P2TGE FOURTEEN
MOCKING HOUSE
.BY WALTER C. BROWN.
" SYNOPSIS: Ihe evidence (nu
to the tact that the two men found
ehot dead in Pierre Dureene'e
breakfast room killed each other.
Sergeant Harper doea not oellai.'.
that, however, althouoh the onlv
loot that evpporte hie theory eo lar
. aeeme to implicate ilre. Dufresne
' hererlf. The Serpeant beatne a rc
eonttruction ot the crime.
Chapter 20
RECONSTRUCTION
." A LIj right, let'i try to recoil-
i ilruct the whole thing," (aid
Harper, "We're got certain basic
facta to serve aa foundations and
we'll fit them In as we go along,
We'll take eight o'clock last night
aa our starting point. Hamlll bad
Just made his report from the call
box. It waa snowing hearlly, there
was a cold, hlgb wind.
"Hamlll walked along on his beat
for three blocks. That would bring
it to say, ten minutes past eight.
He crossed the atreet above bere
but halfway over he changed bla
mind and came down Powhatan
Terrace Instead. What made him do
that? Obviously, something he saw
or something be heard.
"From the spot where Hamlll
turned oft it Is doubtful that he
could hare heard any sound from
Inside this house, eren a shot or a
acream. It there had been a noise
loud enough tor blm to bear, cer
tainly some of the neighbors would
have been up and Investigating,
.We'll have to make Inquiries about
that." Harper Jotted down a memo
randum, adding other pertinent
questions from time to time aa he
pursued the course ot the mystery.
"It Is much more likely, be con,
tinned, "that Hamlll saw something.
What could It have beenT A light In
the house? The electric switch bad
been turned off at tbe source. The
eurtalns of this one lighted room
were drawn close. That fireplace
here's an Idea, Jack. Suppose that
man stirred up the Are, poked tbe
logs. Ton know hearth fires don't
burn so well on a rainy or snowy
olght, tor a damp chimney chokes
oft the normal draught
"A shower ot sparks would shoot
out the top ot the chimney. I've
often seen It on winter nights.
There would be something to draw
HamlU'a attention. Tbla la assum
ing that Hamlll knew the house was
unoccupied. The whole idea hinges
on that. We've got to find out
whether be knew the Dufresnes
were staying elsewhere."
"That's a seat piece of deduc
tion," Lafferty advised, "but you've
overlooked an Important point
What Hamlll heard waa the front
. door banging about in the wind.
That was the sound that led Con
nally and Hllleary here so quickly."
"I doubt that" waa Harper's re
Joinder. "I've not overlooked that
banging door. The Idea that a heavy
door Ilka this one could go on
booming from a Quarter past eight
to nearly ten o'clock without arous
ing the other resident of Powhatan
Terrace Is nearly Impossible. But
there again la something we can In
quire about
"However, be that aa it may, we
bare Officer Hamlll coming up the
walk. We're safe in assuming that
his suspicions were aroused. Now,
did he find the door abut and locked
er open and banging? It should have
been shut and locked. It Hamlll
found it that way, be knocked or
.rang the belL"
...(Wrong again, Steve," Lafferty
objected. "It he were auspicious
he'd go first and have a quiet look
around tbe outside of the house. But
the footprints in the anow 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, Jaok.
.We're not clear about that door.
Assuming that it was locked, from
the mere fact that Hamlll entered
some one must necessarily have
opened to him. Here, then, we have
our unknown man facing the police
man. That would hare been the
logical place for any ahootlng It the
fellow had been a homicidal maniac,
for Instance.
"Instead, they go Into tbe break-'fast-room,
through an unllghted
hall Why, In Hoaven'a name?
Surely Hamlll would have beon aus
picious and kept bis gun In his hand.
Our mystery man then alta down In
that chair, lights a cigarette, whips
out his gun and shoots Hamlll in
cold blood I
"On the other hand, assuming
that the door was unlocked, and
possibly banging, as HamlU'a direct
approach might Indicate, then he'd
probably step inside and try to turn
on the lights. That resulting In noth
ing, he'd probably call or whistle to
attract attention. Perhaps be no
ticed the light shining under the
broafast-room door. He would open
it and look inside.
HJXENA, Mont., May JS. (AP)
William Lefore, 33; formerly of Free
water, Ore., muat spend nine yrsrs
In Montana state prison tor a robbery
which netted blm not more than ?.
Lefore pleaded guilty to a garage rob
bery In which he got ISO. of which
URIGIsGY'S
SUM
m
"Our stranger is sitting very com
fortably at the table, drinking and
smoking, very much at home and at
ease. Everything is In normal order.
The man Is In formal dress and
bears a startling resemblance to Mr.
Dufresne. So, it Hamlll recognized
him at all, he would mistake him
for the master ot 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 ot purpose.
That's a pretty stiff dose ot theory
to swallow!"
"It sounds craty to me," Lafferty
agreed. "As you say, a door could
hardly be banging away for nearly
two hours without some ot the
neighbors doing something about It
On the other hand, doors don't open
ot themselves and set their locks
so that they can't shut again. It
Hamlll had left the door unlatched
behind him, it would hare banged
shnt just once and locked Itself."
"Well, like it or not all our evi
dence atates that the door could not
have been touched after the shoot
ing, alnce both men were dead. We
bave only to examine the snow to
see that Connally and Hllleary were
tbe next to enter the house. Con
slderlng the shooting as a separate
action, we get into another maze.
"Our mystery man must have
shot Hamlll twice before Hamlll
fired at him, for Ooo Miller assured
me that death must bare been In
stantaneous and bis position in that
chair confirms it But there we hare
the dilemma either our Intruder
shot Hamlll after he himself waa
shot through the brain, which is
surely Impossible, or else Hamlll
flred with extraordinary accuracy
after being shot In the breast twice,
once through the heart
"MOW in a single exchange ot
' shots there exists a bare mathe
matical chance for two men to plug
each other ao neatly, but that third
bullet throws It Into contusion. It
has me guessing and It has Carltn
guessing, too."
Tbey sat silent for a few momenta
and both pairs of eyes were thought
fully focused on the little row ot
twisted bullets. The thin wires tbat
held their tags glistened brightly in
the pleasant morning sun.
Harper atralghtened up with de
termination. "Let's pass on to the
unknown man's movements," be
suggested. "So far aa we know, he
was not hiding bere In the house all
the time. Assuming that he waa tbe
writer of the threatening letters to
Dufresne, it works out something
like this:
"He somehow managed to trad
Dufresne when the latter left the
city. On the return trip, he must
hare followed his Intended victim
until he learned which route he waa
taking, then passed him and hurried
ahead to pick out a good spot for
the ambush, where he waited."
"That meana he bad a car at his
disposal," Lafferty Interjected.
"Yes. After he had flred at Du
fresne and the latter made good his
escape, be returned to bla car and
came back to the city by some other
road. That would be easy.
"The autopsy has shown that he
ate about five o'clock. As this was a '
cooked meal, he could not hare
come directly here and foraged tor
food. By the time he got to this
house, say between five-thirty and
six, the snow was coming down in
earnest, but the tall was still so thin
that bis tracks were completely cov
ered over later."
"It would not hare been sate for
him to come sooner," Lafferty said.
"Remember, there were painters
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
Ore."
"We don't know how he got In,"
Harper resumed, "but there are no
marks of forcible entry anywhere
and there were neither keys nor bur
glar tools found In his possession. Is
fact so little was found on hla per
son that I'ra come to the conclusion
bis pockets were looted or else he Is
wearing some one else's clothing."
"That's an Ideal It he put on a
facial disguise to look like Dufresnea
perhaps he put on one ot Dufresne'a
suits."
"Exactly. There must be more
traces of him In this house than we
hare found. For Instance. It ia al
most certain tbat he shaved himself
after he got here."
Lafferty whistled. "One up on me
there, Stove. Tbat one got past me."
"If you had looked closely at hla
face, you'd hare aeen that he waa
rery freshly sharen. Here and there
he missed a hair, which no self-respecting
barber would hare done."
(Copyright, 2f5, ey ITatffr c. Brown;
The murdircd strinosr't sloths
tomorrow, toll teles.
83 was recovered when he waa ar
rested.
4-
A Maltese cat In the home of Sher
iff O. M. Barnes of Hickory, N. O.,
adopted a brood of mice and raised
them.
Womim 1 1 iW nr il ,yKir f -imsKA ffi
E
PORTLAND, May as. CP An ad
ditional $500,000 for ths Oregon coast
highway bridge system, representing
the difference between material prices
a year ago, and the current higher
prices, will be made available by the
federal government to the Oregon
highway commission, according to
0. O. Hockley, PWA engineer for Ore
gon. This will bring the amount avail
able for construction of the five
bridges to $9,600,000. The S500.000
may be available by Saturday, it wao
said. It la badly needed If the state
la to take advantage of the low bid,
already tentatively accepted, on the
Coos Bay bridge.
-f-
SEEK NEW NAME
L
A 110 Brim la bains' nttrA h. ffc.
Southern Oregon Brewing company
iur tno oeai suggestion of a new name
for the beer. The beverage Is to be
known as Pllserur
company lc anxloua for any Ideas to
be twnfc to the company.
The contest clone iu n m vr.
31,. and entries muat be Into the
Southern Oregon Brewing company by
that time. Thoae aent by mall muit
not be postmarked later than May 81.
wen contestant will be restricted to
tt suggestion of five namea.
BEN WEBSTER'S CAREER
S MATTER POP By 0.
ft I
TAJXSPIH TOMMY "Shooting" Under Difficulty! By Hal Forrest
' JWszx5 JsUsY J to SET-tooTrx J, he's SQotcEH c Se r me &4?e. fH
SsssS" yw !(c.&Q&Mz? 'iZz&?W7Z' rVT ca '' zwrt k AS--- A rxon tas' 2 0ov, but if?
W"5 sii&sirC Jl ySi1r?',!fGLW ) pvueJ wsr wt ff Jffi vl 4ms3teD a to take xeneestfm
P J pp j '
i i 1 us o- 111 1 1 'vuwrp1 ix- v'
I -Lidf . . . . . . -v I IT -. TSTrsAf f-r f- rNr Kit VIIAC I I . r Wk.ltTMJ tll QQlM.rT C Wffl V
n MAN.AN'AS6ECHVO'IS ENTITLED ENGINE WHAVIN'DE SCIENTIFIC ASPECTS BRICANT? 1 DEJ BOSSO' DE INJI.NE.H
TO KNCAWDE ORIGINATION O'MAH ROOM? ( O' COMBUSTIBLE NAVIGATION Wnu5 f KUUW, rVNI'aiAH BtN DAT gffl
n J nwcoa ou'Bumflrs.TUPV mwp 1 i DnWT i'Pl AIMED BV MISTAH Jll HE? B MAN 5HO'60T A POVJ'FUL Ml
lolPtCl CONTAGIONI2ED AE FUST IN DE J GET SOU. H. BRICANT AN' d LOT O' KNOWLEDGE M
mmi rz mmmmm
THE NEBBS who'g Who?
( -SIS' t'5.'1' ,WRITE,UP OBIES SOO STRUCK. OIL UJKEN VOU OT KTWE KIO'5 A SOOO f VOUK IDEAS ? IPTWEVY
lwtSia "5 Vi THAT K.D TO COM6 OOVWM MERE.VOUA SoToiER WE'S OUST V ARE VOO MUST HAva
VSmwS.LTJ fnS55PJi, J WALKED AROOMO WERE FOR A LOTOPVEARsi f CAB.O.V1K1& OUT MV A TUICK MEAO lf IT
V jYJ TEl-UKlG. EVERVBODV WHAT A BIG FELLER ) I ORDERS. THIS SOCCe5sJ TOOK ALL THAT TIM J
XMENJTIOKJ VOOR NAME. " V VOL) AJAS BUT VOL) NEVER DID NOTHlW S ALL ODE. TO VIY yVrO WORK THROLXSWV
XN. TZT? -L50" TO PROVE IT AKIO THEN THE KIDCOMES . IDEAS f J- '
BRINOINQ DP FATHER ' By George McMantH
I ( M( CHURCHILL, DOWSia 1 I r WEOJ-O . OKjGS. 1 OU&T 1 1 I I i " 1
NAMED A-MORSE IN PROM TME J r. OlGG ? THAT WORSE
AFTER ME AND t WEAR I TRACWi I'M AVORK-f s J - DID I WAS NT N THE RACE
HE WAS TO START lrXr.. 1 (ZTZT, OIQGS WE HAI II , TuiP , - J
I I 1 . . . . - 1 i i ritLr.c j i Yvu.k.i fl l l . . , . . I 111 - i
I l i uuftY) mo i Ofc. I unhwi , , . ,. ' TELL- ME fl I wim ri jWKINIKL-INlO . 1 I
TILLAMOOK, Ore., May 28. fyp,
Mrs. Orace Christiansen of Port
land was elected president of the
Oregon Rebekah Assembly here Wed
nesday at the Joint meeting of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the women's organization,
Alonzo 'a Story 1
After serving for 3 years consecu
tively as secretary of the Hebekab
assembly, Mrs. Ora L. Gosper of Dal
las resigned In favor of Dora Bexton
of The Dalles.
Nearly 1000 delegates are bere for
the two conventions. Grand lodge
and past grand degrees were confer
red on about 400 persons yesterday,
and tbe Rebekah assembly granted
obout the same number of degrees.
Profits from workshops In the Vir
ginia penitentiary at Richmond to
taled 3,893 for a. six-month period
and the entire amount was spent for
the benefit of prisoners.
VUAUIMAAI AAV
I fc w - - "
1 FOOLED HI fx
f hp niriKi'-r Kunw
fx TAklUfPO IID AJITM
J STANDARD CrWJULINfc
WITH TETRAETrM-.
iUNSURPASSEP
1HE WORLD AT ITS WORST
WoNDERlKG WHAT PEOPir- ARE 5R1NHIH& ffl.
WHEN, TO MEIf A SUPDEK CRISI5 AT OUNlOtfS
BIRfUDAV PARTY, VOU HAVE DASHED DOWM
TO 1HE CORNER DRUG STORE FOR- N
AMTrVER QUAR'i' OF ICE CREAM
JT-25
'.wayngut, 1934, by Ths Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
EF"N SUE ALL
eOUNO FROM
MOMENT. M1STAH BEN.MAH NERVES
BEEN CARRVIN'ON LIKE TWO NESTS &
HORNETS ARGUtFVIN OVER WHICH BUNCH
DE LANDLORDS AN' WHICH DE TENANTS
By CLUYAS WILLIAMS
6UJVA&.
WIUAf
M. Payne) -
By Edwin Alges
COME HOME AFE AN'
DIS VOVAGE, HE SHO'GWINE
By Sol Hes
151