Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1938-02-17, Page 6•' * U i giiaai aih \.\ClwTIMES Thursday, February 17, 193S SECOND INSTALMENT During the night Kaspar Kenting was kidnapped, Philo Vance* with District Attorney Markham go to the Renting home there to meet Sergeant •Heath of the Homicide Bureau, Ken­ yon Kenting and Mrs. Kenting, the ^rqther and wife of the kidnapped man. Present also is Eldridge Fleel, the Kenting family attorney, Mrs, Kenting tell? of finding the kidnap note and and of, overhearing a rough looking man threaten her husband about a week previously. ♦ ♦ * "Yes. Several days later, the same man came again, and an’even more sinister-looking individual was with him. I got only the merest glimpse of them as Kaspar led them into this room and closed the doors.” “I hardly think these two myster­ ious callers,” Kenyon Kenting com­ mented with pompous finality* “have any connection with Kaspar’s kidnap­ ping.” "Gun you be sure of that, Mr. Kent, ing?” Vance asked coldly. “Oh, no—oh, no,” the other replied apologetically. “I can’t be sure. I merely meant it isn’t logical to sup­ pose that two men would expose themselves so openly if they contem­ plated a step attended by such seri­ ous consequences as a proven kid­ napping.” !lTt might be, of course, as you say,” he remarked lightly. “Also it might not be—what? Interestin' spec­ ulation. But quite futile. And now I think we might go above, to Mr. Kas­ par Kenting’s bedroom.” As we came out into the. main hall, the door to a small room just oppos­ ite was standing ajar, and through it I saw what appeared to be a minia­ ture museum of some kind. There was the slanting cases set against the -walls, and a double row of larger cas­ es down the centre of the room. “Ah! A collection of semirprecious stones,” commented Vance. “Do you mind if I take a brief look?” he ask­ ed, addressing Mrs. Kenting. “Tre­ mendously interested in the subject, don’t y’ know.” “By all means. Go right in.” “Your own collection?” Vance in­ quired casually. “Oh, no,” the woman told him r— somewhat bitterly, it seemed to me. “It belonged to Mr. Kenting senior. It was here in the house when I first came, long after his death. Neatly arranged in the cases were specimens, in various shapes and siz­ es, of various semi-precious stones. Many of these gem-stones were beau­ tifully cut and lavishly faceted, and I was admiring their lustrous beauty, amazin' and disquietin' Only one gem of real and not a rare specimen rest, A schoolgirl's as- And II impressed by what I assumed to be their great value* when Vance mur­ mured softly: “A most collection, value here, among the Sprtment really. Very queer, there seem to be many blank spaces,1 I looked at him in amazement, Then his voice trailed off, and he suddenly wheeled about and returned to the hall. “Most unusual collection. Hardly representative, though . . , Was your father an expert, Mr. Renting?” “Oh, yes. He studied the subject for many years. He was very proud of this gem-room, as he called it.” “Ahl” Renting shot the other a peculiar Business and Professional Directory“Why* he wore a tuxedo.” Vance walked quickly across the room and, opening the door beside the boothroom, looked into the nar­ row clothes closet. “But his dinner Jacket is hanging here in the closet* Mrs. Renting. Has he more than one? , . The woman shook her head vague­ ly at him “And I suppose that Mr, Kenting wore the appropriate evening oxfords with his dinner coat,” “Naturally,” the woman said. “Amazin’,” murmured Vance. “And there are a pair of evening oxfords standin’ neatly on the floor of the closet, and the soles are dampish— it Was rather wet out last night* don’t y’ know, after the rain/’ “I really don’t understand, Mr. Vance. “Are you familiar with your hus­ band’s wardrobe?” he asked, “Of course I am,” she returned. “In that case,” Vance said politely, “you can be of great assistance to me if you will glance through his closet and tell pie Whether anything is miss­ ing,” Mrs. Kenting joined’ Vance at the clothes, closet. “His “Glen Urquhart suit is miss­ ing,” she said. '“It’s the one he .gen­ erally wears when he goes away for p week-end or a short trip.” “Very interestin’/' Vance murmur­ ed. “And is it possible for you to tell me what shoes, he may have substi­ tuted for his evening oxfords?" “Yes!” she said, and immediately swung about to inspect the shoe rack in the closet. After a moment she again turned to Vance with a look of bewilderment in her eyes. “One pair of his heavy tan bluchers are not here,” she announced in a hollow, monotonous voice. “That’s what Kas­ par generally wears with his Glen Urquhart.” Vance turned back into the closet and it was but a minute before he came- out and walked to the window. Between his thumb and forefinger he held a small cut gem — a ruby, I thought—which he j examined against the light." “Not a genuine ruby,” he murmur­ ed. “Merely a balas-ruby — the two are often confused.„ A necess’ry item, to be sure, for a representative col­ lection of gem-stones, but of little worth in itself . . By the by, Mrs. Renting, “I found this in the outei" sidepocket of. your husband’s dinner jacket. I took the liberty of, ascer­ taining whether he had transferred the contents of his pockets when he changed l^is clothes after returning 1 last night. This bit of balas-ruby was all I found. . . “Another thing that woyld interest me mildly,” he remarked looking .vag­ uely before him, “is what kind of pa­ jamas Mr. Renting wears.” “Shantung silk,” Mrs. Renting as­ serted. She was looking directly at Vance, but now her eyes shifted quickly to the bed. “There’s a pair on——•” She left the sentence unfinished, and her pale eyes opened still wider. “They’re not there!” she exclaimed excitedly. “Thin Shantung?” Vance asked. “Yes — the sheerest summer weight.” “Might easily be rolled up and plac­ ed in a pocket?” “What do you mean?" she asked. “I really don’t know" Vance spoke with kindliness. “I’m merely observ­ ing things. There is no answer as yet. It’s most puzzlin’.” Fleet had been watching and listen­ ing attentively, with a shrewd, judic­ ial air. “I think, Mr. Vance/’ he said, “I know what is in, yom\mind. Know­ ing the Rentings as well as I dp, and knowing the circumstances in this household for a great number of years I can assure you that it’, would be no shock .to either of them if you were to state exactly what you think re­ garding this situation. “I know that it would be hearten­ ing—I might even say, an act of mer­ cy—if you stated frankly that you be­ lieve, aS I am convinced you do, that Kaspar planned this coup himself 'for reasons that are only too obvious/’, “My dear sir!” returned Vance. “I would be glad to say anything which might relieve Mrs. Kenting’s Anxiety regarding the fate of her husband. But I assure you that at the present moment the evidence does not war­ rant extending' the comfort of any such belief. . At this moment there was an inter­ ruption. At thq liAll door appeared a short* middle-aged man with a sallow moon-like face* sullen in expression. He had on a shabby butler’s livery which was too big for him and em­ phasized his ; awkwardposture. A cringing and Subservient self-efface­ ment marked bis general attitude des­ pite his air of insolence. “What is it, Weem?” Mrs. Kent­ ing asked, , “There is a gentleman—-an officer —at the front door/* the butler an­ nounced in A surly5 tone* “who says Mrs, Tattle, and all the rest of those he wants to see Sergeant Heath. He fine ladies that have their soda! meet- says his name Is McLaughlin.” ings at your place.” 1 room, one at the front of the house; overlooking the street; the other was in the east wall, and J recognized it at once As the window to which Mrs. Kenting said she had run in her fright. It wa$ thrown wide open, with the Ventian blind drawn up to the top. At the rear of the room, to the right of the bed, was a door, now wide open, Beyond it another bed­ room, similar to the one in which we stood* was identifiable: it was obvi­ ously Mrs. Kenting’s boudoir. “When you came in here this morn­ ing, Mrs. Kenting, was this hall door locked or bolted?” Vance asked. The woman looked uncertain and faltered in her answer. “I—i—really, I can’t remember. It must have been unlocked, or else I would probably have notice it. I went “Not a thing, Sarge,— absolutely not a thing.” preparing to anything for reported to shrewd look but said nothing, and Vance at once followed Heath toward the wide stairway. As we entered Kaspar Kenting’s bedroom, Captain Dubois and Detec­ tive Bellamy were just leave it. “I don’t think there’s you, Sergeant,” Dubois Heath after his respectful greetings to Markham. “Just the usual kind of marks and smudges you’d find in any bedroom—and they all check up witn the finger-prints on the silver toilet set and the glass in the bathroom. Can’t be any one else’s finger-prints except the guy what lives here. No­ thing new anywhere.” ■ "And the window-sill?” “Not a thing, Sarge,—absolutely not a thing.” Kaspar Kenting’s bedroom was dis­ tinctly old-fashioned* and convention­ al in the extreme. There were two windows in the WHEN A CHAMPION BULLDOG SMILES Many Canadian dogs showed their «lass at the Westminster Kennel cltit/s 62nd annual show in New York. In the eyes of many, "Peter .Alaunt" was the most beautiful can­ re­ Hi Wellington Mutual Fire Insurance Co. Established 1840. Risks taken on all classes of insur­ ance at reasonable rates. Head Office* Guelph, Ont ABNER COSENS, Agept Wingham. Dr. W. A. McKibbon, B.A. PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON Located at the Otffice of the Late Dr, H. W. Colbome. Office Phone 54. Nights 107 I"—"1—....................... "1 | 1 /■’ n HARRY FRYFOGLE Licensed Embalmer and Funeral Directpr Furniture and Funeral Service Ambulance Service. Phones; Day 109W. Night 109J. DR. R. L. STEWART PHYSICIAN Telephone 29. J. W. BUSHFIELD Barrister, Solicitor* Notary, Etc, Money to Loan, Office —■ Meyer Block* Wingham THOMAS FELLS AUCTIONEER REAL ESTATE SOLD A Thorough Knowledge of Farm Stock. Phone 231, Wingham, Dr. Robt. C. REDMOND M.R.C.S. (England) L.R.C.P. (London) PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON .1i J. H. CRAWFORD Barrister, Solicitor, Notary, Etc. Successor to R. Vanstone. 'Wingham Ontario. . It Will Pay Yop to Have An EXPERT AUCTIONEER to conduct your sale. See T. R. BENNETT At The Royal Service Station. Phone 174W. • DR. W. M. CONNELL PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON Phone 19. R. S. HETHERINGTON BARRISTER and SOLICITOR Office — Morton Block., Telephone No. 66. J. ALVIN FOX Licensed Diugless Practitioner CHIROPRACTIC - DRUGLESS THERAPY - RADIONIC EQUIPMENT Hours by Appointment Phone 191. Wingham' W. A. CRAWFORD, M.D. Physician and Surgeon Located at the office,of the late Dr. J. P. Kennedy. Phone 150. Wingham F. A. PARKER OSTEOPATH All Diseases Treated. Office adjoining residence next to Anglican Church on Centre St. Sunday by appointment. Osteopathy • - Electricity, Phone 272. Hours* 9 a,m. to 8 p.m. A. R. & F. E. DUVAL CHIROPRACTORS CHIROPRACTIC and ELECTRO THERAPY North Street — Wingham Telephone 300. ine in the ring. Owned by Mrs. Perry of East Weymouth, Mass.,' was judged best bulldog in the show. This is the best he could do fartlie way of a smile for the cameraman:. G. he out through the door and I don’t call unlocking it." Vance went to the open window and looked down at the ladder. As he did so Heath took from his pocket a knife such as boy scouts use/ and pried loose the thumb-tack which held a soiled and wrinkled sheet of paper to /he broad window-sill. He picked up the paper gingerly and handed it to Markham. The District Attorney took it and looked at it, his. ■ face grim and troubled. I glanced ov­ er his shoulder as he read it.. The pa­ per was of the ordinary typewriter quality and had been trimmed irreg­ ularly at the edges to disguise its or­ iginal size. On it were pasted words and separate characters in different sizes and styles of type, apparently out from a newspaper. The uneven lines, crudely pupt together, read: If you want him back safe price will be 50 thousands $ otherwise killed will let you 'no ware & money later. This ominous signed with a consisting of two interlocking uneven squares which were outlined with black ink. Vance glanced at it, as it if were of little interest to him, and read it through quickly, with, the faint sug­ gestion of a cynical smile.. He was about to return the paper to Markham when he suddenly drew his hand back and made a new ex­ amination of the note, “Interestin’ signature,” he murmur­ ed. He took out his monocle and carefully adjusting it, scrutinized the paper closely. “Made with a Chinese pencil/’ he announced, “—a Chinese brush—held vertically —- and with China ink . . And those small squares . . .” His voice trailed off. He moved to the chest of drawers and adjusted his cravat before the mirror. “By the by, Mrs. Renting,” Vance asked casually, “is your husband, by any chance, bald?” . “Of course not,” she answered in­ dignantly. “Queer—very Vance, tides are in place on the top low-boy except a comb/’ “I—don’t understand,” the returned in amazement. She _____ swiftly across the room and stood be­ side Vance, “Why, the comb is gone!” she exclaimed. “Most extr’ordin’ry. Let’s see whether your husband's toothbrush is also missing, Do you know where he kept it?” “In the bathroom, of course,” — Mrs. Renting seemed frightened and breathless — “in a little rack beside the medicine cabinet. I’ll see.” Site stepped into the bathroom, After a moment she rejoined us, “It’s not there,” Jeetedly, "That's quite all turned. “Do you clothes your husband was wearing last night when he went to the open*- ing of the casino in New Jersey?” Heath nodded curtly and looked up at .Markham. “That’s all right, Chief,” he said. “McLaughlin was the man ’on this beat last night, and I left word at the Brueau to send him up here as soon as they could locate him. I though maybe he might know some­ thing, or maybe he saw something, that would give us a line on what hap­ pened here last night.” Then he turn­ ed back to the butier. “Tell the of­ ficer- to wait for me. I’ll be down in a few minutes.” (Continued Next Week) PHIL OSIFER OF LAZY MEADOWS By Harry J.' Boyle when to leave “UNCLE NED” I was beginning to get anxious my­ self, because I knew that there was some deviltry back of this whole scheme. Uncle Ned, h'e never did have much use for her, and he always was planning how he would shock her so bad some day,- that she would never come back and ask him any more of those prying questions of hers. “Well, M.iss Nettie,” he went on to say, “This here girl and ntyself used to go out and chase blue bullfrogs for four miles and then gather up the hops. We would add ten gallons of caustic to that, a gallon of wood shel­ lac and a bar of home-made soap." Nettie gasped but he kept right on going. “We used to boil it for two days, and then we would strain the whole mixture through one of those socks that this girl would knit. Then we would put a grasshopper in each bot­ tle, for a kick. Then, of course we would have to test it, by pouring it into the kitchen sink. If it took the, enamel off the sink, we knew it was ready to sell.” Nettie was just about ready to cream but Ned finished it off with: “The poor girl had to go to jail, though. A policeman found her climbing up a lamp post, and she told him that three yellow hippoppotami were following her. She made the mistake of drinking some of the stuff v the moral or story, and I find that out herself.” I don’t knew where philosophy is in that guess you will have to for yourself. ♦ communication was cabalistic signature queer/’ murmured “All the necess’ry toilet ar- of this ‘wom&n moved she remarked de- right,” Vance re­ remember what Believe it or^nof, but my Uncle Ned has been visiting with me ever since Monday. Uncle, Ned is one of.these fellows that just about ramble all ov­ er the world in the course of their first forty years, and then keep on spending the rest of their life in tell­ ing'people about it.z> Being a stolid, stay-at-home sort of a fellow I just sit and take in all the different yarns that lie tells.’ It’s sort of refreshing to have a breezy old fellow drop in arid stir up the ordin­ ary, placid life of the neighborhood and Lazy Meadows. Miss Nettie Stitch has been the vil­ lage gossip for as long as I can re­ member. .She sits knitting beside the front window in her house, just off Main Street and she has ”a> mirrdr'ar­ ranged in such a way as to see even what is going on behind her. She heard that Uncle Ned was out at Lazy Meadows, so out.she/drops, trying to make it appear as if she just happen­ ed along. This rambling uncle of mine took one look at her and I guess he figur­ ed her out, and decided to give her something to talk about. He squint­ ed a little at me and then started: “Weil sir, Miss Nettie, you remind me of the finest girl I ever knew . Nettie tried to screw her forlorti feat­ ures into a wisp of a. smile, ah(^ he just rambled on. “Yes, Miss Nettie, she was one of those there creatures that are just plumb helpful. She had a good business sense too, and she used to knit socks, too, to help me out in my business/' Nettie Just couldn't keep from ask­ ing a question then. ■ “What kind of a business was this, Mister Ned?” “It was a teal energetic sort of a business, Miss Nettie/’ he told her, “and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you couldn’t try it down at the vil­ lage and make a nice, tidy sum out of it Why you could sell your pro­ ducts to the parson’s wife, and old VON BLOMBERG AND BRIDE HONEYMOONING IS Reports insist Hitler’s cabinet shuf­ fle and purge of the German army 'came as a result of the marriage of Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg to a carpenter's daughter. The dic­ tator's propaganda ministry indig- nattily deny, such allegations and say Von Blomberg resigned because of ill health. The former field marshal and his bride were photographed at Leip­ zig «oo while on their honeymoon. Dismissal of army officers by Hitler is said to have resulted in mutiny of German soldiers.