HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1932-09-22, Page 6Famous Fencers
Murder at Bridge
132/ ANNE AUSTIN.
SYNOPSIS.
Investigating the murder of Juanita
Selim at a bridge party, 'Bennie" Dun-
dee orders the replaying of the "death
band." Penny Crain, Raren Marshall
and Carolyn Drake play the hand, Nita,
baying been 'dummy."
Judge Marshall and john Drake, corn -
Ing eparately, saw i one. Sprague,
corning from the bus, came in the dining
room with Janet Raymond. Janet ac-
euses Lydia, the maid, of the murder,
because Lois Dunlap, in the dini.,g room
With Tracey Miles, had to ring twice
for her. Lydia says she was asleep from
the effects of an anaesthetic.
Dundee tells the group that, since no
one heard a shot, a gun with a Maxim
silencer was used.
CHAPTER XVI.
As Dexter Sprague had glibly and
plausibly explaiaad away every sin-
ister aspect of the note he had writ-
ten to Nita Salim that day—the note
which Flora Miles admitted having
stolen and read in her hostess' clothes
closet just before the rrurder was com-
mitted—Special Investigatcr Dundee
was recalling with verbatim vividness
his argument with Captain Strawn of
the homicide squad immediately after
his arrival into the house of violent
death.
He had said then: "The person who
killed Nita Selim was so well known
to her, and his—or her—presence in
this room so natural thing that she
paid no attention to his—or her—
movements and was concentrating on
the job of powdering her very pretty
face."
And he had said further, in face of
the disappearance of the gun and in
explanation of the fact that all 12 of
thse people had immediately protested
to Strawn that they had heard no
shot:
"This was a premeditated murder,
of course. The Maxim silencer, unless
they are all lying about not hearing a
shot --proves that. Silencers are
damned hard to get holci of, but peo-
lie with plenty of money can manage
most things."
And as Dexter Sprague had talked
on, more and more glibly, Dundee had
suddenly found an explanation which
ratted his own argument with such
perfection that he wondered, naively,
if he were perhaps gifted with clair-
voyance.
Of all these 12 people, whoixt he had
questioned so relentlesslY, only Dexter
prague could easily have come into
Aossession -of a Maxim silencer. He
agas-a-a-a-gas-a.
or that Nita Selim was killed with
a gun equipped with a Maxim sil-
encer,"
And his eyes, terrible with their
command that the weakling should
break and confess, were upon Dexter
Sprague. But Sprague did not break.
He stared back blankly.
If his eyes and his attention had
included the whole group it is possible
that what happened would not have
taken Dundee so completely by sur-
prise. He had paid little attention
to a sort of concerted gasp, a slight
movement among the group farthest
from him.
But not even his intense concentra-
tion upon Sprague could prevent him
hearing Karen Marshall's childish
voice, tremulous with fear:
"No, no, Hugo! Don't—don't!"
He whirled from Sprague in time
to see Judge Marshall disengaging his
arm from his young wife's clinging
fmgers, to note, with profound aston-
ishment, that John C. Drake, banker,
was stepping hastily aside, so that
toot even his coat sleeve might be
1 rushed by the advaacing figure of
the elderly, retired judge. And before
Judge Marshall had time to speak,
Dundee saw that a blight had touched,
at last, the solid friendship of the
women; that they did not look at each
other with that air of standing to.
gether whatever happened, but that
their eyes, not meeting at all became
secret, cdculating, afraid. . . .
"Sir!" Judge Marshall began pom-
pously, when he had planted himself
squarely before the young detective,
"It sliall never be said of me that I
have tried, even in the slightest way,
to hamper the course of justice."
"I am sure of that, Judge Mar-
shall," Dundee replied courteously,
but his pulses were hammering, What
did this long-winded, pompcus old fool
have to tell him? . . . "You have
some information you believe may be
valuable, Judge?"
"I do not believe it will be at all
valuable, sir. On the contrary," the
old man retorted indignantly. "But
to suppress the fact at this juncture
might lead to grave misunderstanding
later, when it inevitably came to light.
So, sir, it is my duty to inform you
that I nyself own a Colt's .32, as well
as a Maxim silencer."
-47.7aftereararrontray-aerareasaa-saaaraaa....
he had been an assistant director at
Altamont Studios on Long Island.
And the Altamont company had re-
cently finished making a series of
"underworld" motion pictures—crook
dramas featuring gunmen with
"rods" made eerily noiseless by sil-
encers.
A. bit of information he had picked
up in a motion picture magazine had
hurtled in to the logical chain of Dun-
dee's reasoning: assistant directors
were in charge of "props"; it was
their business to see that no article
needed for the production of a picture
was lost or missing when the director
needed it. Dexter Sprague had said
that he had "droppea everything" to
come when Nita Selim wrote him of
the Chamber of Commerce project to
make a "booster" movie of Hamilton.
Perhaps he had dropped everything.
But—had he hesitated long enough to
pick up a Maxim silencer and a blunt -
nosed automatic? And was the "row"
which Sprague had been so glibly ex-
plaining away an ancient one—a row
so deadly that when Nita Selim had
refused to heed his written warning,
her murder became necessary.
It was with all thin in mind that
Bonnie Dundee flung his challenge'
"I must conclude that you are all ly-
Dv.sulao ^..-.1o1123.44-3.c.erxidu-
kusly. He was conscious that behind
him, Captain Strawn was getting to
his feet.
"There is no need to get 'out your
handcuffs, Captain Strewn!" Judge
Marshall warned him majestically. "I
assure you that I have not violated
the Sullivan law. Every judge active
and retired, is entitled to a permit to
carry a weapon, and I long ago avail-
ed myself of the privilege. Nor are
I about to make a confession of mur-
der!"
"There ain't no permit, so far as I
know, Judge," Strawn growled, "for
any man, whoever he may be, to tote
a gun with a silencer on it."
-Karen Marshall was crying now,
with the abandoned grief of a petted
child.
"Granted, Captain!" Judge Mar-
shall snapped. "But it haipens that
I do not 'tote' my gun with the sil-
encer on it. If it interests you, I may
as well explain that I came by the
silencer several years ago, when I was
on the bench. A notorious gunman,
on trial for murder here, and ac-
quitted by a feeble-minded jury, made
me a present of the very. silencer be
had used to kill his victim—an ironic
gesture, a gesture of supreme insol-
ence, but an entirely safe gesture,
Erna Bogen (left), Hungary,
and Helene Mayer, Germany, two
of the world's outstanding wo-
men fencers, get together at Los
Angeles before the olympic games.
"Taller they are—harder they
fall," says Miss Bogen.
The Dining Table of
Early America
since he well knew that a man once
acquitted of a crime cannot be tried
again for that crime."
"So you kept the silence): as a
curiosity, Judge Marshall?" Dundee
interrupted the pompous flow of rhe-
toric.
"For years— yes," the ex -judge an-
swered, then his face went yellow and
very old. "As I told you just now,
I will withhold no fact that may be
of any pertinence whatever. . . About
two months ago—in March, I believe
—our little group here took up target
shooting as a fad. Several of us be-
came quite expert with revolver and
rifle. Mr. Drake"—and he nodded to-
ward the banker, who instantly avert-
ed his eyes --"conceived the idea of
practicing the draw -from -the -hip sort
of revolver shooting—the kind one
sees in 'Wild West movies, you know."
"I think you might add, Hugo,"
Drake cut in angrily, "that I had in
mind the hope of being able to protect
the bank in case of a hold-up." ,,
"And the silencer, Judge Mat
1rit11?" Captain Strawn prodded:
Judge Marshall flushed, and finger-
ed the end of a waxed mustache. "The
silencer, sir, was my wife's idea. You
see, sir, we are fortunate enough to be
the parents of an infant son. He was
just a month old when I painted a
bull' a eye upon the brick wall of our
back garden and invited our friends to
pursue their fad as our guests. The
shooting awakened the baby so fre-
quently that Karen—Mrs. Marshall—
dug up the silencer, which I had
shown her as a memento of my car-
eer on the bench. Thereafter we con-
fined our practice almost exclusively
to drawing from the hip and shooting
without sighting. It is impossible to
sight with a gun equipped with a
silencer, you know, since the silencer
covers the sighter on the barrel."
"It sure does," Strawn drawled. "So
every last one of you folks had a good
deal of this sort of practice, I take
it?"
Judge Marshall glanced about the
room, as if he could not recall the
face of everyons, present.
"Yes, all of us—except Mr. Sprague
and— Penny, my dear, did you join
us at all?"
The girl who had once been in on
ev sport and party that this crowd
of Hamilton's socially -elect indulged
in, but who was now earning her liv-
ing as secretary to District Attorney
Sanderson, flushed a painful red.
"No, Hugo. I—I have to stay with
n.other on Sunday mornings, you
know."
"Your target practice was a Sun-
day morning diversion, then, Judge
Marshall?" Dundee asked.
"Yes. We usually have an Lour of
the sport—between 11 and noon, on
Sundays. We've been playing a sort
of tournament—quite sharply compe-
titive—"
"Waen did you and your friends
practice last?" Dundee asked.
"Last Suaday. Tomorrow was to
mark the end of the 'tournament,'"
the judge answered.
"And when did you last see your
gun with its silencer?" Dundee per-
sisted.
"Last Sunday, of course. . Why,
{pod Lord!" Marshall ejaeulated. "It
was Nita herself who put the gun
away!"
(To be continued.)
The simplicity of band eroduction'
is shown most clearly, perhaps, In
early dishes and serving uteasile,
The pottery of the red man seems
to have been a step beyond the
white man, but his burl bowl, scoop-
ed out of a knotty growth on some
cad tree, was something that the
white brother could accomplish, This
burl bowl was set In the center of
the board, within reach of all, and
would serve as big a stew as the
housewife was able to cook in her
great iron, or brass kettle.
Forks had not come into general
use, even in the Old World, when
Our first settlers arrived, nor for
some years after; and it was only
necessary to hollow out a few spoons
from some soft wood, or to fasten clam
shells to convenient stickn (if one
had imported no family silver) be-
fore the family- could be busy at their
task of eating.
Some of the containea for food
and drink which seem crudest to us
Were used, not only at the very first,
but well along in those years when
we have supposed that living condi-
tions were well taken care of. Gourds
—for water glasses, comports; water
bottles, dippers and even "basons"
—were 111 use for many generations,
and in some localities until the mid-
dle of the nineteenth century. Horns
were also used for cups and watei
bottles, long after the first days of
dire want...
It was to the trees, as usual, how-
ever, that the pioneer turned for the
real outfitting of the family board.
The dining table of early America
was in reality nothing more than a
hoard. A table the proper size would
have been entirely too large for a Now a few yards farther, and I
one -roomed house, and a broad, thick reach the bank Ah! I smell them
board was therefore substituted, already — their exquisite perfume.
which could be fitted on top of trest-
les, when meal time came around,
and moved out of the way when the
meal was finished. Some tables
were made with hollows scooped in
the board, a foot and a hall apart,
all around the edge, where the in-
dividual trencher would ordinary
have stood.—From "Candle Days,"
by Marion Nicholl Rawson.
" Man
. • .theyiv gloodi
Men like these finer -
flavored crackers,
oven -fresh and flaky
with just a trace of
salt. Have them
handy in the pantry
always.
Chri
PREMIUM
SODA CRACKERS
• Thi.. .1,1ousaliolci.Worcl.iFoi Tea
"Fresh from the Gardens"
Violeting
We have the good fortune to live
in an unenclosed parish, and may
thank the wise obstinacy of two or
three sturdy farmers, and the lucky
unpopularity of a ranting madcap
lord of the manor, for preserving the
delicious green patches, the islets of
wilderness amdist cultivation, which
form, perhaps, the peculiar beauty
of English scenery. The common
that I ani 'passing now—the lea, as
it is called—is one of the loveliest
of these favored spots. It is a little
sheltered scene, retiring, as it were,
from the village; sunk amidst higher
lands, hills would be almost too
grand a word; edged on one side by
one gay high -road, and intersected
by anether; and surrounded by a
most picturesque confusion of mea-
dows, cottages, farms, and orchards;
with a great pond in one corner, un-
usually bright and clear, giving a de-
lightful cheerfulness and daylight to
the picture. The swallows haunt that
pond; so do the children. There is
a merry group round it now; I have
seldom seen it without one.
"In Fields Where I Was
Known"
Far in a western brookland
That bred me long ago
The poplars stand and tremble
By pools I used to know.
There, in the windless night-time,
The 'wanderer, marvelling why,
Halts on the bridge to hearken
How soft the poplars sigh.
Wears•, long since forgotten
"nelds where I was -known,
Here r Ile down in London
And turn to rest alone.
There, by the starlit fences,
The -wanderer halts and hears
My soul that lingers sighing
About the glimmering 'weirs.
—A. E. Houseman, in "A Shropshire
Lad."
Blackberries
Make the best you can of the worst,
you get,
* * *
A woman's maiden aim is to
change her maiden name.
* * *
A man's house is his castle—un-
less it is in his wife's name.
* *
Better a word in season than an .
hour's lecture out of season.
* * *
When members of a family quar-
rel a lot of home-truths,,ileak out. .
* * .
A wise man knows that his wife
knows that he doesn't know so much.
*
The average man opens an account
with you when he does you a favor.
* * *
We read of the seven ages of man,
but one age is ample for the average
woman.
steams and lingers in this moist,
heavy air. Through this little gate,
and along the green south bank of
this green wheat -field, and they
burst upon me, the lovely violets, in
tenfold loveliness. The ground is
covered with Olean white and pur-
ple enamelling the short dewy grass,
looking but the more vividly colored
under the dull, leaden sky. There
they lie by hundreds, by thousands.
In former years I have been used to
watch them from the tiny green bud,
till one or two stole into bloom.
They never came on me before in
such a sudden and luxuriant glory of
simple beauty—and I do really owe
one pure and genuine pleasure to
feverish London!. How beautifully
they are placed too, on this sloping
bank, with the palm branches waving
over them, full of early bees, and mix-
ing their honeyed scent with the more
delicate violet odour! How transpar-
ent and smooth and lusty are the
branches, full of sap and life! And
there, just by the old mossy root, is
a superb tuft of primroses, with a
yellow butterfly hovering over them,
like a flower floating on the air.—
From "Our Village," by Miss Mit-
ford.
* * *
It ought to be some consolation te
a 'widow to know that history often
repeats itself.
*
The average woman has but few
speaking acquaintances; most of
them are listening acquaintances.
Circles and right lines limit and
close all bodies, and the mortal right -
lined circle must conclude and shut
up all.—Sir Thomas Browne.
SNUBBED
In a certain London club is an in-
sufferably plutocratic person whose
parade of wealth does nothing to en-
hance his popularity.
Dropping into a chair in the smoke -
room One day, he announced audibly
that he bad Just purchased a new
saloon.
The senior member present looked
over the top of his eyeglasses and
inquired, icily: "Beer or 'petrol?"
9a
We become so accustomed to dis-
guise ourselves to others that at last
'we are disguised to ourselves.—La
Rochefoucauld.
"Two of my friends are having a
social war. One gives a dance and
the other comes back at her with
a bridge party. So it goes."
"Have you taken sides?"
"I should say net. You get more
invitations by remaining neutral."
"Thank you very mueh" said the
clergyman as little Georgie handed up
his offering for the harvest festival.
"I must call round this afternoon and
thank your mother for those eight
beautiful apples." "P -please,
stammered Georgie, "would you
zrarnind thanking her for t -twelve."
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