, then passed him and hurried ahead to pick out a good spot for the ambush, where he waited." ' ' "That means he had a car at his disposal," Lafferty Interjected. "Yes. After he bad fired at Du fresne and the latter made good hit escape, he returned to his car and came back to tbe city by some other road. Tbat would be easy. "The autopsy has shown that ho ate about five o'clock. As this was a cooked meal, he could not have come directly here and foraged tor food. By the time he got to thlt house, say between five-thirty and six tbe snow was coming down In earnest, but the fall was still so thin that bis tracks were completely cov ered over later." "It would not have been safe for him to come sooner," Lafferty said. "Remember, there were patntera working on the third floor rooms until four o'clock and the Whit mores did not lock up and go to their rooms over the garage until fire." "We don't know how he got In," Harper resumed, "but there are no marks of forcible entry anywhere and (bare wera neither keys nor bur glar tools found In his possession. In nut. a Mule was found m his per so (feat I've eome to the conclusion iila poekeu were looted or elee be It wearing some oa else's clothing.' "That's an Ideal If be pnt on a facial disguise to look like Dufresne, perhaps he pnt on one of Dutresne'a suits." "Exactly. There must be more traces ot him In this house then we bare toned. ITor Instance, It Is al most oertaln that he shared himself after be got here." Lafferty whistled, "One up on me there, 8teve. Thst one got past me." "It you had looked closely at hit face, you'd have teen that he was vary freshly shaven. Here and there he missed a hair, which no self-re-spooling barber would have done." rOepyrlsM. nil, bit Walter ft Brown) Tht murdered stranger's ololhss, tomorrow, tell tales. World Drought Curtails Wheat WA8HINOTON, May 34. (API American farmers suffering from drought had word today that other parts ot tht world trt tftected In similar fashion and, ss t result, world wheat prices may be higher during tht coining marketing season. Tht bureau of agricultural tconom Ics, In reporting on tht May prlct situation, forecast "m o d t r a 1 1 strengthening" of world price as tht result of drought damtgt in tht United 8Uta, Canada and tht lower Dtnubt btsln. DALLAS. May 34. (API William A. Burton, II, was drowned law Tuea ttay when ht fell from a log whltt fishing on tht Valaeta mill pond. Hla body was recovered shortly afterward A rtdlth weighing nearly tight pounds wsa grown recently near LIKE A HALF-WIT KELEY, Calif., May 34 (UP) La zarus IV, the mongrel terrier, who was put to death on April 13 and brought back to life after his heart had been still for four minutes, Is regaining his strength snd making a valiant effort to shake off mental le thargy. After 38 days of his second life. Lazarus IV cannot yet atand unaided. But he eats greedily, recognizes cer tain voices snd signals, barks snd re veals affection. Dr. Robert Cornish, 28-year-old graduate of the University of Cali fornia, asphyxiated (he dog, revived him with powerful stimulants, kept his blood from clotting with heparin and prevented exhaustion of the heart by slowing its action with gum arable. Cornish la not yet ready to claim success for his experiment, which looks toward the saving of human lives. The dog's brain apparently was damaged during the brief period of death, or while he was being revived. Lszsrus IV approximates a half-wit. RUSSIAN AIR TRAIN COVERS 808 MILES KOKTEBEL, Crimea, May 24. (AP) Soviet Russia's air train completed the first long distance flight of such a conveyance in the history of world aviation today, landing here at noon. Koktebel Is 808 miles from Moscow, where the flight started. The glane and Its three gliders made a perfect descent. The gliders were detached from the piloting ma chine In the air anil landed sepa rately. S 'MATTER POP fOnl ill (l -ooesnxj T5uV M6.t ( LOVBLVS, ( "Po-P. 3uT A- 7 v. JZjU V TAILSPIN TOMMY Out Of Range . KINS SQtTAT GO&H.' "H V fe H X UH4T THtT SEC.' ) V. AM CW f xAIT'U- THAT SAP SSXS Bua73--!3 S MMDEff 0JrT3 OV7 Of AMG "SXOCAO- TOLD HIM TO H.V Douglas, puwg it i-S so he c a a "tpss !vr , r .iSsgl 7k 51 "H. mooHi wur vf?r " v!!., T aA 1SHT Tl BEN WEBSTER'S CAREER Alonzo's Fright! ' Bulled the wool over THETfHE took it come om, briar, vuexl J welloT T. .. Fumpm umph look a dt mess fo give me VOUNG i SWAB'S EVE,DIDN'T 1, LIKE A FISH LOOK UP ALON20 -WONDER AL0N70- ) ( l)W)MA?S k MJSTAH iBEN -VO' f HOAmLEO MEO' SHIFTS'? BIS AS SAUCERS THEV DOES BAIT-J WHV CAP'N IKE "TRIED TO V k VhOW'S- V" ' L MAH NERVES, WHICH HAS CV7T CONTAG IONIZED WAS AN' THE MAGG)E7 FLVIN' W I GIVE ME THAT LINE OF J Yrnsrb S7X ?" WIT OE CREEPS AN DE SHAKES, 3ES ALL HER CANVAS, COULOVE j P . h HORSERADISH ON AMOS , gCy fj -i DONE GIVE 'WAV.; fmMfm i i T SAILED THROU6H HIS MOmiUy ' 3 THE KEBBS The Idlerg -ri I O OKI, HIT IT.' WOO S ( Se-Lt-. VOUR AG.E kjW. 1 VM TMP.ODS.M -f vOO CAMT gCTlRr tKlEREtuewAve miswt not mick it awd IjZZZLZ v?-ViEu-.voo (sotVCAnj't stwod too uosjg A-m a. nervous mtj- Vfrom tmggamg. rwE-rujOBenwTi ustem, if thbV vwawT a lMATT -oe , Vnour. wish (over. smot.Sou cmotWicuT staioo asuV rJMCM VOO OWE IPM STATOGl REPRESBOriNlCi jfe-'Po TEt5 Al. WMEM THE BELL u,0 IMrTATES , A. OCEJ GEMTLEMEM SOLP , THEV WOULD rJER yff yg MTO A. VS SOlKlG TO WMG P6NJDUI.UM EVEW 1 P IT MOR.T5 TO ) NS SOLP- VocY out Xysgg-, . AyM swot J Qsy lTtarlw?gTlr,,.T.s TUey-REHCWlKlG r 7- 2j-if ) lor TO M OVER 50 OT1Me ff BRINGING UP FATHER ' By George McManua fwEl-L, NOW PORl MORMING ALREADY.' , WHAT W1UU i, i As good night's and that's the cook A VOIJ have , A v SL.EE.P KNOCKING TO SEE' 4U KIa THIS MORNIN J.U sS . . B,G 1 , , J , WHAT I WANT FORf-Z V L VR? .Zj V - ' F,GHr 'f ffj 1 BREAKFAST fj'r V f rTT1- ' f-PZ mram mM Arm nk I I M. Kini Fnnim SinJkOT. W . Crtti trinia ritto mtmA . II . Q 7 '" ' ":1 , i"-l S-Xf ' CHINESE CLAIM JAP SHANGHAI, May 24. (Thursday) (AP) Chinese reports from Pel plng today allege a ' Japanese air squadron bombed a wide area sround Chlnchow In southeast Manchuria yesterday (Wednesday) killing 1000 Manchurlan farmers and destroying 20 villages. OWl- HERE'S A LETTER. THE WIFE TOLD ME TO MAIL FIVE DAYS AGO!! I JUST FOUND IT IN MY POCKET. 7OCWrV . - CpWAAIA'A II f I These dispatches said the on slaught followed the farmers' refusal to comply with Japanese army de mands that the Chinese give up their arms. Idea to Foil Abductors PORT WORTH, Tex. (UP) The Texaa Children's Home and Aid soci ety hss taken precautions so thst none, ui lis cmiaicn can ua juuuafjcu wunout tne soauccor leaving nis mark of Identification. Any visitor whatsoever to the upstairs wsrds j must leave his cost and hat In the reception room before ascending the Istalrs. FIVE DAYS! SAY JUST GIVE IT A SHOT OF STANDARD GAS, WITH TETRAETHyL Unsurpassed 1! IT'LL GET THERE ON TIME THE FAMILY ALBUM-OCCUPIED CHAIRS 6fs zmmb vtm. amp heaps For easy chair. ra WANDERS OVER To ROCklNS CHAIR. ABDUf fO Slf POWtf RATHER iHArl BOtrtERfb move if strolls over Toother easV chair. WHEW HE NOTICES -frtM WILFRED m LEPf HIS SAXOPHONE IN If discovers rockws chair filled with wife's work BASKET AND PlLf OF MWDIrte shoots cantthisfamiiY ECT PUT ANV'TIM6 AWAY FJCCEPT IN A CHAIR, CHAIRS WERE MEANT 1b Srf H COopyfight, 1834, hy The Bell Syndicate, Inc.) By GLL- i AS WILLIAMS WHICH HErWPSOCOJ PIED BV MILDRED'S SCHOOL BOOKS . STAMPS INTO PEN TOWS OWN" CHAIR Hi WHICH are h6 6l0ies, muff ler ,hat amp topcoat, which he dropped There when he came in By 0. M. Payn By Hal Forrest By Edwin Alger By Sol Ren Mount Dora, Fla,
