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.1'40S. S. Van Dina
�' Murder Case
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no one, Can't imagine why any-
one would want to pay a ransom
for him."
"Can't really blame the chappie
for being such a blighter. Old
Karl K., the author of his being,
was a bit queer himself, Had more
than enough money, and left it all
to the 'older son, Kenyon K., to
dole out to Kaspar as he saw fit.
I imagine he hasn't seen fit very
often or very much."
"That may all be very interest-
ing" Markham grumbled: "but I've
got to get to 86th Street. This
may prove a crucial case, and I
can't afford to ignore it." He
looked somewhat appealingly at
Vance.
Vance rose likewise and crushed
out his cigarette.
"Oh, by all means," Vance
drawled. "I'll be delighted to tod-
dle along. Though I can't even
vaguely imagine why kidnappers
should select Kaspar Kenting. The
Kentings are no longer a reputed-
Iy wealthy family. By the by, do
you know how much ransom was
demanded?"
"Fifty thousand. But you'll
see the note when we get there.
Nothing's been touched. Heath
knows I'm coining."
"Fifty thousand . . ." Vance
poured himself a pony of his Na-
poleon cognac. "That's most in-
teresting. Not an untidy sum—
eh, what?"
He turned to ane.
"And do you care to come along
Van? It may prove more fascin-
atin' than it sounds."
Despite my accumulated work,
I was glad of the invitation.
The Sergeant led us into a
stuffy drawing room, seated him-
self at a small Jacobean desk and
drew out his little black leather-
bound notebook. "Chief," he said
to Markham, "I think maybe you'd
better get the whole story direct
from Mrs. Kenting, the wife of
the gentleman who was kidnap-
ped."
The Frightened Wife
I now noticed three other per-
sons in the room. At the front
window stood a solid, slightly
corpulent man of successful, pro-
fessional mien. He turned and
came forward as we entered, and
Markham bowed to him cordially
and greeted him 'by the name
Flee!. He was the lawyer of the
Kenting family.
At his side was a somewhat ag-
gressive middle-aged man, rather
thin, with a serious and pinched
expression. Fleel introduced hien
to us cursorily, with a careless
wave of the hand, as Kenyon
Kenting, the brother of' he miss-
ing man. Then the lawyer turned
stiffly to the other side of the
room, and said in a sauve, busi-
nesslike voice:
"But I particularly wish to pre-
sent you gentlemen to Mrs. Kas-
par Keating."
We all turned to the pale, ter-
rified woman seated at one end of
a small davenport, in the shad-
osfs of the west wall. She ap-
peared at first glance to be in her
early thirties; but I soon realized
that my guess night be ten years
outs one way or the other.
Sergeant Heath broke gruffly
into the scene.
"Don't you want to go up-
stairs, Chief, and see the room
from where the snatch was made?
Snitkin's on duty up there.
"I say, just a moment, Ser-
geant." Vance sat down on the
sofa beside Mrs. Kenting. "Tell
me, Mrs. Kenting, when did you
first learn of your husband's ab-
sence?"
The woman took a deep breath.
"Early this morning—about six
o'clock, I should say. The sun
had just risen."
"And how did you happen to
become aware of his absence?"
"I wasn't sleeping well last
night," the woman responded. "I
was restless for some unknown
reason, and the early morning sun
corning through the shutters into
my room not only awakened me,
but prevented ane froth going back
to sleep, Then I thought I heard
a faint unfamiliar sound in my
husband's room—you see, we oc-
cupy adjoining rooms on the next
floor—and it seemed to me I
heard someone moving stealthily
about. There was the umnistak-
able sound of footsteps across the
floor -that is, like someone walk-
ing around in soft slippers.
Something Moving
"I got up, threw a dressing-
gown around nue, end went to the
door which connects our two
rooms. I called to my husband,
but there was no response of any
kind ---and r realized that every-
thing had suddenly become quiet
in the room. By this time I was
panicky; so I pulled open the door
quickly and entered the room."
"Just what kind of sound was
it that first caught your atten-
tion, Mrs, Kenting?"
"I don't know exaetly. It might
have been someone moving a
chair, or dropping something."
CHAPTER I
District Attorney Markham
looked sharply at his. old friend
Philo Vance. "Do you like kid-
nappings?"
"Not passionately," the detec-
tive answered, bis face darken-
ing. "Beastly cringes, kidnap-
pings. About as low as a criminal
can sink." His eyebrows went
up. "Why?"
"There's been a kidnapping dur-
ing the night. I learned about it
half an hour ago. I'm on my
way—"
"Who and where?" Vance's face
had now become sombre too.
"Kaspar Kenting. Heath and a
couple of his men are at the
Kenting house in 86th Street
now. They're waiting for me."
"Kaspar Kenting . ." Vance
repeated the name several times,
as if trying to recall some former
association with it.
F
"Is it number 86 West Seth
Street, perhaps?"
Markham nodded. "That's right.
Easy to remember."
"Yes—quite. I seem to remem-
ber it when you mentioned Kent-
ing's name.... The domicile's an
interestin' old landmark. I've
never seen it, however. Had a
fascinatin' reputation once. Still
called the Purple House"
"Purple house?" Markham look-
ed up.
The Purple House
"My dear fellow! Are you en-
tirely ignorant of the history of
the city which you adorn as Dis-
trict Attorney? The Purple House
was built by Karl K. Tenting back
in 1880, and he had the bricks
and slabs of stone painted purple,
in order to distinguish his abode
from all others in the neighbor-
hood, and to flaunt it as a chal-
lenge to his numerous enemies.
'With a house that color,' he used
to say, 'they won't have any trou-
ble finding me.' But what about
your Kaspar Renting?"
"He disappeared some time last
night," Markham explained impa-
tiently. "From his bedroom. Open
window, ladder, ransom note
thumb -tacked to the window sill.
No doubt about it."
"Details familiar—eh, what?"
mused Vance. "And I presume
the ransom note was concocted
with words cut from a newspaper
and pasted on a sheet of paper?"
"Exactly! How did you guess
it?"
"Nothing new or original about
it — what? Highly conventional.
Bookish, in fact. How did you
learn about it?"
"Eldridge Fleel was waiting at
any office when I arrived this
morning. He's the lawyer for the
Keating family. One of the exe-
cutors for the old man's estate.
Kaspar Kenting's wife • naturally
notified him at once at his hone
—called him before he was up."
"Level-headed chap, this Fleel?"
"Oh, yes. .I've known the man
for years. Good lawyer. He was
wealthy and influential once, but
was badly hit by the depression.
I got in touch with Sergeant Heath
immediately, and he went up to
the house with Fleel. I told
them I'd be there as soon as I
could. I dropped off here, think-
ing—"
No One Trusts Him
"By the way, do you know this
young Kaspar Kenting?"
"Slightly," Vance answered ab-
stractly. "I've run into the John-
nie here and there, especially at
old Kinkaid's Casino and at the
racetracks. Kaspar's a gambler
and pretty much a ne'er-do-well.
.Always hard up. And trusted by
sweeten
< ' my morning
Cereal with .
BEEHIVESyrup v
because it
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is better
for me.
IT
issue No. 30—'38
D
"Could it have been a souffle of
some kind ---I mean, did it .sound
as if More than one person might
have been making the noise?"
"I don't think so, It was over
too quickly for that,"
"When you entered the room,
were the lights on?"
"Yes," the woman hastened to
answer animatedly. "That was the
curious thing about it. Not only
was the chandelier burning bright-
ly, but the light beside the bed.
also. They were a ghastly yellow
in the daylight.
"And another strange thing was
that the bed had not been slept
in."
Vance's eyebrows rose slightly.
"Do you know what time Mr.
Renting came to his bedroom last
night?"
The woman hesitated a moinent
and flashed a glance at Kenyon
Kenting.
"Oh, yes," she said hurriedly.
"I heard him come in. It must
have been soon after three this
morning. I heard hint enter his
bedroom and turn on the lights.
Then I heard him telephoning to
someone in an angry voice. Right
after that I fell asleep again."
"You say he was out last night,
Do you know where or with
whom?"
Did He Return?
"A new gambling casino was
opened in Jersey yesterday, and
my husband was invited to be a
guest at the opening ceremonies.
His friend Mr. Quaggy called for
him about nine o'clock—"
"Please repeat the name of your
husband's -friend."-
"Quaggy—Porter Quaggy, He's
had heard those peculiar !noises
in his room,'"
""How many servants are there
here?"
Mysterious Phone Calls
"Only two—Weem, our butler
and houseman, and his wife, Ger-
trude, who cooks and does maid
service."
."They sleep where?"
"On the third floor, at the
rear."
"glad you, or your husband, any
previous warning of this event?"
Before answering, the women
looked with troubled concern at
Benyon Keating,
"I think, my dear," he encour-
aged her, "that you should be per-
fectly frank with these gentle-
men.
The woman shifted her eyes
back to Vance slowly, and after a
moment of indecision said:
"Only this: several nights, re-
cently, after I had retired, I have .
heard 'Kasper dialing a number
and talking angrily to someone
over the telephone. I could never
distinguish any of the conversa-
tion. And I always noticed that
the next day Kaspar was in a ter-
rible humor and seemed worried
and agitated about something.
Twice I tried to find out what the
trouble was, and asked him to ex-
plain the phone calls; but each
time he assured nie nothing what-
ever was wrong."
"Was there nothing else recent-
ly which you can recall, and which
might be helpful now?"
"Yes, there was." The woman
nodded with a show of vigor.
"About a week ago a strange,
rough -looking man came here to
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266
MAYFAIR NO. 266
This conventional filet crochet design is a favorite with all who
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When you realize how quickly the blocks are worked and how simply
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will not rest until your fingers are busy and the squares begin to take
the form of a lovely cloth. The pattern contains full crochet instruc-
tions without abbreviations.
Sencl 15 cents for this pattern to Mayfair Needlework Dept.,
Room 421, Wilson Buildings, Toronto.
a very trustworthy and loyal
man, and I've never objected to
my husband's going out with him.
He has been more or less a friend
of the family for several years,
and he always seems to know just,
how to handle my husband when
he shows an inclination to go a
little too far in his—his, well, his
drinking."
"Just up the street, near Cen-
tral Park West, at the Notting-
ham...." She paused, and drew
a deep breath. "Mr. Quaggy's a
frequent and welcome visitor
here."
"Do you happen to know,"
Vance continued, still addressing
the woman, "whether Mr. Quaggy
returned to the house last night
with Mr. Kenting?"
"Oh, no; I'm quite sure he did
not," was the prompt reply.
"When you found that your
husband was not in his room at
six this morning, and that the
lights were on and the bed had
not been slept in, what did you
think?—and what did you do?"
"I was naturally upset and
troubled and very much puzzled,"
Mrs. Kenting explained; "and just
then I noticed that the big side
window overlooking the lawn was
open and that the Venetian blind
had not been lowered. I iinined-
iately ran to the window and
looked down into the yard, for a
sudden fear had flashed through
my mind that perhaps Kaspar
had fallen out. . , . You see," she
added reluctantly, "my husband
often has had too much to drink
when he cones hone late at night
. , .. It was then I saw the ladder
against the house; and I wax won-
dering about that vaguely, when
suddenly x noticed that horrible
slip of paper pinned to the win-
dow sill, Immediately I realized
what had happened, and why I
see Kaspar—he looked to me like
an underworld character. When
the man left the house I heard
him say to Kaspar in a loud tbnc,
`There are ways of getting
things.' It wasn't just a state-
ment—the words sounded terrib-
ly unfriendly. Almost like a
threat."
"Has there been anything
further ?"
(CONTINUED NEXT ISSUE)
Nonlke's Topper
Inspires Hats
Headgear the Size of an Organ.
Grinder's Pet is All the Rage
.--."Doll's" Hats for Autumn
Wear
PARIS.—"Doll's" hats, which
perch jauntily on the side or front
of the head like the hat on an or-
gan -grinder's monkey, were intro-
duced by Schiaparclli in her mid-
summer collection,
And now Mme, Scliiaparelli in-
sists that the miniature hats will
be the accepted thing for fall and
winter teat, She's usually right—
even if the world doesn't came
round to her way of thinking until
a couple of years later. But lead-
ing Paris ;,milliners are beginning
to swing over to the doll hat,
Which is just about as big as its
name signifies.
Fashion experts say that the tiny
hat must come for two reasons: oue
is the definite advent of the pine.
apple coiffure which sweeps every-
thing
verything upward; the other is the ne-
cessity for a more easily portable
hat owing to modern travel ways.
You can't duck in and out of air-
planes—or jam yourself in crowded
subways—with a broad -brimmed
hat in the way.
Getting down to details, these
microscopic hats are trimmed al-
most invariably with ribbon bows
or feathers.
Shapes vary from modified tri-
cornes and bashed -in Tyroleans to
little saucers with irregular rims,
but they all take 'care to leave the
entire back (and half the top) of
the head completely uncovered.
They all have a tendency to tip
down well over the forehead or over
one eye.
Equal Status
Means Equal
Responsibility
National President Canadian
Women's Institutes Issues
Warning
VANCOUVER. — Women hold
out for equal status with mien and
yet many refuse to accept the re-
sponsibility of citizenship, Mrs.
Herbert McGregor, Penticton,
B. C., president of British Col-
umbia
olumbia women's institutes, told
delegates attending the eighth
biennial convention here.
Mrs. McGregor is also national
president of the Federated Wom-
en's Institutes of Canada.
"Three years ago our Federal
convener of legislation suggested
as topics of study juvenile delin-
quency and the Borstal system.
Only four of the nine provinces
report co-operation," she said.
"This general apathy or stoic
indifferenee on the part of women
is to be regretted. We may awak-
en too late to find our security
undermined by elements we night
have guided."
The Roan Colt
His awkward legs have not learned
how.
To ease the rhythm of a plow;
The harness on his back is not
Like anything he has been taught.
He shakes his, head; his back is
wet;
He pulls to pay an unknown debt,
His years of laboring begin
To earn his dole frons' stack and
bin.
I know there is no help for it
As long as time controls the
Course,
But I must always grieve a bit
To see a colt become a horse.
—Keith Thomas in the New
York Times.
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Englishwomen
Most Elegant
England Takes Style Honors
According to Hollywood
Dress Designer
Englishwomen are the only
really elegant women in the
world, says expert Mrs. George
Schlee, Hollywood star dress
creator, who is in London on a
visit.
"Even when they have bad
taste, it is so perfectly bad that
it has a quality of its own," she
said.
"Of course, we are charmed by
Paris fashions, but they are at a
very `dangerous age' at the mo-
ment.
"American women have the best
taste, and our wholesale produc-
tion is the best in the world, but
as a nation all honors go to the
Englishwomen as the most ele-
gant." •
Mexico Discusses
Woman's Suffrage
Estimated Amendment Wouid
Add 1,000,000 Voters
To Country
MEXICO CITY.—The Chamber
of Deputies last week began dis-
cussion of the proposed woman's
suffrage amendment to the con-
stituti on.
The amendment already has
been passed by the Senate and if
-sit is approved in the Chamber, it
will be sent to the states for
ratification.
It is estimated the amendment
would add approximately 1,000,-
000 voters throughout the coun-
try. The - newspaper Universal,
however, pointed out that the
amendment would have virtually
no political effect inasmuch as
Mexico ,functions under a single
government -party system.
Buying Wives
By Instalment
Instalment -buying is not pecul-
iar to civilized countries because
the Zande tribe of African Bush-
men buy their wives that way, a
missionary reports.
Myrtle L. Wilson, of Muncie,
Ind., returning to New York on
the liner President Harrison, said
the current quotation for a Zande
wife was $4.50 or its equivalent
in fishing, hunting or fanning im-
plements.
"When a wife is purchased on
the instalment plan," she said,
"Fthe deal is virtually the sanie as
is the purchase of an automobile
here. If the husband fails to meet
the payments, the girl's father or
brothers come around and reclaim
her."
strikes the happy medium
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