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,