Newspapers / The Elkin Tribune (Elkin, … / April 28, 1938, edition 1 / Page 8
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KIDNAP MURMUR S.S.Van Dine e .-J ELEVENTH INSTALLMENT SYNOPSIS Kaspar Kenting disappears. Phllo Vance, District Attorney Markham and Sergeant Heath, of the Homicide bureau, question Kenyon Kenting and Mrs. Kent ing, Kaspar's brother and wife, in the presence of Eldridge Fleel, Kenting family attorney. Vance doubts the kidnaping story and further questions Weems, the but ler. Mrs. Kenting's mother, Mrs. Falloway, and son, Prainl Fallo way, and Porter Quaggy, racon teur friend of Kenting's and last person to be with him on the fatal night. All seem hostile to Kas par. At this time a ransom note arrives demanding $50,000 and freedom from the police. A dum my package is substituted for the money and secreted in a tree in Central Park. The police capture Mrs. Falloway, who admits pri vately to Vance she is really try ing to forestall an attempt by her son, Fraim, to take the money. She is not held. Immediately aft erward, Madelaine Kenting, wife of Kaspar, also disappears sud denly. "I I don't know," Falloway stammered. "I'm not familiar with such feminine matters. But I think emerald is wonderful so mysterious so exotic so sub tle." "You're quite right," murm mured Vance; and then he fo cused his gaze on Kenyon Kent ing. "All perfumes smell alike to me," was the man's annoyed as sertion before Vance could frame the question again. "I can't tell one from another except gar denia." "And how about you, Mr. Quag gy?" Vance asked lightly. "If you were giving a lady perfume, what scent would you select?" "I haven't yet been guilty of such foolishness," Quaggy replied. "I stick to flowers. They're easier. But if I were compelled to pre sent a fair creature with perfume, I'd first find out what she liked." "Quite a sensible point of view," murmmured Vance, rising as if with great effort and turning. "And now, I say, Sergeant, let's have a curs'ry look at that lad der." We walked down the front steps, and for the second time we 1 LISTEN TO THE STORY OF THE GENERAL ELECTRIC MAN!" HI f you could hear the chant of the millions of satisfied own ers you would know why the General Electric Refrigerator 1. so LOW IN COST. 2. SO QUIET IN OPERATION. 3. SO. "EVERLASTINGLY" GOOD. APRIL 28th and 29th ARE "RED LETTER DAYS" LET THE GENERAL ELECTRIC MAM TELL YOU WHY! Elkin Plumbing & Heating Company Phone 254 Elkin, N. C. "You'll Always Be Glad You Bought a General Electric"' went through the street gate leading into the yard. The short grass was entirely dry, and the ground had com pletely hardened since the rain two nights ago. Vance again bent "over at the foot of the ladder Heath held the flashlight. "There's no need to fear any spoiling your adored footprints to night, Sergeant, the ground is much too hard." Vance straight ened up after a moment and moved the ladder slightly to the right, as he had done the previous morning. "And don't get Jittery about finger-prints, Sergeant," he went on. "I'm quite convinced you'll find none. This ladder, I opine, is merely a stage-prop, as it were; and the person who set it here was clever enough to have used gloves." He bent over again and inspect ed the lawn, but rose almost im mediately. "Not the slightest depression only a few blades of grass crushed. ... I say, sergente mio, it's your turn to step on the ladder l'm frightfully tired." Heath immediately clambered up five or six rungs and then de scended; and Vance again moved the ladder a few inches. Both he and Heath now knelt down and scrutinized the ground. "Observe," said Vance, as he rose to his feet, "that the uprights make a slight depression in the soil, even with the weight of only one person pressing upon the lad der. . . . Let's go inside again and dispense our adieux." On re-entering the house Vance immediately joined Kenting at the entrance to the drawing room and announced to him, as well as to the others inside, that we were going, and that the house would be taken over shortly by the police. "I might as well be going along myself," said Kenting despondent ly. "Oh, quite," returned Vance, without looking at the man. "Go home, by all means." The man seemed grateful. Tak ing his hat from the hall bench, he hurried out the front door. Quaggy's eyes followed the de parting man. "I guess I'll be getting along, too," he said finally, with a note of interrogation in his voice. "I may go, I suppose?" There was a THE ELKIN TRIBUNE, ELKIN. NORTH CAROLINA suggestion of sneering belliger ence in his tone. "That's quite all right," Vance told him pleasantly. "You prob ably need a bit of extra sleep, don't y.' know, after your recent all-night vigil." "Thanks," muttered Quaggy sarcastically, keeping his eyes down. And he, too, left the house. When the front door had closed after him, Fleel looked up rather apologetically. "What do you make of this sec ond terrible episode tonight?" he asked. "Really, y' know," Vance was covertly watching the man "it is far too early to arrive at any definite conclusions. Perhaps to morrow. . ." His voice faded away. Fleel straightened up with an effort and moved forward reso lutely. "I think I too will be going." He spoke in a weary tone and I noticed that his hand trembled slightly as he picked up his hat and adjusted it. "Cheerio," said Vance as the lawyer turned at the front door and bowed stiffly to us. Meanwhile Fraim Falloway had risen from his place on the daven port. He now moved silently past us, with a drawn look on his face, and Jtrudged heavily up the stairs. Falloway had barely time to reach the first landing when the telephone resting on a small wob bly stand in the hall began ring ing. Keem suddenly appeared from the dimness of the rear hall and picked up the receiver with a blunt "hello." He listened for a moment; then laying down the re ceiver, turned sullenly in our di rection. "It's a call for Sergeant Heath," he announced. The sergeant went quickly to the telephone and put the receiver to his ear. "Well, what is it?" he started belligerently. ". . . Sure it's the Sarge—shoot- . . . Well, for the love of—Hold a minute." He clapped his hand over the mouth piece and swung about quickly. "Where'll we be in half an hour. Chief?" "We'll be at Mr. Vance's apart "Listen, you," he fairly bawled; "we'll be at Mr. Vance's apart ment in East 38th street. Know where it is? . . . That's right and make it snappy." He banged down the receiver. "Important, is it. Sergeant?" asked Mark ham. "I'll say it is,." Heath stepped quickly away from the telephone table. "Let's get going, sir. I'll tell you about it on the way down. Snltkin's meeting us at Mr. Vance's apartment. Just as Markham and Heath and I turned to follow Vance, there came, from somewhere out side, a startling and ominous rat tle that sounded like the staccato and rapid sputtering of a machine gun. Then came the explosive excla mation of the sergeant, who was at my side. Then he suddenly sprang forward past Vance and, Jerking the front door open, hur ried out into the warm summer night without a word to any one. The rest of us followed close be hind him. Heath was now breaking into a run ahead of us, and Markham and I had difficulty keeping pace with Vance as he, too, lengthened his stride. Just this side of the Nottingham hotel at the corner, a small group of excited men were gathered un der the bright light of the lamp post set between two trees along the curb. There, leaning in a crouching attitude against the iron lamp post, was Fleel. His face was deathly pale. I have yet to see so unmistakable a picture of col lapse from fright as he presented. He was as pitiful a figure as I have ever looked at, huddled be neath the unflattering glare of the large electric light overhead, as he leaned weakly for support against the lamppost. "That was a close call," he mut tered. "They almost got me." "Who almost got you, Mr. Fleel?" asked Vance. "Didn't you see it all?" he asked, his voice high and unna tural. "I was on my way to the comer, to get a taxicab, when a car drove up from behind me. I naturally paid no attention to it until it suddenly swerved toward the curb and stopped with a screeching of brakes, just as I reached this street light. As I turned round to see what it was, a small machine gun was thrust over the ledge of the open window of the car and the firing began. I instictively grasped this iron post and crouched down. After a number of shots the car jerked forward. I admit I was too AT A COST OF LESS THAN Vs-CENT PER TON-MILE, stock model 11/2-tonl 1 /2-ton Chevrolet truck travels , 10,102.4 miles carrying 4590-lb. load. U 5 \\ CIRTIFIIP // ; V. tut /y NO TESTS are more rigidly supervised and " exacting than tests conducted under the SANCTION No 38*2 supervision of the Contest Board of the American HHpMkHHB Automobile Association. All figures listed in the READ THESE AMAZING column at the right are facts— certified and con- dfdcadiiALi/"r rim r r,i r ]• I UIIUHWANNi I Avljlta vincing proof of the great performance quahties and dollar-saving economy of Chevrolet trucks! Total mileage covered . . 10,162.4 miles Modernize your truck equipment now. Save # Payfaml Wefftlt ...... 4,590 lb. money all ways with Chevrolet trucks—with low _ ... _ . ... Gross weight 8,2 M) lb. first cost, low operating cost, low maintenance expense —and with rugged, durable Chevrolet con- AWfIJBSpMi. •••••• 30 72 84.1 L struction that gives extra thousands of miles of Total gasofin consumed . 6715 cpaWe. ...irfying operation. M»« p. IUJ C*iwrJ Matort Irutmlmmt Plan—Convmienl, Economical Monthly Paym*nl». Oil rnnCHttlail 111 , . A Gmm-ol M«or, VOu.. llqU^S i^m war mm Total cast (gas, OR, lubrication) . $144.72 Total per toa-nile cost $.00312 , . . . ■ F-W Chevrolet Company 'hone 255 ff Elkin, N. C. frightened to notice which way it turned." "But at least, yeu were not hit, Mr. Fleel?" "No, thank Heaven lor that," he muttered. "And," Vance continued, "the car couldn't have been over ten feet away from you. A very poor shot, I should say. You were lucky, sir, this time." He spun round quickly to Quaggy, who had taken a step or two back ward from the frightened man. "I don't quite understand your be ing here, Mr. Quaggy. Surely, you've had more than ample time to ensconce yourself safely in your boudoir." Quaggy stepped forward resent fully. "I was in my aparement. As you can see," —he pointed indig nantly to his two open front win dows in the nearby hotel "my lights are on. When I got to my rooms I didn't go directly to bed— I hope it wasn't a crime. I went to the front window and stood there for a few minutes, trying to get a breath of fresh air. Then I caught sight of Mr. Fleel coming up the street he had apparent ly just left the Renting house and behind him came a car. And when I heard the machine gun, and saw the spits of fire coming through the window, and also saw Mr. Fleel grasp the lamppost and sink down, I thought he had been shot. I naturally dashed down so here I am. . . . Anything illegal in that procedure?" "No oh, no," smiled Vance. "Quite normal. Far more normal, in fact, than if you had gone im mediately to bed without a bit of airin' by the open window." He glanced at Quaggy with an enig matical smlie. "By the by," he went on, "did you, by any chance, note what type of car it was that attacked Mr. Fleel?" "No, I didn't get a very good look at it," Quaggy returned in a chilly tone. "And the color?" prompted Vance. "It was a dingy, nondescript color." Heath was watching Quaggy shrewdly. "Yeah?" he said, skeptically. "Which way did it go?" • "I really didn't notice. I caught only a glimpse of it as it started toward the park." "A fine bunch of spectators," Heath snorted. "I'll see about that car myself." And he started run ning toward Central Park West. As he neared the comer a bur ly figure in uniform turned sud denly into 86th street from the south, and almost collided with the sergeant. By the bright cor ner light I could see that the new comer was McLauxhlin. "What was it, sergeant?" His breathless, excited query carried down to us. "I heard the shots, and been trying to locate 'em. Did they come outa this street?" "You're damn tootln', Mc- Laughlin," replied Heath, and, grasping the officer by the arm, he swung him about, and the two started off again. "My word, such energy!" sighed Vance when Heath and the offi cer were out of sight. "The coupe could be at 110 th street by this time and thus the mad search would end. Heath is all action and no mentation. Sad, sad . . . Vital ingredient of the police rou tine, I imagine eh, what, Mark ham?" Then he turned to Fleel. "Peel ing better?" he asked pleasantly. "I'm all right now," the lawyer returned, taking a wobbly step or two forward. "That's bully," Vance said con solingly. "Do you want an escort home?" "No, thanks," said Pleel, in a voice that was still dazed. "I'll make it all right." He turned /THECAMEL BUYERS BOUGHT THE BEST 10TC\ .At* yftT 1 OF MV LAST CROP. THEY TOOK JUST ABOUT / CV*Ry TOP GRADE IOT AT Ail THE SALES I I WENT TO. I PREFER CAMELS FOR AW OWN S V SMOKING. I KNOW THERE'S FINER TOBAGO fl THEM. VOU'U. FIND THAT MOST OTHER PLANTERS PREFER CAMELS, TOO , J Hendowoo Carroll has bom growing tobacco for 18 years "A TEN like Mr. Carroll, with a lifetime's experience JLVI in growing tobacco, know that one cigarette— Camel-is made from finer, MORE EXPENSIVE TOBACCOS. So it means a lot when they say that most smokers who grow tobacco smoke Camels themselves. Make Camel your cigarette too. Thursday, April 28, 1938 shakily toward Central Park West. "ITI pick up a taxicab." "Queer episode," commented Vance, as If to himself. "Fits in rather nicely, though. Lucky for your lawyer friend, Markham, that the gentleman in the green coupe wasn't a better shot, . Ah, well, we might as well toddle to the corner and await the ener getic sergeant. Really, y' know, Markham, there's no use gazing at the lamppost any longer." (Continued next week.) Nowadays 'most any young squirt who has a sheepskin can pull the wool over the eyes of the average employer. SHADY SPOT LAWN GRASS Does Exceptionally Well in Shade F.A.Brendle & Son Elkin, N. C.
The Elkin Tribune (Elkin, N.C.)
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April 28, 1938, edition 1
8
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