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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1938-04-14, Page 6?AGE SIX WINGHAM ADVANCE-TIMES . Thursday, April 14th, 1938 deep S.S.Van Dine SYNOPSIS During the night Raspar Renting "Was. kidnapped, Philo Vance, with District Attorney Markham go to the Renting home there to meet Sergeant Heath of the Homicide Bureau, Ren- yon Renting and Mrs. Renting, the brother and wife of the kidnapped man. Present also is Eldridge Fleel, the Renting family attorney. The first evidence casts some doubt as to the genuineness of the crime. Vance examines Weems, the Renting butler. Further search shows that Raspar probably did not go down the ladder found outside the house. Vance re­ examines Renyon Renting first, then Mrs. Renting’s mother Mrs. Falloway and her son, Fraim. He learns little hut notes an undercurrent of hostil­ ity among these members of the strange inhabitants of the Purple House, At this time a ransom note arrives demanding. $50,000 and free­ dom from police interference. Vance and Markham consult the • Rentings and Fleel, their lawyer. It is decided to allow the police a free hand in dealing with the supposed kidnappers. A dummy package is substituted for the money and then secreted in a tree in Central Park according to instruc­ tions. The police capture a cloaked figure, Mrs. Falloway, who Admits to Vance she is really trying to forestall an attempt by her son, Fraim, to get the money. The woman is not held and the real kidnapper’s identity re-, mains a mystery. ?----—■ “But Fraim is a good boy at heart —please believe that. He merely lacks something—strength and spirit, perhaps.” “Quite. He’s not well, loway. He needs medical Have you ever had a basal metabol­ ism test made on him?” “A blood sugar?” proceeded Vance. “The truth is, Mr. Vance,” the wo­ man said, “he has never been examin­ ed.” Then she asked quickly: “What do you think it is?” “I wouldn’t dare to venture an op­ inion, dont’ y’ know, an endocrine in­ sufficiency somewhere — an inade­ quacy of some internal secretion, a definite and prolonged hormone dis­ turbance. I think you should have your son checked up. It may be something that can be remedied.” He scribbled something on a page of body Mrs. Fal- attention. 1 from a small note-book and, tearing it out, handed it to Mrs, Falloway. “Here’s the name and address of one of the country greatest endocrin­ ologists. Look him up, for your son's sake.” The woman took the slip of paper, folded it, and put it in one of the large pockets of her skirt, “And now,” said Vance, “I think we’ll returned to the drawing-room. And may you have a well-earned night’s rest.” When we re-entered the drawing­ “§he’s not there!5’ ICentmg exclaimed. room we found the group just as we had left it. “There are one or two matters—” drawled Vance and stopped abruptly. Then he said: “But I think Mrs. Ren­ ting should be here with Us for this discussion.” “I think you're right, Mr. Vance,” Renting said, going toward, the door. “I’ll get Madelaine myself.” He bustled from the room as he finished speaking, and we heard him going up the stairs. A few moments later we could hear his sharp, repeat­ ed knocking on a door. Then there was a long silence, and the sound of a door being opened hurriedly. Vance leaned forward in his chair and seem­ ed to be waiting expectantly. A few minutes later Renting came rushing down the stairs. He stopped in the doorway, glaring at us with wide-open eyes. , “She’s not there!” he exclaimed in’ '4 Be fair to In the discussions provoked by these articles, one point comes up so often that it deserves an article to itself . . . "The brewers,” we are told, "in their own interest should not support beverage rooms!” The reasons given for this amazing statement are as follows: "Dry sentiment in this prov­ ince is much more concerned with what goes on in public than what goes on in private. If there were no licensed hotels,” say these councillors, "you’d sell just as much, but people would drink it at home. Extremists wouldn’t be scandalized. They’d switch their attack to somebody else.” In other words, the Brewing Industry is invited to secure itself to spare the feelings of a cynical minority! In order to make things easier for itself, it is advised to deprive the poorer is inserted by the• This advertisement Brewing Industry in the interest of a better public understanding of certain aspects of the problems of temperance and local option. a- an awed voice. He took a breath. “I knocked on her door sev­ eral times, but I got no answer. I tried the door, but it was locked. So I went through Raspar’s room, into Madelaine’^. The lights are all on, but she isn’t there. ...” “The window—over the yard is wide open, and — and the ladder is standing against it!” Quaggy’s cigarette fell from his lips to the rug, where he stepped on it with automatic quickness, without en looking down. ev- “G(?od God, Reyon!” he exclaimed, half under his breath. The man seem­ ed deeply moved. Fleel rose to his feet and, as he jerked down his waistcoat with both hands, appeared dazed and inarticu­ late. Even Fraim Falloway raised himself suddenly out of his stupor and glowering at Renting, began babbling hysterically. “The hell you say! The hell you say!” he cried out in a high-pitched voice. “That’s some more of Raspar’s dirty work. He’s playing a game to get money, I tell you. I don’t believe he was kidnapped at all—” “Pipe down, young fella,” he ord­ ered. “Makin* fool statements that ain’t gonna help anything.” Only Vance seemed unruffled composed. Heath had gone to telephone, and I could hear him, with one ear, as it were, calling the Homi­ cide Bureau and giving officious in­ like and the him, too man of his liberty, while the rich man can still drink comfortably at home! Worse, it is advised to drive the working-man to break the law. For that again would be the inevitable result of closing the beverage rooms! Under no circumstances will the Brewing Industry take that kind of advice. We support the beverage room because the British nations have proven out-in-the-open control the best way! o o I o : o 6 s o o Speaking as a man who doesnot indulge in any alcoholic beverage, it is my considered opinion that the results in all civilized countries in which Prohibition has been tried, have altogether failed to come up to the smallest expectation of what it was expected to accomplish. Rather, it resulted in a crop of boot­ leggers, hijackers, and enormous quan­tities of poisonous liquors, Which caused the death of thousands. It not Only caused a thorough disrespect for the Prohibition law but attacked the Very foundation of dur British system of respect for law and order.” Geo. Bennett, Mayor of Port Hope structions. Then he slammed down the receiver and stalked toward the stairs. “I-want to look at that room,” he announced. “Two of the boys from the Bureau are coming up right away. This is a hell of a night , . . . ” His voice trailed off aS he went up the steps two at a time. Vance and iMark- ham and I had left the drawing-room and were immediately behind him. Heath first tried the door-knob of Mrs. Renting’s room but, as Renting had informed us, the door was lock­ ed. He went up the hall to Kaspar Renting’s room. The door here was standing ajar and at the far end of the room we could see into Mrs .Rent­ ing’s brightly lighted boudoir. Step­ ping through the first chamber we entered the lighted bedroom. As Renting had said; the window facing on the court was wide open. Caut­ iously avoiding any contact with the window-sill, Heath leaned out at the window, and then turned quickly back. “The ladder’s there, all right,” he asserted. Vance was apparently not listening. He had adjusted, his monocle and was looking round the room without any apparent show of interest. Leisurely he walked to the dressing-table op­ posite the window and looked down at it for a moment, A round cut-glass powder jar stood uncovered at one side: the tinted glass top was resting on its side several inches away. A large powder puff lay on^the floor. Vance lifted up a small perfume at­ omizer which was resting perillously near the edge of the dressing-table, and pressed sniffed at the “Emerald,” sure this was preference in perfumes. Blonds know better, don’t y* know. Emerald is suitable only for brunettes especially those with olive complexions and ab­ undant hair . . Very interestin’.” Vance then went to the door and inspected it briefly. “The night latch isn’t on,” he mur­ mured, as if to himself. “And the turn-bolt hasn’t been thrown. 'Door locked with a key. And no key in the keyhole.” “What are you getting at, Vance?” demanded Markham. “What if there is no key there? The door could have been locked and the key removed.” “Quite so — theoretically,” return­ ed Vance. “But when one locks one­ self in a bedroom with a key, one us­ ually leaves the key in the lock/” ‘ He went across the room and into the bathroom. This room too was brightly lit. He glanced at the long metal cord hanging from the electric fixture, and with his hand tested the weight of the painted glass cylindrical 1 the bulb slightly. He spray. he murmured. "I’m not the lady’s personal 2I1 c o ! a ■» Wellington Mutual Fire Insurance Co. Established 1840, Risks taken on all classes of insur­ ance at reasonable rates, • Head Office, Guelph, Ont. ABNER COSENS, Agent. Wingham. Dr. W. A- McKibbon, B.A. PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON Located at the Office of the Late Dr. H, W. Colbome. Office Phone 54. Nights 107 HARRY FRYFOGLE Licensed Embalmer and Funeral Director Furniture and Funeral Service Ambulance Service. Phenes: Day 109W. Night 109J, DR. R. L. STEWART PHYSICIAN Telephone 29. J. W. 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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. i ornament attacked to the end of the chain. He released it and watched it swing back and forth. He looked in­ to the tumbler which stood on the wide rim of the wash-bowl and, set­ ting it down again, examined the washbowl itself, and around the edg­ es. He then bent over the soap dish. “What in the name of God -----•” Markham began irritably. “Tut, tut, my dear fellow,” Vance interrupted, turning to him with a contemplative look. “I was merely attemptin’ to ascertain at just what time the lady departed. . . I would surmise, don’t y’ know, that .it was round ten o’clock this evening.” • “How do you figure that out?” Vance pointed with his cigarette to the pull-chain of the electric fixture overhead. It was still swinging back and forth like a pendulum. “When I came into the bathroom,” Vance explained, “yon polished brass chain was at rest—oh, quite—and I opined that its movement, with that heavy and abominable solid glass cy­ linder to control it, would discernibly continue, once it was pulled and re­ leased, for at least an hour. And it’s just half-past eleven now . . .’ Move- over, the glass here is quite dry, show­ ing it has not been used for an hour or two. Also, there’s not a drop of water, either in the washbowl or on the edge; and a certain number of drops and a little dampness always re­ main after the washbowl has been us­ ed. “And I cannot imagine Mrs. Rent­ ing, with her habit of remaining up late, performing her nightly toilet as early as these matters would indicate. And yet the light was on in the bath­ room and there is a certain amount of evidence that she had been powd­ ering her nose and spraying herself with perfume some time during the evening. Moreover, my dear Mark­ ham, there are indications of haste in the performance of these feminine rites, for she did not put the perfume atomizer back where it belongs, nor did s>he stop to retrieve the powder puff from where it had fallen on the floor. “And all of these little details, tak­ en in Connection with the open latch and the Unthrown bolt and the miss­ ing key in the hall door, lead me— rather vaguely and shaki’ngly, I admit —to the theory that she had a rendez­ vous elsewhere, for which she was a wee bit late, at some time around the far-from-witchiag hour of ten,” “All' right,” Markham .said. “But what follows from all that?” a Without answering the question Vance turned to Heath, “What time, Sergeant,” he asked, “did you notify Fleel and Renyon Renting about the arrangements for tonight?” “Oh,-—I should say—”. Heath con­ sidered a moment. “Round six o’clock —maybe a little after.” “And ’where did you find these gentlemen?” “Well, I called Fleel at his home and he wasn’t there yet. But I left word for him and he called me back in, a little while. But I didn’t think tn ask him where he was. And Rent­ ing was here.” Vance again addressed Heath. “I’m afraid, Sergeant, your finger­ print men and your photographers and your busy boys from the Homi­ cide Bureau are going to draw a blank here.” “I still want to know,” persisted Markham, “what all this time-table a s/2 1 1 2 2 3 % % By BETTY Although the Easter holidays may not call for the elaborate meals of Thanksgiving and Christ­ mas, they do demand tlfat women be prepared for an emergency. Children are home from school or college; friends pay an Easter visit. Novel breakfast, luncheon and din­ ner dishes are eagerly sought by the perfect hostess. Here are few suggestions: Brazil Nut Apricot Bread For Easter Breakfast cup dried apricots egg cup sugar tablespoons melted butter cups flour teaspoons baking powder teaspoon soda cup orange juice m„ cup water ' 1 cup chopped Brazil nuts % teaspoon salt Soak apricots one half hour, drain and grinds Beat egg until light, stir in sugar and mix well. Stir in butter. Sift flour with bak­ ing powder, soda and salt and add alternately with orange juice and water. Add Brazil uuts and apricots and mix well. Pour batter into well greased loaf pan and bake In a moderate oven, (350** F.), one and one-quarter hours. Lamb Chops With Orange (Serves 6) 6 lamb, veal or pork chops Molted butter Sliced Navel oranges Salt, pepper and paprika Trim fat from thick chops and dip in melted butter, Oil broiler well and broil chops 8 minutes. Turn and place a thick slice of peeled orange on each chop, Broil 8 or 10 minutes longer, sprinkle generously with the seasonings. Serve hot. Peach Shortcake 1 package lemon rennet powder 1 pint milk hocus-pocus means.” "It means deviltry, Markham. It means something damnable. I don’t like the case. I don’t at all like it.” “But we can’t just' sit back,” said Markham in a dispirited voice. “Isn’t there some step you can suggest?” “Well, yes. But it won’t help much. I propose that first we ask one or two questions of the gentlemen down­ stairs. And then I propose that we go into the yard and' take a look at the ladder.” (Continued Next Week) BARCLAY 4 pieces sponge cake (leftover cake ■ may be used) A few thin slices fresh or canned peaches Place the pieces of cake in the bottom of the dessert dishes. Put two or three slices of the canned or fresh peaches over the top of each piece of cake. Dissolve ren­ net powder in lukewarm milk. Pour over pieces of cake and peaches and let set until firm — about 10 minutes. ‘ Chill in refrigerator. Apricot Ice Cream (Automatic Refrigerator Method) % cup sweetened condensed milk 2 cups water % pound dried apricots 14, teaspoon lemon extract 1 cup whipping cream Cook apricots in 1 cup water until tender. Blend together sweet­ ened condensed milk> 1 cup water and % cup liquid drained ftom apricots Chop apricots and add with lemon extract to condensed milk mixture. Chill. Whip cream to custard-like consistency and fold into chilled mixture. Pour mixture into freezing pan. Place in freez­ ing unit. After mixture Is about half frozen remove from refrigera­ tor. Scrape mixture from sides and bottom of pan. Beat until smooth but not until melted. Smooth out and replace in freezing Unit until frozen tot serving. Serves 6* Canned Chopped Foods For Toddlers The food chopper is ho longer a symbol of drudgery for mothers of the toddler set, Uniform chopped foods which doctors usually pre­ scribe for children between ofle and four are now available in cans jflst as strained baby foods are. Among the chopped foods in cans now fea­ tured for toddlers* diets are carrots, spinach, beets* green beans# apple sauce and prunes. A vegeta­ ble soup with a wheat embryo con­ tent as well as chopped vegetables and a liver soup are also featured.