Newspapers / Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.) / Feb. 14, 1935, edition 1 / Page 6
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PAGE SIX ThaSfe K Mi 1I?1 By S. S. V/ Wh n Vance and 1 arrived at the t Coc house, Markham and Sergeant Heath were already there. There was j p. dec.ecthe from the homicide bureau sitting glumly on the front steps ^ We went to the second tit < r, j walked back toward the front of the house, and entered Grassi's quarters. The curtains wore drawn and all the , lights were on. Heath and Markham stood at the foot of Grassi's bed. looking at the prostrate figure lying there. Sitting ] in a straight chair, on the opposite side of the bed, was a capable look- j ing man of about forty. "This is Doctor Lobsenz," Markham I informed Vance. "Gamble called him in." 2 T". 1.*,.AAari i fVl-'OI.-Ui IWIV^Il UVVi'iVU. and went on about his work with swift efficiency. Grassi lay on his back, clad in white silk pajamas. He was ghastly pale, ami the. arm nearest us moved restlessly on the sheets, like that of a person under the influence of hyoscin. There was an area of blood, perhaps 12 inches in diameter, on the sheet at his left side nearest the doctor. His pajama coat was also stained ; with blooo. His eyes were closed, but his lips were moving incoherently. Presently the doctor rose. F think that's all I can do for 1 him at the minute, Mr. Markham," he ' said. "I'll send for the ambulance i immediately. * Markham nodded. "Thank you. Doc- * tor." 1 Then he turned to Vance. ' Grassi was stabhed through the loft arm. Doctor Lobsenz says it is 11 not a dangerous wound." !; vance's eyes were on Grassi's pal- < lid face. Without looking up he spoke. ' "Just what is the nature of the ' wound, doctor?" ' "He was stabbed at the outer bor- ! tier of the biceps tendon, where it crosses the dimple of the anti-cubital 1 fossa. The thrust punctured the median basilic vein and caused a pro- 1 fuse hemorrhage But it luckily missed the basilic, artery." ' "What shaped weapon would you 1 say was u3ed ?" asked Vance. ' The doctor hesitated. ' "The wound was a bit ragged, and of a rather peculiar conformation; it 1 was not made with a knife, but with J some instrument like a very thick awl." 1 "Could it have, been a small dagger with a diamond-shaped biade?" ; "Yes, very easily." Vance nodded. "You're taking him 1 to the hospital?" i "Yes; immediately," the doctor told 1 him. "I gave him three grains of sodium-aniytal by mouth. It'll quiet him J tonight and he'il be able to return here tomorrow. His arm will be in 1 a sung lor a few daj'S, but unless there is an infection, there's no dan"Is he in shape to be questioned for a while before you take him to the hospital?" Vance asked. 1 Tlie doctor bent, over Grassi, felt i his pulse, and looked at his pupils. "Oh. vea " Hi? widlced frr.ursird tbr- ? door. "The ambulance won't be here s for half an hour." He went into the hall where Gamble was standing*. * "Where's the phone?" we heard him ask the butler. t Doctor Lobsenz was no sooner out s of the rooni than Grassi opened hie i eyes and looked up at us, shifting in the bed and trying to assume a more t upright position. Vance arranged the t pillows under his shoulders and drew f up the sheet. "Thank God you've come'" Grassi o said, his eyes resting on Vance. "Af- t ter all that has occurred today?then t to have this happen. It's terrible! T hope I never see this house again." n He gave a shudder and his eyes d closed "Well, anyway, you weren't killed," 11 Vance murmured. p He was now walking around the b room. He looked carefully at the n door, tried the knob; studied the ar- ? rangeinent" of Grassi's shoes near the foot of the bed; opened the closet fdoor and looked inside; moved to the t< east window, opened the shade and tl drew it again; took the lid off a small o ivoried clothes hamper, scrutinized the contents and replaced the lid; o studied the arrangement of the furniture; and finally switched the lights h pff and on again. >' Grassi's lids were half-closed, but s I could see that his eyes followed ev- 1; ery move that Vance made. When Vance had switched the lights back r on, Graasi lifted himself on one el- s bow. ""what are you searching for?" he i demanded. "What right have you to f come in here and take advantage of my helplessness?" i Vance sat down in a chair beside z the bed and calmly took out a cig- i arette. lighting it with leisurely de- : liberation. "Is it not," he asked, "the custom 1 in your country, Mr. Grassi, to look over a room in which a crime?or an ; attempted crime?has been, commit- j jflk ennellj 4fder III :se ??I in dinet ;?.\l ?" "Well, what did you find?" de rnandeu the man on the bed. Nothing ready cxcitin\" Vance replied "Suppose you tell us what happened." Grassi settled back on the pillows. "Certainly- I went to bed early. I was fatigued?the excitement today .1 am sure you will understand. It was about eleven o'clock?and I went to sleep immediately. I was exhausted ?" "You turned out the lights?" Vance asked casually. "Naturally. And 1 aiso drew down the shades. The street lights are often annoying. ... I was awakened by 5ome slight noise- I cannot say exactly what. But I lay quiet for a moment, listening, and hearing nothing further, started to doze off again when I suddenly became aware?I do not know exactly how to ovpiair. it of the' presence of somebody in the room. There was no noise or movement -I had a sort of sixth sense." "Perhaps you are psychic," suggested Vance, with a slight yawn. "It may be." Grassi agreed. "At any rate. I kept perfectly still and let my eyes move about the room. But it was very dark?there was only a faint nimbu3 of light filtering through the drawn shades. But as I looked at the window I saw a vague shape pass in front of me, and I instinctively threw my left arm across my breast, as if to ward off something which I felt was endangering uv, tinv > iiit.li x uiu not. uiiuciiiianu. Mmost simultaneously I felt a sharp stinging pain in my left arm, just ibove the elbow--and a curious -sort raj pressure. Wliethcr it was the pair Dr whether it was from being starLied and frightened I do not know, but T lost consciousness for a moment. I probably fainted. . . "When I regained consciousness I felt a warm, sticky wetness under my left side, and the pain in my arm had increased and was throbbing." Grass; looked at Markham appealingly. Then his eyes moved to Heath and finally to Vance. Vance was placidly smoking, as if the man's recital bad little or no interest for him. But I knew him well enough to realize that he was at this moment intensely absorbed in the recital. "What did you do them"" Vance isked. Orassi took a deep breath and igain closed his eyes. "I called out several times and waited; but as no one answered, I iveso and pressed the electric switch by the dcor?" "On which side of the bed did you arise?" Vance interrupted. "On the side on which you arc sitting," Grassi informed him._"A nri a? 3ooii as I had turned on the lights, r opened the door?" Vances" eyebrows went up. ' Ah, the door was closed?" "Not ?iuite. It was, as you say. unlatched. . . Then I called again? nto the hall; and the butler?upstairs ?answered me. I sat down on the idge of the bed and waited until he irrived. . . ." "Did anyone else answer your sumnons?" "No. The butier went immediately o the telephone in the hall, downitairs, and T could hear him summonne medical assiit-rncc;" Vance rose slowly and walked to a leautiful old Boule cabinet between he two east windows, and ran his ingers over the inlay. "I say, Mr. Grassi"?he spoke without. turning around?"what about the ?lood-stained bath towel in that hamler?" Grassi glanced up with more alerticss than he had shown at any time luring the conversation. "There wa^ a bath towel on this ittle stand beside the bed," he exlained. "You sec. I have no private ath and the butler always leaves le my bath towel at night. When I rose I wrapped it around my arm?" "Ah, yes?quite so." Vance turned rorn the Boule cabinet and walked award the door. "That accounts for he fact that there are no bloodstains n the floor." Vance was now inspecting the lock f the door. "How did it happen, Mr. Grassi," ie asked in an offhand manner, "that ou didn't lock your door before you aid your prayers and went to bed ast night?" "The lock does not work," Grassi eturned in a tone of injured defimce. At this moment a siren was heard n the street, and Vance went to the ront window and looked out. "The ambulance is here," he anion need. "We hope, Mr. Grassi, that you have a quiet night, and that we will see you tomorrow feeling quite yourself again." Dr. Lobscnz appealed at the door with Gamble. "Through with my patient?" he asked. "If so, Til get some clothes on iiiiu i*xiu lake him along." [ir A HP A T TP A nPUffPPTJ A T?TT V"ITo"i iiiiAitvvtit i^uiuwikrt X"?JCi V Jlii\ J Loving Lather .V Miss Rose 1<giir. Daughter oi the ;*J KiuKftli, Tells Newspapermen jc That "Pop's" the Stuff. h ... fflBSKF . t New York.- Above is a most recent picture of Miss Rose Long, daughter of "Kingfish" Senator Huey P. Long and Mrs. Long of Louisiana. Miss Long was here with her mother on a shopping tour. In an interview with newspaper men, the comely Mis3 Long described her highly-publicized father as the "lovingest, kindest dad in the world?7 Vance nodded. "Thank you. Doctor, and good lack. . . . And now, Markham, suppose wc go downstairs to the library and dc a 1 bit of thinking although it's a beast ly hour for mentation. ..." After Grassi, accompanied by Doctor Lobsenz, had departed, Vance , closed the library doors and walked ' to the large center table. "There it is, Markham, old dear," ' he said with a grim smile, pointing to the Chinese dagger before him. The dagger lay on the library table in almost exactly the same spot where we had left it the afternoon before: but now there was undried blood upon it and its condition told us. only too plainly, that it was the weapon which had been used to strike thru Grassi's arm. "But why,"' asked Markham with a puzzled frown, should the man who attempted to kill Grassi bring the weapon back here to the library?" "Probably," replied Vance, "for the same reason that the. person who stabbed Archer and Brisbane Coe put the dagger in the vase in this same room. At least there's u certain consistency in the actions of our stabber. "You think," asked Markham, "that ! the same person who stabbed the Goes 1 attempted Grassi's life also?" "Why leap at conclusions?"sighed ' Vance. "There arc so many other tilings to be ascertained before we can reach any intelligent conclusion." "For instance?" Vance arranged himself comfortably in a large chair. "Well," he said, inhaling deeply on his cigarette. "I cquld endure to hear the various persons inside and outside the house chant their runes as to what they know of tonight's h;?nponinga. . . . And there are other things which might bear casual scrutiny-' to wit: Why did CJrasai's call for help not arouse Miss Lake on the third floor ere it penetrated to Gamble's ears? And what hath yon Cerebus on the front stone step3 to say about those who may have come and gone tonight? And where, and doing what, was the subtle Mr. Liang during the upheaval ? And also what of the doughty guard which I asked to have stationed in Archer Coe's bedroom tonight?" Heath, who during the entire time we had brer, at the house had been in a state of silent but aggressive indecision, stood up and squared his shoulders. "Well, Mr. Vance, we will get all of your questions answered pronto. I'm The "liquid test" ... it ENDS bowel worries for many people This is a test that tells you whether the system needs a cathartic change. If you have constant sluggish spells or bilious attacks, and laxatives seem to make things worse, it would be wise to try this: Stop ail use of any laxative that does not encourage variation from a "fixed dose" (which may be entirely too large a dose for vour individual need). Use instead, a liquid laxative that you can measure and regulate as to dose. As necessary to repeal, take smaller doses, less and less often, until the bowels are moving without any help at all. Doctors use liquid laxatives, and a property prepared liquid laxative, containing natural laxative agents like senna air* ensearo is a joy and a comfort; a real help in establishing regularity. Ask your doctor about this I (Doctors use liquid laxatives.) You caD get Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin, which is a most dependable liquid laxative, at any drug store. SYRUP PEPSIN r TUTTPCr>A^r r?/-v/"v*rtr -kt n L lnUlioL'ni xi. v. LVCHINERY SHOULD BE | INSPECTED BEFORE WORK 32 I la Get your farm machinery ready for 111 .otk before the spring rush starts, rges Professor David Weaver, agriultural engineer at N. C. State Coli*ge. | The first step is to inspect ali ma- j binery carefully, he says, and make ( Im.anfisint n* mri'iirK np<vlpd and [ Ill IIK^WVV/IJ ?-? ? I" I he parts to be replaced. The parts should be ordered as eary as possible so they will arrive beore the machines must be used, lie xplains, and the repair work schedlled so that the machinery to be used irst will be repaired first. Look into the disk harrow bearings, xamine the plow points, handles, and traces, ascertain the number of new Darts needed, note the parts that, need resharpening, tightening cr cleaning. All harness gear 3hould be gone over thoroughly, cleaned and oiled when necessary. See that there are enough seed plates to handle all types of seed to be sown with the planter. Cultivators, mowing machines, and hinders should be gone over carefully. New blades, bearing3, sickles,, rollers gears, or chains may be needed. These machines should be so repaired and lubricated that they will operate smoothly and efficiently. This is only a brief outline of the things to be checked. Weaver points out, but the farmer who operates the machines should not have trouble in locating the defects if he gives them a careful inspection. CARD OF THANKS We wish to express out thanks to our many friends and neighbors for j their kindness and heipfulness during I the illness and death of our father. ( uarroJi rriveix. Clark Trivett, Brothers and Sisters. An alarming decrease in the catch of fish along the North Carolina coast lias caused fishermen in the Manteo 'section to organize in quest of government aid to tide them over the lean winter. telling the world I'd like to get the answers myself. I asked that detective out front who'd been in here to-1 night, and he said nobody. But we'll isk him again." come here, Sullivan," he bawled; and the dejected figure we had passed on the front steps came into the library. "A guy's been stabbed here," Heath blustered. "You told me no one had come in or gone out the front door. But this is serious business, and we want you to wrack your brain, if any, find tell us what you know." I Detective Sullivan was both! abashed and defiant. "I told you, Sergeant," he insist-; cxl. "that I've been sitting on those j steps since seven o'clock tonight and 1 nothing or nobody, so much as a j cockroach, has passed me, goin' or cominV' (CONTINUED NEXT WEEK) I AND THI 1 You Save IMone I 4 Leading Mag 10 Better Hoom & Garden*. .1T Q Delineator IT O McCali'a Magazine 11 Pathfinder (Weekly) 11 0 Pictorial Review 11 Open Road (Boy*) IT Parents' Magazine 8 M Spom Afield 1 Silver Screen 1 Woman's World 2' Household Magazine.... 2' 0 Needlecrait 2 0 Cloverleai Review 2 Home Circle ... ..2 choc* 1 maga*"? ?"*? ?' | We Cearaale* Thfm B Our arrangeasent wltb the p own representative enables ua I you tirb rtaolublc ofer. k I guaranteed, and al subufrjtfa 1 itUrc d promptly. g you m sent a subscriber to any of t) I tines, your time arii be extend THE WATAUGA DI ABLE TO BOTH N1 case of renewals tiny FEBRUARY 14, 1935 g The Philippine islands exported 5,- The Cumberland River ir. 7Iullta!. :4,S74 cigars to the United States 1 ee is regarded by engineers as one ? " I ?j? 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Watauga Democrat (Boone, N.C.)
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Feb. 14, 1935, edition 1
6
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