CHAPTER VII—Continued tr “Oh, Markham-—my dear Mark- ham!” Vance shook his head sadly. “However . . . As you say. There is something back of the lady's his- trionics. She has ideas. But she's circuitous. And she wants us to be like those Chinese gods who can’t proceed except in a straight line. Sad. But let's try makin’ a turn. The situation is something like this: An unhappy lady slips out through the butler's pantry and presents herself on the roof-garden, hopin’ to attract our attention. Having succeeded, she informs us that she has proved conclusively that a certain Mr. Kroon has done away with Swift be- cause of amorous jealousy. The la- dy herself, let us assume, 18 the spurned and not the spurner. She resents it. She has a temper and is vengeful—and she comes to the roof here for the sole purpose of convincing us that Kroon is guilty.” “But her story is plausible enough,” said Markham aggressive- ly. “Why try to find hidden mean- ings in obvious facts? Kroon could have done it. And your psychologi- cal theory regarding the woman's motives eliminates him entirely.” “It doesn’t eliminate him at all It merely tends to involve the lady in a rather unpleasant bit of chican- | ery. The fact is, her little drama | here on the roof may prove most | {lluminatin’.”” Vance stretched his legs out be- fore him and sank deeper into his chair. “Curious situation. Y’' know, Markham, Kroon deserted the party about fifteen or twenty minutes be- fore the big race—legal matters to attend to for a maiden aunt, he ex- plained—and he didn’t appear again until after I had phoned you. As- | sumed immediately that Swift had | shot himself. Doubt inspired me to | converse with the elevator boy. 1] learned that Kroon had not gone | down or up in the elevator since his arrival here early in the afternoon | o | “What's that!” Markham claimed. ‘That's more than sus- | picious—taken with what we have | just heard from this Miss Weather- | by.” “1 dare say.” Vance was unim- | pressed. “I But from my gropin' amateur point | of view, I'd want ma much | more. However,”'—Vance rose and | meditated a moment—"T'll admit | that a bit of lovin’ communion with | Mr. Kroon is definitely indicated.” | He turned to Heath. ex- | { re—on, “Send the chap- | pie up, will you, Sergeant?” Heath nodded and started toward | the door. | “And Sergeant,” Vance halted him; ‘‘you might question the ele- vator boy and find out if there is | any one else in the building whom | Kroon is in the habit of calling on. If | so, follow it up with a few discreet | inquiries.” | Heath vanished down the stairs, | and a minute or so later Kroon saun- tered into the study with the air of | a man who is bored and not a little | annoyed. “I suppose I'm in for some more tricky questions,”” he commented. After glancing about him, Kroon sat down leisurely at one end of | the davenport. The man's manner, I could see, infuriated Markham, who leaned forward and asked in cold anger: “Have you any urgent reasons for | objecting to give us what assistance you can in our investigation of this murder?” Kroon raised his eyebrows. “None whatever,” he said with calm superiority. “I might even be able to tell you who shot Woody." “That's most interestin’,’” mur mured Vance, studying the man in- differently. ‘“‘But we'd much rath- | er find out for ourselves, don't y' | know." Kroon shrugged maliciously and said nothing. i “When you deserted the party this | afternoon, Mr. Kroon,” Vanck went | on, “you gratuitously informed us that you were headed for a legal | conference of some kind with a maiden aunt. Would you object to giving us, merely as a matter of | record, the name and address of your aunt, and the nature of the legal documents?”’ “1 most certainly would object,” returned Kroon coolly. “I fail to see why you should be interested in my family affairs.” Markham swung round toward the man. “That's for us to decide,” he snapped. “Do you intend to answer Mr. Vance’'s question?” Kroon shook his head. “I do noi! I regard that question as incompetent, irrelevant, and im- material. Also frivolous.” “Yes, yes.” Vance smiled at Markham. “It could be, don't y' know. However, let it pass, Mark- ham. Present status: Name and address of maiden aunt, unknown; nature of legal documents, un- known; reason for the gentleman's reticence, also unknown.’ Markham resentfully mumbled a few unintelligible words and re- sumed smoking his cigar while Vance continued the interrogation. “1 say, Mr. Kroon, would you also consider it irrelevant—and the rest of the legal verbiage—if I asked you by what means you departed and returned to the Garden apartment?” Kroon appeared highly amused. “I'd consider it irrelevant, yes; but since there is only one sane way i could have gone and come back, by S. S. VAN DINE Copyright 8, 8. Van Dine WNU Service I'm perfectly willing to confess to you that I took a taxicab to and from my aunt's.” Vance gazed up at the ceiling as he smoked. “Suppose,” he said, “that the ele- vator boy should deny that he took you either down or up in the car since your first arrival here this afternoon. What would you say?” “I'd say that he had lost his mem- ory—or was lying.” “Yes, of course. The obvious re- tort. Quite.” Vance's eyes moved slowly to the man on the davenport. “You will probably have the oppor- tunity of saying just that on the wit- ness stand.” Kroon's eyes narrowed and his face reddened. Before he could speak, Vance went on. “And ‘you may also have the op- portunity of officially giving or with holding your aunt's name and ad- dress. The fact is, you may find yourself in the most distressin’ need of an alibi.” Kroon sank back on the davenport with a supercilious smile. “You're very amusing,” he com- mented lightly. “What next? If | you'll ask me a reasonable ques- | tion, I'll be only too happy to an- swer."” “Well, let's see where we stand.” Vance suppressed an amused smile, “You left the apartment at approx- imately a quarter to four, took the elevator downstairs and then a taxi, Vance read the note rapidly as Kroon looked on with malignant re- sentment. Then he folded the paper and slipped it into his pocket. “When the time comes . , .,” he murmured. *“Yes-—quite.” He raised his eyes lazily to Kroon. “‘As you say. When the time comes. The time has now come, Mr. Kroon.” The man stiffened, but did not speak, “Do you, by any chance,” Vance continued, “know a lady named Stella Fruemon? Has a snug little apartment on the seventeenth floor of this building—only two floors be- low. Says you were visitin’ her around four o'clock today. Left her at exactly four-fifteen. Which might account for your not using the ele- vator. Also for your reluctance to dress. Might account for other things as well . . . Do you care to revise your story?" fast. He walked nervously up and down the study floor. “Puzzlin’ and interestin’ tion,” Vance went on. leaves this apartment at—let's say -ten minutes to four. uments to sign. floors below within a few minutes— mains till 4:15. Then departs. half-past four. In the meantime, exact time unknown. details of the shooting. Refuses lady accuses him of the murder, and demonstrates how he could have accomplished it. Also kindly supplies the motive. Fifteen min- utes of gentleman's absence—name- ly, from 4:15 to 4:30—unaccounted for.” Vance drew on his cigarette. “l say, Mr. Kroon, any sugges- tions?" Kroon came to a sudden halt and swung about. He sucked in a deep noisy breath and made a despairing gesture. “All right, here's the story. Take it or leave it. I've been mixed up with Stella Fruemon for the past year. She's nothing but a gold-dig- ger and blackmailer. Madge Weath- erby got on to it. She's the jealous of this combination-not And she cared about as much Anyway, A Settlement Was Reached. went to your aunt's to fuss a bit | with legal documents, drove back | in a taxi, and took the elevator upstairs. Bein’ gone a little over | half an hour. During your absence | Swift was shot. Is that correct?” | “Yes.” Kroon was curt. “But how do you account for the fact that when I met you in the hall | on your return, you seemed miracu- | lously cognizant of the details of | Swift's passing?” | “We've been over that, too. 1] knew nothing about it. You told surmised the rest.” “Yes-—quite. No crime in accu- | rate surmisals. Deuced queer co- | incidence, however. Taken with oth- As likely as a five-horse “I'm listening with great inter- est.” Kroon had again assumed | “Why don’t you stop beating about the bush?" | “Worth-while suggestion.” Vance | crushed out his cigarette and got up. “What 1 was leadin’ up to | was the fact that someone has def- initely accused you of murdering | Swift.” i Kroon started, and his face went | pale. After a few moments he forced a harsh gutteral noise in- tended for a laugh. “And who, may 1 ask, has ac- cused me?” “Miss Madge Weatherby." One corner of Kroon's mouth went up in a sneer of hatred. “She would! And she probably told you that it was a crime of pas- sion—caused by an uncontrollable jealousy.” “Just that,” nodded Vance. “It seems you have been forcing your unwelcome attentions upon her, with dire threats; whereas, all the time, she was madly enamored of Mr. Swift. And so, when the strain became too great, you eliminated your rival.” “Well, I'll be damned!” Kroon thrust his hands deep into his pock- ets. ‘I see what you're driving at. Why didn’t you tell me this in the first place?” “Waitin for the final odds,” Vance returned. “You hadn't laid your bet. But now that I've told you, do you care to give us the, name and address of your maiden aunt and the nature of the legal documents you had to sign?” “That's all nonsense,” Kroon spluttered. “I don’t need an alibi. When the time comes—"" CHAPTER VIII At this moment Heath appeared at the door, and walking directly to Vance, handed him a page torn from his note-book, on which were several lines of handwriting. She finally named a stiff figure and agreed to sign a general release from all claims. stances, I had no alternative. Four the completion of the transaction. My lawyer and hers were to be at her apartment. and the papers were ready. So I ness. And 1 cleaned got out. it up and stairs.” on the terrace of the roof. the stairway there. the natural thing todo . . ." ing into the garden, then?" “I've known about it for years. knows about it. Anything wrong **No. Quite natural. And so, you opened the gate and entered the garden?” “Yes.” “And that would be between a quarter after four and twenty min- utes after four?” “I wasn't holding a stop-watch on myself, but 1 guess that's close enough . . . When I entered the garden 1 saw Swift slumped down in his chair. His position struck me as funny, but I paid no attention to it until I spoke to him and got no answer. Then I approached and saw the revolver lying on the tiles, and the hole in his head. It gave me a hell of a shock, I can tell you, and I started to run downstairs to give the alarm. But I realized it would look bad for me. There I was, alone on the roof with a dead man “Ah, yes. Discretion... So you played safe. Can't say that I blame you entirely—if your chronology is accurate. So, I take it, you re-en- tered the public stairway and came down to the front door of the Gar. den apartment.” “That's just what I did.” the brief time Festivals of Various Kinds Call Attention to "Bits of Europe’ Here. “It takes celebrations like a tu- lip festival to call one's attention to the many ‘bits of Europe’ scat- tered throughout the United States,” says a bulletin from the National Geographic society. “Recently thousands of flower- loving Americans descended on Holland, Michigan, to witness the town's annual tulip festival. The gay blooms stretching for eight miles, lure visitors each spring to this largely Dutch community sprinkled with Dutch names and, for the festival period, with resi- dents in Dutch costumes, A “Little Greece" in Florida. ““HoHand is one of the largest Dutch communities in the United States. Until recently, many of its factory workers spoke only Dutch, and neighboring farmers wore wooden shoes. “Tarpon Springs, about half way down the west coast of the Florida peninsula, is the home of many swarthy, mustachioed Greek sponge divers and their families. They came to the warm blue waters of Florida fisheries the Mediterranean, made Tarpon Springs famous as a ‘sponge city.! Their brightly painted diving boats are patterned after those used in Greek waters. The town supports a Greek Ortho- nually celebrates day, a religious fete brought from the homeland. “Northwestern has its Russians. century ago, some ‘Old Believers,’ Pennsylvania Russian church in the Seventeenth century, settled in Erie. The Rus- sian colony now numbers about Melting Pot 2,000 inhabitants. Folk songs are sung to balalaika accompaniment by bearded men and long-haired women. Finns Settled in Forest Lands, “Although Finns dwell in small numbers in every state in the Union, they have not found the South appealing, and have settled chiefly in Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Washington. From Finland, ‘the Land of a Thousand Lakes,” they have been especially drawn to Minnesota. Their physical stamina and expe- rience as lumberjacks in Fin- land's vast forests have fitted mony of them particularly well to take part in America’s lumber in- dustry. “The Finns retain their love of education, flocking to schools and night classes. As in their home land, they build log bathhouses in which to take steam baths, and carve from birchwood skis which carry them over the fields in rig- orous winters. Finland, Suomi, Somehow the Proverb Sounded a Bit Off Your Job De YOU realize that your job is the most important affair in the world, just because it is your job? The way you look at your job makes ali the difference to your career, Do you regard it only as a money- making stunt? Or do you con- sider it a position to be proud of? If you put your heart and soul into your effort, you are bound to make good and will wake up one fine morning to discover that you are one of the indispensables. The world re- spects you because it cannot get along without you.—Geof- frey Rhodes. He had only recently joined the ranks of politicians, and he was anxious that his first speech to his | prospective constituents should be | a great success, says London An-| | swers. He spoke for a long time, warn- ing his hearers of the dangers of | war and the importance of keep-| ing a large army. Wishing to fin- | {ish with some quotation, he thought of the proverb about lock- | ing the stable door. But he want- ed to be a bit more original. Suddenly he had a brain-wave, | “ladies and gentlemen,” he | cried, “‘don’t, I beg of you—don't wait till your house catches fire | before calling the fire brigade.” | Toimi, and Toivola are some Min- nesota place names that tell of Finnish population. Shipping Lures Dalmatians, “For centuries Dalmatians have either tilled the soil or sailed un- der Ragusan and other flags all over the world. Today these dark, spirited people, with blood of bold sea rovers in their veins, not only man the orange-sailed fishing boats off the Dalmatian coast, but they man American ships and work in fisheries of Louisiana, florida, and California. “From green vineyards, gray groves, fig and orange or- chards steeped in almost perpetu- al sunshine along the Dalmatian coast, Have come many of the large commercial fruit growers of the Pacific coast, particularly those in Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties. Watsonville, south population almost entirely Yugoslavian. “The majority of fishermen in Provincetown, Massachusetts, are Portuguese. Their ancestors Yivr ouve tugal and the Azores. directory is filled The city with names that sound strange among those of most New England last names such Silva, Ramos, Fur- Costa, Zora, Dutra, Cabral, Almeda, Agna, and Corea.” ture WOwWns as tado, 7 Ee e— Tires. Section of smooth worn tire which is more sscep- Section of wow *" Tire, in) tures, blowout: J and shidding. | which may cause » YOU SAVE BECAUSE THE WIDER FLATTER IREAD GIVES LONGER MON SKID MILEAGE AND PREVENTS WIDOING 7 YOU SAVE YOU SAVE EXTRA LAYERS Of GUM.DIPFED CORDS MANE THE TIRE MUCH YOU SAVE BECAUSE THE GUM DIFPED CORD BODY GIVES GREATEST PLOWOUT PROTECTION Firestone STANDARD 4.5021, 0000000. 99.08 4.7519. c000veese 9.58 52518. 00000s.. 15.40 550-17. c0vsneess 12.50 Firestone SENTINEL 450-21 vennnnnee 4.7519. 00ennnnns 500-19. cc00esese 525-18. c0uvnnnes 600-16. 000unvnne Pome 440-21 0inveses. 95.43 450-21 ceunnnanns
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers