1
_A Crack Shot_
Professor Fordney was hunting in the Rockies when informed of a tragedy
at one of the camps. Thinking he might be of some help, he went over,
and, after introducing himself, Butler, the victim’s companion, told him
of the accident.
‘When Marshall hadn’t returned to camp at nine o’clock last night, I was
a bit worried because he didn’t know these mountains. There wasn’t a
star out and it was dark and moonless, so I decided to look around for
him. We’re five miles from anyone, you know.
‘Putting more wood on the fire, I set out. After searching for an hour,
I was coming up the slope of a ravine when I saw a pair of eyes shining
out at me in the dark.
‘Calling twice, and getting no answer, I fired, thinking it was a
mountain lion. Imagine my horror when I reached the spot, struck a
match, and saw I had nearly blown the head off Marshall. A terrible
experience!
‘I carried his body back to camp and then walked to the nearest house to
report the accident.’
‘How far from camp did you find Marshall?’ asked Fordney.
‘About a quarter of a mile.’
‘I see your right hand is bandaged. How do you manage to shoot with it?’
‘Oh, I use either hand.’
‘Mind if I look at the gun?’
‘Not at all,’ said Butler, handing it over.
‘H’m, European make, I see. Had it long?’
‘No, it’s rather new.’
‘Why did you deliberately murder Marshall?’ demanded Fordney abruptly
... ‘for that’s what you did.’
How did the Professor know Butler had murdered his companion?
2
_On the Scent_
‘I couldn’t wait to be announced,’ said George Collins, Florida’s
foremost prohibition agent, and a great wit, as he stepped into the
Professor’s office.
‘How long are you going to be in New York?’ asked Fordney, as the two
friends shook hands.
‘I’m due back in Miami now,’ replied Collins, ‘but I wanted to
congratulate you on your success in the Hicks murder case. I wish
interesting things like that would happen in my game. However, I did
have an amusing experience last December.
‘Sneaky Joe, a stool-pigeon, tipped me off to a huge still he said was
working about forty miles from headquarters. A narrow road through dense
woods led to the spot. Arriving there, I found an old dilapidated shanty
screened by trees. As I entered the woods, I smelled alcohol. Sneaky Joe
was right, after all, I thought, as I drove up to the shanty.
‘I got out and peered cautiously around, but the place seemed deserted.
After opening the door and entering the house, however, I knew liquor
was not being made there. I searched the woods, but found nothing. As I
was driving back along the road at a good rate, I discovered the alcohol
I smelled was coming from my own radiator! Imagine my chagrin!’
The Professor laughed heartily and said to his friend, ‘Stay over for my
birthday party tonight, the ladies would love to hear that yarn of
yours.’
What did the Professor find preposterous in Collins’s story?
3
_Fatal Error_
‘Crowley was an eccentric and taciturn old fellow, but I liked him,’
remarked Fordney. ‘When he was found dead last December, I took a
personal interest in the case. Harold Bronson, his last known caller,
had this to say of his visit:
‘“After leaving word at my hotel where I might be reached if wanted, I
arrived at Crowley’s suburban estate shortly after five o’clock. I found
him seated in the dusk at the end of his library table. Courteously
enough for him, he waved me into a chair at the other end and invited me
to dine with him at eight o’clock. Reaching for my cigarettes, I
remembered that Crowley did not permit smoking.
‘“His principal contributions to our discussion were his usual nods of
approval, grunts, and monosyllables. Very sparing of words, was Mr.
Crowley.
‘“About seven o’clock the telephone rang and he asked me to answer it.
It was my wife asking me to return at once to see an unexpected visitor.
Finishing the conversation, I returned to my chair and, after I
explained the call, Crowley nodded assent to my request to leave
immediately.
‘“On the way out, as the lights had not been turned on, I bumped my
head, which explains this bruise. Just as I reached the door, he called
after me—‘See you tomorrow at ten.’ He was certainly all right when I
left him shortly after seven.”
‘Although Bronson’s telephone alibi was later proved sound, he had
hardly finished his story before I was convinced he was implicated,’
concluded Fordney.
What directed suspicion to Bronson?
4
_The Poison Murder Case_
‘I’m going to the theater now,’ Bob Kewley told Professor Fordney at
their club. ‘I wish you’d spend the evening with Uncle John. He’s been
worried lately.’
Upon reaching the Kewley home an hour later, Fordney found the butler in
an agitated state.
‘After ordering coffee, Mr. Kewley locked himself in his library an hour
ago, sir. When I rapped on the door just now, he didn’t answer.’
The two men forced the lock and found John Kewley on the floor, an empty
strychnine bottle at his side. The terrace door was open. After a
careful examination, Fordney returned home. A few hours later, Bob
Kewley entered his living-room.
‘Thought I’d stop in on my way home. Don’t you think Uncle John looks
worried?’
‘Your uncle, Bob, is dead. Strychnine. Your butler and I found him lying
on the floor, but were too late to save him.’
‘How horrible, Fordney! Why was the library door locked, do you
suppose?’
‘That puzzles me. Has your butler been with you long?’
‘For years,’ replied Bob, his head buried in his hands.
‘Well, you’re a wealthy man now.’
‘What of it? Uncle John meant more to me than all the money in the
world.’
‘I wish I could believe that,’ replied Fordney. ‘You’ll need a better
alibi than those,’ pointing to the ticket stubs Bob was nervously
fingering.
How had Kewley aroused the Professor’s suspicions?
5
_A Strange ‘Kidnaping’_
‘I haven’t the faintest idea why I was kidnaped,’ said Johnson to
Professor Fordney, an hour after he returned home. ‘I never miss Sunday
evening services, you know, so I’m afraid I haven’t much time to discuss
it now.’
‘Oh, just a brief account of your experience is all that is necessary,’
remarked the Professor.
So Johnson proceeded.
‘I was walking along Burnham Street about 2 A.M. Friday when two masked
men, with drawn guns, ordered me into a blue sedan. I was blindfolded
and gagged. After driving for about an hour, I was led into a house and
down some stairs to a small room, where they removed my blindfold and
gag. They took off my outer clothing and hung it on a chair. Then they
questioned me at length about the Shirley case and refused to believe I
knew nothing of it.
‘Exasperated, they threatened to kill me, and when I remonstrated, one
of them hit me on the head with a black-jack and I went down
unconscious.
‘The next thing I knew was when I came to with a terrific headache. I
lay still for a few minutes and, hearing nothing but the ticking of my
watch, I cautiously got to my feet and groped for the door, as the room
was in darkness. Before I could locate it, two men, still masked,
entered, turned on the light, apologized profusely for the treatment I
had received, and said they had mistaken me for someone else. Then they
gave me something to eat, blindfolded me again, and drove me to within a
block of my home, still apologizing for the mistake. Before I could
remove my blindfold after getting out of the car, it had sped away.
‘It’s all very mysterious to me. I can’t make anything of it.’
‘I won’t give you away, Johnson,’ smiled the Professor. ‘Your wife
undoubtedly believes your yarn, but you’d better think up a better one
the next time.’
What flaw did the Professor find in Johnson’s story which proved the
‘kidnaping’ was a fake?
6
_A Valuable Formula_
‘I had just stepped behind that screen near the door to wash my hands
when a man, gun in hand, entered the room and stood motionless for a few
seconds,’ said Hyde. ‘Apparently satisfied no one was here, he walked to
the desk over there by the window. As he rummaged through the papers in
the drawer, I hastily dialed headquarters, leaving the receiver off the
hook, trusting you would trace the call. I was afraid to talk because I
was unarmed and he looked like a desperate fellow.’
‘You say he took nothing but a valuable formula from your desk?’
inquired the Professor.
‘That’s all; he touched nothing else.’
‘Rather careless to leave such an important paper lying about like that,
wasn’t it?’
‘Well, I suppose so, though it was only a copy. I sold the original to
Schmitz yesterday for twenty thousand dollars and I intended to destroy
the duplicate tonight.’
‘Would that formula be valuable to anyone else?’
‘Yes, it would be worth twice as much to Schmitz’s competitors.’
‘Why didn’t you sell it to them in the first place, then?’
‘Schmitz financed me while I was perfecting the formula, so I thought it
only right to sell it to him, even though I could have got more for it
from the other firm.’
‘As this is such a small, bright room and you observed so much through
that crack in the screen,’ said Fordney sarcastically, ‘you should be
able to give us a _very_ good description of the intruder.’
‘Oh, I can do that,’ Hyde replied, with assurance. ‘He was a big fellow
about six feet tall and weighed around two hundred pounds. He had
jet-black hair, swarthy complexion, an unusually large nose, and a
vicious-looking mouth. As he left obviously unaware of my presence, I
noticed he had a big rip in the back of his blue coat.’
‘Well, Hyde, as part of your story is incredible, you can’t expect me to
believe any of it.’
Why did the Professor say this?
7
_Strangled_
‘Twenty-two days of this hot, dry spell,’ groaned Professor Fordney. ‘I
can’t remember a stretch like it.’
‘Tell us about the Greer case, Professor,’ urged the rocking-chair
brigade. ‘It’ll take your mind off the heat.’
‘Well, you know the salient facts. The body of Irene Greer, lying on the
railroad right-of-way, was found half a mile from here by a fishing
party at 6 A.M. day before yesterday. It could be seen that she was a
beautiful girl despite the tousled hair matted with mud and a nasty
bruise on her cheek. Her flaming red dress was torn and dirty. She had
on shoes, but no stockings. Incidentally, her clothes were of the finest
quality. Her body indicated that she had received a terrific beating,
poor girl.
‘From appearances she had been placed on the track with the expectation
that she would be struck by a train and identification made impossible.
No doubt she was unconscious when this was done, but she must have
revived temporarily and crawled to the gravel right-of-way before a
train came along. There she died.
‘A peculiar circumstance is that, while her body was bruised and
twisted, there were no marks on her throat to indicate strangulation,
yet Dr. Bridewell says that was the cause of death.
‘She was found in a desolate spot. Oh, yes, she was probably strangled
with a scarf which, employed in a certain manner, would leave no outward
trace.
‘Now you folks should know how I learned Irene Greer was attacked
elsewhere and then brought to the vicinity where she was found,’ smiled
the Professor.
Do you?
8
_Death in the Office_
When Professor Fordney reached Gifford’s office, he found a policeman
already there.
‘Gifford’s dead,’ he was told. ‘What brings you here?’
‘He telephoned me a few minutes ago; said he had been shot; then I had a
hard time understanding him. This street is on your beat, isn’t it?’
‘Yes. I heard the shot when I was in Smith’s cigar store. It took me a
while to locate it. The door was locked and I had to break in.’
As they walked into an inner office, they saw Gifford’s body, a bullet
through the heart, lying in a pool of blood.
Fordney stooped to pick up a revolver.
‘It’s an easy jump to the ground,’ observed the policeman, who was
standing by an open window.
‘Did you know, sir,’ he added, ‘that Gifford has been troubled lately by
blackmailers?’
‘Yes. The last time I saw him, he told me he had been shot at a couple
of weeks ago.’
Fordney walked over to the door and found the lock was sprung, but the
key still in it.
‘I suppose,’ ventured the policeman, ‘that the blackmailers got him.
They must have locked the door from the inside when they entered, shot
him, and then jumped out the window.’
‘No,’ said Fordney, who was examining the key he had removed from the
lock. ‘There weren’t any murderers in here. Gifford committed suicide.’
Why was the Professor sure that it was suicide?
9
_They Usually Forget Something_
‘Here is a good illustration of the old bromide that the smartest
criminal leaves some clue in even the most carefully planned crime,’
mused Professor Fordney.
‘While in Colshire, a beautiful little English village, I was asked by
the local police to assist them in a rather puzzling affair.
‘Suspicion of a particularly brutal murder had been directed toward an
illiterate underworld character. He was accused of sending the following
note found in the murdered man’s pocket:
_sir john when i last seen you i sed i will kill you if the muney
ain’t here by mundy; all of it_
_yurs truly,_
_XX_
‘When Wellington, the Chief Constable, asked my opinion, I told him the
writer of the note, and therefore probably the murderer, was obviously
an educated man. After explaining why I was sure of that, he agreed with
me.
‘An odd sort of case. The murderer was found to be an extremely wealthy
American whose sister had married the murdered man’s brother.’
‘Well,’ laughed Bill Cargo to whom Fordney had been speaking. ‘It’s
getting too involved for me. I can’t figure it out.’
How had Fordney determined the American was an educated man?
10
_The Professor Gives a Lesson_
‘Cardoni came into Inspector Kelley’s office yesterday,’ said Fordney to
his Criminology Class.
‘“I want to speak to you alone, Chief,” he said, eyeing me with frank
suspicion.
‘“It’s all right. Go ahead,” said Kelley.
‘“I’ve got some information on the Curtis kidnapers. How much is it
worth?”
‘“That all depends. Let’s hear the story.”
‘“They’re in one of my old buildings, down on the East Side. Three men
and a woman. All you’ve got to do, Chief, is to take this, walk in an’
surprise ’em,” said our informer, tossing a Yale key on Kelley’s desk.
“They rented a room from me about a week ago.”
‘“Sounds much too easy, Cardoni. I want something more definite than
that. What makes you think they’re the kidnapers?”
‘“I heard them having an argument as I was doing some repair work in the
hall. One of the guys threatened to squeal if he didn’t get a bigger
cut. It sounded interestin’, so I peeked through the keyhole. They were
sittin’ at a table in the middle of the room on which there was a stack
of money.”
‘“Your story doesn’t yet show they had any connection with the Curtis
kidnaping,” Kelley said.
“NO? Well, last night I heard them mention ‘Curtis’ several times. And
that ain’t all,” continued Cardoni, with a triumphant air. “Here’s a
code message one of them must have dropped. Well, Chief, how much do I
get?”
“Get out!” hollered Kelley as he made a pass at Cardoni.’
Why was the informer treated so rudely?
11
_Upstairs and Down_
‘Let’s hear your story,’ said Inspector Kelley to Policeman Kirk, as
Fordney dropped into a comfortable chair at Headquarters.
‘The neighbors were worried because they hadn’t seen old lady Brill
about for a couple of days and asked me to investigate.
‘Getting no answer to my ring, I broke open the front door, ran
upstairs, and, not seeing her, ran down and through the hall, unlocked
the kitchen door, and found her on the floor, a bullet through her heart
and a gun beside her. The windows and the doors to the porch and cellar
were locked on the inside and nothing seemed to be disturbed.
‘Looked like suicide to me. However, I learned her nephew was at the
house yesterday about the time the doctor said she died, so I brought
him in,’ concluded Kirk.
‘Why did you run upstairs before examining the lower floor?’ asked
Kelley.
‘Thought I heard a noise up there, sir,’ replied the policeman.
‘Any finger-prints on the gun?’ inquired Fordney.
‘Just those of the old lady,’ answered Kelley.
‘I have a key to the house,’ interrupted the nephew. ‘I went in
yesterday, called to her, but she didn’t answer, so I thought she’d gone
out.’
‘Did you go upstairs?’ asked the Professor.
‘Yes, I ran up there, calling her name, but came right down again and
left immediately.’
‘Well, Kelley, of course it’s murder—as you probably know. I suppose
you’ll hold this fellow?’
‘I certainly intend to,’ replied the Inspector.
How did Fordney know the old lady had been murdered?
12
_Class Day_
‘Baklioff, in person, combined with “Grand Hotel,” had packed the
Paramount,’ said the Professor. ‘Every seat was occupied and
standing-room was at a premium. What an opening it was!’ he continued.
‘As the picture neared its end and the orchestra, under the magnificent
leadership of Baklioff, reached the climax of Mascagni’s “Cavalleria
Rusticana,” a shot rang out.
‘Inspector Kelley who accompanied me, was immediately on his feet
bellowing, “Lights!” They were quickly turned on and the picture
stopped. Warning everyone to keep his seat, we started for the back of
the theater, when a man’s body slumped out of a seat and fell almost at
our feet. A hurried examination disclosed he had been shot in the back
of the head and that he was an extremely tall man.
‘Leaving Kelley to look after things, I hurried to the operator’s booth.
When almost there, I heard another shot and knew I was too late.
Entering the small compartment, hung under the balcony, I found the
operator with a bullet through his temple and a smoking revolver by his
side.
‘“Not much to this,” I remarked, as Kelley joined me.
‘“I wonder if he got the right man,” commented the Inspector. “I don’t
understand how he could have made such a splendid shot under the
circumstances. Amazing!”’
‘Was the dead man sitting in an aisle seat?’ interrupted one of the
class.
‘Yes,’ replied Fordney.
‘Gee, that’s a good one, Professor, but I know now the one thing wrong
with your story,’ said the student.
Do you?
13
_A Hot Pursuit_
‘Hello, Smith,’ said Professor Fordney as he opened the door. ‘What’s
up?’
‘Uncle Fred’s house has been robbed. He had some negotiable bonds in the
library safe and told me to stick close to home until he returned from
New York.’
‘Were they stolen?’ interrogated Fordney.
‘I’m afraid so. I was up in my bedroom about twenty minutes ago when I
heard a noise. I rushed downstairs just in time to see a man dash out of
the library. I ran after him and, as I passed the door, I noticed the
safe was open, so I suppose he got the bonds. He jumped into a waiting
automobile and I trailed him in my car which, fortunately, was standing
in front of the house, but he got away from me.’
‘Did you get his license number?’
‘No. Couldn’t see it. When I lost him in the traffic, I drove right over
here.’
‘Didn’t you keep the house locked while you were upstairs?’
‘Yes, but the burglar chiseled open a cellar window.’
‘Well, let’s go over and have a look,’ suggested Fordney.
When they reached the Smith home, they found the bonds gone.
‘Did you lock the front door when you ran out of the house?’
‘Why—er,’ replied Smith nervously, ‘the door locks automatically. I
don’t know what Uncle Fred will say when he gets back.’
‘He’ll say plenty if you tell him the story you told me,’ interrupted
the Professor. ‘I suggest you put the bonds back.’
Where did Smith make his incriminating slip?
14
_A Question of Identity_
Professor Fordney and three of his friends were enjoying their weekly
‘get together’ at the University Club.
‘Professor,’ said Patrie, ‘tell us something about that Yelpir murder
case you were working on.’
‘Well, gentlemen,’ he replied, in his retiring manner, ‘as you know,
Yelpir’s affairs were common knowledge, and the fact that several women
had reasons to wish him dead complicated matters a bit.
‘His body was found in his study, which opened on to a corridor. At the
other end of the corridor and directly opposite it a staircase led to
the servants’ quarters above.
‘Diana Lane, a house guest of Mrs. Yelpir at the time of the murder, was
questioned, and she appeared nervous. She insisted, however, that she
had been in her room at the time Yelpir was slain.
‘Nora, a servant, testified that, as she was descending the stairs
leading from the servants’ quarters, at midnight, she saw Diana Lane,
wearing her famous emerald pendant and dressed in an enticing black
negligée, walk down the lighted corridor to Yelpir’s room. She said she
followed a minute later and heard Diana and Yelpir violently quarreling.
She returned to the servants’ quarters and, as she opened the door of
her room, she heard a shot.
‘In the face of such evidence, Miss Lane admitted having gone to the
study at the time, but protested her innocence, declaring she had
remained only a minute.
‘While Miss Lane was acquitted, you know, her reputation was not above
reproach. Even so, I knew without further investigation that Nora’s
testimony was maliciously false.’
How did the Professor know?
15
_A Yachtsman’s Alibi_
‘I’ve often remarked,’ said Professor Fordney, in an expansive mood,
‘how very difficult it is to fake an alibi without someone’s assistance.
A case in point is a messy affair we cleared up recently.
‘I didn’t definitely suspect Picus when I happened to bump into him at
the Fourth-of-July parade, the morning after an acquaintance of his had
been found dead under suspicious circumstances. I rather casually asked
him where he had been and what he had been doing the previous afternoon
about four o’clock, the apparent time of the man’s death. He related the
following story:
‘“I took my sailboat out about noon yesterday. It was great on the
water. Around three o’clock, however, when I was perhaps ten miles out,
the wind died down completely. There wasn’t a breath of air, and I knew
that, unless I could attract some boat, I was in for an uncomfortable
time. Remembering that the international distress signal is a flag flown
upside down, I ran mine up to the top of the mast in that manner. Thank
God it was a clear day.
‘“In about an hour the steamer Leone hove to, and I went aboard her
after securing my boat with a towline. The Captain said he had seen my
distress signal about four miles away and would put me ashore at
Gladsome Landing. He did so, and, as there was no one about, I hailed a
passing motorist who gave me a lift back to town. Imagine my surprise
when I read in the paper this morning that the Leone had been sunk in a
storm after putting me ashore, and all hands had been lost!”
‘While I knew,’ remarked the Professor, ‘that the Leone had been sunk
with all on board, after hearing Picus’s story I immediately arrested
him on suspicion of murder.’
What was wrong with Picus’s alibi?
16
_Murder at Coney Island_
Inspector Kelley and Professor Fordney were seated in the former’s
office when Policeman Fanning and his charge entered. After Fanning’s
hurried explanation, Jasper told his story:
‘I’m the ticket taker on a merry-go-round at Coney Island. This bein’
Saturday, we had a big crowd. The trip was almost over when I reached
out, saying, “Ticket, please,” and I see this woman sittin’ up in the
middle of the chariot with that terrible look on her face. She didn’t
answer, and when I shook her, she slumped over in the corner. I
screamed, jumped off, and ran for the manager. I got blood on my hand
when I shook her.
‘Yes, sir, she’d ridden a couple of times and I seen the man she was
with on the two rides before,’ continued Jasper, giving a detailed
description of him. ‘I happened to see him jump off just before I got to
her.’
‘The doctor said she had been stabbed through the heart and had died
instantly?’ queried Professor Fordney.
‘That’s right, sir,’ replied the policeman.
‘It seems strange, Jasper,’ remarked the Professor, ‘that you can give
such a good description of this woman’s companion on two previous rides
when you just “happened” to notice him jump off. Does the merry-go-round
ever make you dizzy?’
‘No, sir; I’m used to it.’
‘Well, Inspector,’ said Fordney, turning to his friend, ‘I suppose you
are going to hold this man?’
‘Certainly,’ replied Kelley. ‘That’s just about the dizziest story I’ve
heard in a long time.’
What justified the police in holding Jasper?
17
_Too Clever_
‘Receiving no reply to my ring and finding the door unlocked, I went
in,’ said Albert Lynch. ‘Dawson was seated at his desk shot through the
head. Seeing he was dead, I called the police and remained here.’
‘Touch anything, Lynch?’ asked Professor Fordney.
‘No, sir, nothing.’
‘Positive of that, are you?’
‘Absolutely, sir.’
The Professor made a careful examination of the desk and found Dawson
had been writing a letter at the bottom of which and covered by the dead
man’s hand, was a penned message: ‘A. L. did thi——’ and weakly trailed
off.
Further examination disclosed several kinds of writing-paper, a pen-tray
holding the recently used pen, inkwell, eraser, stamps, letters, and
bills. The gun from which the shot had been fired was on the floor by
the side of the chair, and the bullet was found embedded in the divan.
After a few questions, Fordney was quickly convinced of Lynch’s
innocence.
‘What do you make of it, Professor?’ inquired Inspector Kelley.
‘Though the scrawled note certainly looks like Dawson’s writing, I am
sure an expert will find it isn’t. I’m not surprised to find the gun
free of prints. Pretty thorough job, this. Good thing for you, Lynch,
and for us too, that the murderer was careless about something.’
‘Right,’ said Kelley. ‘But you aren’t such a wise old owl, Fordney. This
is like the Morrow case we handled. Remember?’
‘Good for you, Inspector,’ laughed the Professor.
How did both men so quickly determine that the incriminating note had
not been left by Dawson?
18
_Bloody Murder_
‘A bad mess, this,’ said Professor Fordney to Sergeant Reynolds, as they
viewed the bloody scene.
‘Yeah, I wish these guys wouldn’t be quite so thorough when they bump
themselves off,’ replied Reynolds as he set grimly to work.
A man with his throat cut, the head almost severed, sat slumped over a
blood-spattered desk. What a horrible sight! His bloodstained coat flung
across the room, the razor! the shirt! the tie! his hands! covered with
blood, made a ghastly and awesome picture framed by the flickering light
of a dying candle.
After turning on the lights, Fordney bent down to take a closer look at
the man.
‘His face seems vaguely familiar, Sergeant, but I can’t recall at the
moment where I’ve seen him. How long has he been dead, Doctor?’
‘About two hours,’ replied the police surgeon.
At this moment the telephone rang. The caller, upon hearing Fordney’s
voice, immediately disconnected.
‘Odd,’ murmured the Professor as he hung up the receiver. ‘I remember
now where I saw this man. His name is Thompson.’
As he glanced around, he observed that the alarm-clock on the dresser
had stopped just two hours and fifteen minutes before.
The telephone rang again and Fordney motioned Reynolds to answer.
‘Hello!’ he said. ‘Mr. Thompson stepped out for a few minutes. Leave
your number. I’ll have him call you.’ The man at the other end inquired
who was speaking and, when Reynolds replied, ‘A friend,’ he hung up.
‘Better trace that call, Sergeant; this is murder,’ said Fordney.
‘What!’ exclaimed Reynolds. ‘Still looks like suicide to me!’
Do you agree with Reynolds or the Professor? Why?
19
_Death Back-Stage_
Claudia Mason, beautiful and popular young actress, was found lying
across the chaise-longue in her elaborately furnished dressing-room,
dead from a bullet wound in the temple.
She had sold her jewels and, with an heroic gesture, partially paid her
many debts.
Near Claudia’s right hand, Sergeant Reynolds picked up the revolver with
which she had been killed, and after careful examination said:
‘No finger-prints, of course. Gosh, Fordney, there’s two rocks she
didn’t sell,’ he exclaimed, pointing to a large emerald on her left hand
and a diamond on her right.
‘Call Maria, her maid. I want to find out who this fellow is,’ said the
Professor, nodding toward a man’s photograph signed, Juan. ‘This was
evidently addressed to him,’ he said, passing over a note which read:
Dear Juan: