by S.S. VAN DINE
Copyright S. 8. Van Dine
WNU Service
SYNOPSIS
Philo Vance, famous detective, and John
¥F. X. Markham, district attorney for New
York county are dining in Vance's apart.
ment when Vance receives an anonymous
telephone message informing him of a "dis.
turbing psychological tension at Professor
Ephriam Garden's apartment’ advising
that he read up on radio-active sodium,
consult a passage in the Aeneid and coun-
seling that “Equanimity is essential’ Pro-
fessor Garden is famous in chemical re.
search. The message, decoded by Vance,
reminds him that Professor Garden's son
Floyd and his puny cousin, Woode Swift,
are addicted to horse-racing. Vance says
that “Equanimity’ is ahorse running next
day in the Rivermont handicap. Vance is
convinced that the message was sent by Dr.
Siefert, the Gardens’ family physician. He
arranges to have lunch next day at the
Gardens’ penthouse. Vance is greeted by
Floyd Garden and meets Lowe Hammle, an
elderly follower of horse racing. Floyd ex-
presses concern over Swift's queer actions.
Mrs. Garden, supposedly ill, comes down-
stairs and places a $100 bet on a horse.
Gathered around an elaborate loud speaker
service, listening to the racing are Cecil
Kroon, Madge Weatherby and Zalia Graem,
who bet varying amounts on the race.
‘There is tension under the surface galety.
Zalia and Swift are not on speaking terms.
Kroon leaves to keep an appointment be-
fore the race starts. Miss Beeton, a nurse,
and Vance bet on “Azure Star.”” Swift reck-
lessly bets $10,000 on “Equanimity’ and
goes to the roof garden to hear the results,
Floyd follows Swift, remaining away sev-
eral minutes. Zalia answers a phone call
in the den. Soon after the announcement
that "Azure Star” wins, the guests hear a
shot,
CHAPTER III—Continued
re [pn
Vance was the first on his feet.
His face was grim as he moved rap-
idly toward the archway. I followed
him, and just behind came Gar-
den. As I turned into the hallway
I saw the others in the drawing-
room get up and move forward.
As we hurried down the hall Zalia
Graem opened the den door.
“What was that?’’ she asked, her
frightened eyes staring at us.
“We don’t know yet,” Vance told
her.
In the bedroom door, at the lower
end of the hall, stood the nurse,
with a look of inquiring concern on
her otherwise placid face.
“You'd better come along, Miss
up the stairs two at a time. “You
may be needed.”
dor and stopped momentarily at the
door on the right, which led out
upon the roof. This door was still
propped open, and after a hasty
preliminary survey through it, he
stepped quickly out into the garden.
The sight that met our eves was
not wholly unexpected. There, in
the low chair which he had pointed
out to us earlier that afternoon, sat
Woode Swift, slumped down, with
his head thrown back at an un-
natural angle against the rattan
head-rest, and his legs straight out
before him. He still wore the ear-
phone. His eyes were open and
staring; his lips were slightly part-
ed: and his thick glasses were tilted
forward on his nose.
In his right temple was a small
ugly hole beneath which two or
three drops of already coagulating
blood had formed. His right arm
hung limp over the side of the chair,
and on the colored tiling just under
his hand lay a small pearl-handled
revolver.
Vance immediately approached
the motionless figure, and the rest
of us crowded about him. Zalia
Graem, who had forced her way
forward and was now standing be-
side Vance, swayed suddenly and
caught at his arm. Her face had
gone pale, and her eyes appeared
glazed. Vance turned quickly and,
putting his arm about her, half led
and half carried her to a large wick-
er divan nearby. He made a beck-
oning motion of his head to Miss
Beeton.
“Look after her for a moment,”
he requested. “And keep her head
down." Then he returned to Swift.
“Every one please keep back,” he
ordered. ‘No one is to touch him.”
He took out his monocle and ad-
justed it carefully. Then he leaned
over the crumpled figure in the
chair. He cautiously scrutinized the
wound, the top of the head, and the
tilted glasses. When this examina-
tion was over he knelt down on
the tiling and seemed to be search-
ing for something. Apparently he
did not find what he sought, for he
stood up with a discouraged frown
and faced the others.
“Dead,” he announced, in an un-
wontedly sombre tone. ‘I'm taking
charge of things temporarily.”
Zalia Graem had risen from the
divan, and the nurse was supporting
her with a show of tenderness.
“Please, Miss Beeton,”’ he said,
“take the young lady downstairs
immediately.” Then he added, “I'm
sure she'll be all right in a few
minutes.”
The nurse nodded, put her arm
firmly about Miss Graem, and led
her into the passageway.
Vance waited until the two young
women were gone: then he turned
to the others. “You will all be so
good as to go downstairs and re-
main there until further orders.”
“But what are you going to do,
Mr. Vance?’ asked Mrs. Garden in
a frightened tone. “We must keep
this thing as quiet as possible , . .
My poor Woody!”
“I'm afraid, madam, we shall not
be able to keep it quiet at all.”
Vance spoke with earnest sig-
nificance. “My first duty will be to
telephone the district attorney and
the homicitle bureau.”
«*
Mrs. Garden gasped.
“The district attorney? The Hom-
icide bureau?” she repeated dis-
tractedly. “Oh, no! . . . Why must
you do that? Surely, any one can
Jee that the poor boy took his own
life."
Vance shook his head slowly.
“I regret madam,” he said, ‘‘that
this is not a case of suicide .
It's murder!”
Following Vance's unexpected an-
nouncement there was a sudden si-
lence. Everyone moved reluctantly
toward the door to the passage-
way. Only Garden remained behind.
“Is there a telephone up here?”
Vance asked.
‘‘Yes, certainly,” replied Garden.
“There's one in the study.”
Garden brushed past us with
nervous energy, as if glad of the
opportunity for action. He threw
open the door at the end of the
passageway and stood aside for us
to enter the study.
“Over there,” he said, pointing
to the desk at the far end of the
room, on which stood a hand tele-
phone. “That's an open line. No
connection with the one we use for
the ponies, though it's an extension
of the phone in the den.” He stepped
swiftly behind the desk and threw
a black key on the switch box that
was attached to the side of the desk.
‘‘By leaving the key in this position,
you are disconnected from the ex-
tension downstairs, so that you have
complete privacy.”
“Oh, quite,” Vance nodded with a
faint smile. “I use the same sys-
tem in my own apartment. Thanks
awfully for your thoughtfulness . . .
And now please join the others
downstairs and try to keep things
balanced for a little while—there's
a good fellow.”
Garden took his dismissal with
good grace and went toward the
door.
“Oh, by the way, Garden,” Vance
called after him, “I'll want a little
chat with you in private, before
long.”
Garden turned, a troubled look on
his face.
“I suppose you'll be wanting me
to rattle all the family skeletons for
you? But that's all right. When
press that buzzer on the
He indicated a white push-button
set flush in the center of a small
“Rather Interesting, This Dis-
array,” He Observed.
square japanned box on the upright
between two sections of the book-
shelves. “That's part of the inter-
communicating system between this
room and the den. I'll see that the
den door is left open, so that I can
hear the buzz wherever I am.”
Vance nodded curtly, and Garden,
after a momentary hesitation,
turned and went from the room.
As soon as Garden could be heard
making his way down the stairs,
Vance closed the door and went im-
mediately to the telephone. A mo-
ment later he was speaking to Mark-
ham.
*“The galloping borses, old dear,”
he said. “The Trojans are riding
roughshod. Equanimity was need-
ed, but came in too far behind. Re-
sult, a murder. Young Swift is
dead. And it was as clever a per-
formance as I've yet seen . . . No.
Markham,’ —his voice suddenly be-
came grave—' I'm not spoofing. I
think you'd better come immedi.
ately. And notify Sergeant Heath,
if you can reach him, and the medi-
cal examiner.”
He replaced the receiver slowly.
“This is a subtle crime, Van,” he
meditated. ‘““Too subtle for my
peace of mind. I don't like it—I
don’t at all like it. And I don't
like this intrusion of horse-racing.
Sheer expediency . . . ”
He went thoughtfully to the north
window and looked out on the gar-
den. The rattan chair with its grue-
some occupant could not be seen
from the study, as it was far to
the left of the window, near the west
balustrade.
“1 wonder . . .”
He turned from the window
abruptly and came back to the desk.
“A few words with the colorless
Garden are indicated, before the
minions of the law arrive.”
He placed his finger on the white
button in the buzzer box and de-
pressed it for a second. Then he
went to the door and opened it.
Several moments went by, but Gar-
den did not appear, and Vance again
pressed the button. After a full
minute or two had passed without
any response to his summons,
Vance started down the passage-
way to the stairs, beckoning me to
follow,
As he came to the vault door on
the right, he halted abruptly. He
scrutinized the heavy calamine
door for a moment or two. At
first glance it seemed to be closed
tightly, but as I looked at it more
closely, I noticed that it was open
a fraction of an inch, as if the spring
catch, which locked it automatical-
ly, had failed to snap when the door
had last been shut. Vance pushed
on the door gently with the tips of
his fingers, and it swung inward
slowly and ponderously.
“Deuced queer,” he commented.
“A vault for preserving valuable
documents—and the door unlocked.
I wonder . . .»
CHAPTER 1IV
The lights from the halls shone into
the dark recess of the vault, and
as Vance pushed the door further
inward a white cord hanging from
a ceiling light became visible. To
the end of this cord was attached a
miniature brass pestle which acted
as a weight.
diately inside and jerked the cord,
and the vault was flooded with light.
“Vault' hardly describes this
small storeroom, except that the
walls were unusually thick, and it
serve as a burglar proof repository.
The room was about five by seven
feet, and the ceiling was as high
as that of the hallway. The walls
were lined with deep shelves from
floor to ceiling, and these were piled
with all manner of papers, docu-
ments, pamphlets, filing cases, and
racks of test-tubes and vials labeled
with mysterious symbols. Three of
the shelves were devoted to a se-
ries of sturdy steel cash and secur-
ity boxes. The floor was overlaid
with small squares of black and
white ceramic tile.
Although there was ample room
for us both inside the vault, I re-
mained in the hallway, watching
Vance as he looked about him.
Vance leaned over and picked up
a batch of scattered typewritten pa-
pers which had evidently been
brushed down from one of the
shelves directly opposite the door.
empty space on the shelf
“Rather interestin’, this
array,” he observed.
he professor was obviously not
the last person in here, or he would
certainly not have left his papers on
the floor . " He wheeled about.
“My word!” he exclaimed in a low
tone. “These fallen papers and that
unlatched door It could be,
don't y' know.” There was a sup-
pressed excitement in his manner.
dis-
knob."
He knelt down on the tiled floor
and began a close inspection of the
smal! squares, as if he were count
ing them. His action reminded me
of the way he had inspected the
tiling on the roof near the chair in
which we had found young Swift.
It occurred to me that he was seek-
ing here what he had failed to find
in the garden.
“It should be here,” he mur-
mured. “It would explain many
things—it would form the first vague
outline of a workable pattern . . ."”
After searching about for a min-
ute or two, he stopped abruptly and
leaned forward eagerly. Then he
took a small piece of paper from
his pocket and adroitly flicked some-
thing onto it from the floor. Fold:
ing the paper carefully, he tucked
it away in his waistcoat pocket. Al-
though I was only a few feet from
him and was looking directly at
him, I could not see what it was
that he had found.
“I think that will be all for the
moment,” he said, rising and pull
ing the cord to extinguish the light.
Coming out into the hallway, he
closed the vault door by carefully
grasping the shank of the knob.
Then he moved swiftly down the
passageway, stepped through the
door to the garden, and went direct-
ly to the dead man. Though his
back was turned to me as he bent
over the figure, I could see that he
took the folded paper from his waist.
coat pocket and opened it. He
the chair.
head emphatically, and rejoined me
in the hallway. We descended the
stairs to the apartment below.
Just as we reached the lower
hall, the front door opened and
Cecil Kroon entered. He seemed
surprised to find us in the hall,
and asked somewhat vaguely, as
he threw his hat on a bench:
“Anything the matter?”
Vance studied him sharply and
made no answer; and Kroon went
on:
“I suppose the big race is over,
damn it! Who won it—Equanimity?”’
Vance shook his head slowly, his
eyes fixed on the other.
“Azure Star won the race. I be-
lieve Equanimity came in fifth or
sixth.”
“And did Woody go in on him up
to the hilt, as he threatened?"
Vance nodded. “I'm afraid he
did.”
“Good Gad!” Kroon caught his
breath. “That's a blow for the
chap. How's he taking it?” He
looked away from Vance as if he
would rather not hear the answer.
“He's not taking it,” Vance re
turned quietly. ‘He's dead.”
(TO BE CONTINUED)
AARARXRAR AAR RAR AAA A
STAR
DUST
Movie « Radio
*
%%%k By VIRGINIA VALE kk%
HE Women’s National Radio
committee has named the
Rudy Vallee hour as the best
variety program on the air, and
Bing Crosby’s loyal host of fol-
lowers are so upset that letters
of protest are pouring into radio
stations and newspaper offices.
Correspondents agree that the Val-
lee program is always a grand show,
X20 2 20 20 2 2 2 2 6 2
20 0 20 5 2 2 0 2 0 2%
|
i
comedy and dramatic sketches.
manne
Flynn in Ireland to return to the
studio at once to
start work in a new
picture, but the ca-
as the adventurous
Errol
set out for Spain.
First news from
there was that he
had been injured in
a rebel attack and
for a few hours
groups of anxious
friends stood discon-
solately around the
studio talking about
what a grand guy he is. Nobody
felt like working until the welcome
news came that his injury was
Errol Flynn
to return soon.
es
As summer approaches and radio
programs call it a season, radio
singers look wistfully toward the
big rewards of Hollywood engage-
ments. Two who have already land-
ed engagements are Jessica Drago-
nette and Lanny Ross. Miss Drago-
nette will appear in a Bobby Breen
picture called “Make a Wish.” Lan-
ny Ross will join the ever-growing
ranks of Grand National company.
Victor Schertzinger, who composed
the never-to-be forgotten ‘“‘Mar-
cheta' and who is a splendid direc-
tor believes he has a story that will
ranks of film idols.
fo
Being just the husband of a popu-
lar Hollywood actress is no career
for an ambitious young man, ac-
cording to Leonard Penn, who left
the New York stage to come to
Hollywood with Gladys George, and
George McDonald who left his news-
paper job when he married Jean
Parker. Penn is being tested by
M-G-M, and George McDonald is
being tested by Paramount.
asa
Gail Patrick, the only survivor
at the Paramount studio among
all the girls who won in their
“Panther Woman" contest a few
years ago, has at last attained real
recognition. Not only will she be
featured in “Artists and Models"
with Jack Benny, she will get one of
the best dressing rooms on the lot.
It was built years ago for Pola
Negri and was later occupied by
Clara Bow.
se
Every time Sam Goldwyn spends
a few days away from the studio,
national fads and promptly ar-
ranges to use them in pictures. Re-
covering from a cold at Tucson,
Arizona, a few days ago, he was
impressed by a trailer camp.
Promptly he bought a story called
‘“Heaven on Wheels” and cast Bar-
bara Stanwyck for the lead.
ay
HERE was a lull in
the mid-morning ac-
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The guests are weuring—let's have |
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tennis frocks go shopping just as|
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to the right with its unusual use!
of buttons is demure enough to!
ail
BO
film that he makes
without Ginger Rog-
poning production
until she is free.
And James Stewart
is so determined to
play opposite Ginger
Rogers in her solo
starring vehicle that
he is pleading with
M-G-M to release
him from working
in Luise Rainer's
next. It is so much
ODDS AND ENDS... Dick Foran
‘t finish any more pictures an
rath It seems that the juvenile andi
gE
'§
:
]
F
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