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3 00 THE STORY THUS FAR: The jewel ca¥e had been opened with a steel chisel aft on hans af er being battered with a is puzzles Vance when it body of garet Odell, Finger-prints lead to Skeel's "iter Cleaver and, Dr, Lindquist ance { * n he believes Skeel was hiding in the closet when the murder was com- t. Markham, be- dleving In Bkeel's gullt, ridicules the Hieory, Mannix 1s brought in and ques- CHAPTER XBIII Markham ignored the question. "Can you think of no one who might have borne Miss Odell a grudge, or had cause to fear her?" Mannix was volubly emphatic on the subject of his complete ignorunce of any such person; and after a few more questions, which elicited only denials, Markham let him go. "Not bad at all, Markham old thing --eh, what?" Vance seemed pleased with the conference. "Wonder why he's so coy? Not a nice person, this Mannix. And he's so fearful lest he informative. Again, I wonder why. He was so careful--oh, so careful." "He was sufficiently careful, at any rate, not to tell us anything," declared Markham gloomily. "I shouldn't say that, don't y' know." Vance lay abck and smoked placidly, "A ray of light filtered through here and there, He denied he'd boen black- mailed--whicl. was obviously untrue-- and tried to make us believe that he and the lovely Margeret cooed like turtle-doves at parting.--Tosh! , . . . And then, that mention of Cleaver. That wasn't spontaneous--dear me, no. Brother Mannix and sportaneity are as the poles apart, He had a rea- son for bringing Cleaver in; and I fancy that if you knew what that rea- son was, you'd feel lie flinging roses riotously, and that sort of thing, "Why Cleaver? That explanation was a bit weak. The orbits of these two paramours cross somewhere. On that point, at least, Mannix inadvert- ently enlighte Wd us... . Moreover, it's plain that he doesn't know our fashionable healer with the ears, But, on the other hand, he's aware of the existence of Mr. Skeel, and would rather like to deny the ac- quaintance. . Plenty of information; but--my word!--what to do with it" "I give it up," acknowledged Mark- ham hopelessly. "I know: it's a sad, "sad wold," Vance commiserated him. "It's time for lunch, and a fillet of sole Marguery will cheer you no end." Markham glanced at the clock, and permitted himself to be led to the Law- yers Club. (Wednesday, Sept. 12, evening) Vance and I did not return to the district attorney's office after lunch, for Markham had a busy afternoon before him, end nothing further was likely to transpire in connection with the Odell case until Sergeant Heath had completed his investigations of Cleaver and Doctor Lindquist. Vance had seats for Giordano's "Madame Sans-Gene," and two o'clock he would lead MURDER CASE $. S.VAN DINE avrmor oF me BENSON MURDER CASE found ui at the Metropolitan. Though the perf was excellent, Vance was too distrait to enjoy it; and it was significant that, after the opera, he directed the chauffeur to the Stuyves- ant Club, I knew he had a tea appointment, and that he had planned to motor to Longue Vue for dinner; and the fact that he should have Siamissed rote social engagements from his mi order to be with Markham showed how intensely the problem of the 3 had absorbed his interest. It was after six o'clock when Mark. ham came in, looking harassed and tired. No mention of the case was made during dinner, with the excep- tion of Markham's casual remark that Heath had turred in his reports on Cleaver and Doctor Lindquist and Mannix. (It seemed that, immediate. ly after lunch, he had telephoned to the sergeant to add Mannix's name to the two others as a subject for in- quiry.) It was not until we had retired to our favorite corner of the lounge-room that the topic of the murder was brought up for discussion. And that discussion, brief and one- sided, was the beginning of an entirely new line of investigation--a lin: which in the end led to the guilty person. Markham sank wearily into his chair. He had begun to show the strain of the last two days of fruitless worry. His eyes were a trifle heavy, and there was a grim tenacity in the lines of his mouth. Slowly and delib- erately he lighted a cigar, and took several deep inhalations. "Damn the newspapers!" he grum- bled. "Why can't they let the district attorney's office handle its business in its own way? . . . Have you seen the afternoon papers? They're ail clamor- ing for the murderer. You'd think I had him up my sleeve." "You forget, my dear chap," grin- ned Vance, "that we are living under the benign and upliftin' reign of De- mocritus, which confers upon every ignoramus the privilege of promiscu- ously eriticising his betters." Markham snorted. "I don't eomplain about criticism: it's the lurid imagination of these bright yourlg reporters that galls me, They're trying to turn this sordid crime into a spectacular Borgia melo- drama, with passion running rampant, and mysterious influences at work, and all the pomp and trappings of a mediaeval romance. . . . You'd think even a schoolboy could see "hat it was only an ordinary robbery and murder of ths kind that's taking place regu- larly throughout the country." Vance paused in the act of lighting a cigarette, and his eyebrows lifted. Turning, he regarded Markham with a look of mild incredulity. "I say! do you really mean to tell me that your statement for the press was given out in good faith?" Markham looked up in surprise. "Certainly it was. . . What do you mean by 'good faith'? Vance smiled indolently. "I rather thought, don't y' lmow, that your oration to the reporters was a bit of strategy to lull the real culprit mto a state of false security, and to give you a clear field for investiga- tion." ' Markham contemplated him a mo- ment, "See here, Vance," he demanded irritably, "What are you driving at?" "Nothing at all--really, old fellow," the other assured him affably. "T knew that Heath was deadly sincere about his belief in Skeel's guilt, but it never occurred to me, d' ye see, that you yourself actually regarded the crime as one itted by a professional burglar. "I foolishly thought that you let Skeel go this morning in the hope that APTN AT EL LT ORs IY Navy blue canton crepe is medium dione. for this swhgger dress of tail sports character that is so suggestive of smart Princess sil- te. ., The softly tied collar is interest- ling detail. x is flattering beige : repeated in buttons down 'front Fb and in belt that shows slightly raised waistline. The circular inset godets at each side, create a lovely fluttering move- "ment to hem, and form a front and back panel effect which gives the figure length, so important in the mode, The sleeves are fitted with darts below elbows and trimmed with but- tons, It is designed in sizes 16, 18 pd 36, 38, 40 and 42 inches bust, It can be copied exactly with 314 yards of 39-inch material with 34 yard of 35- inch contrasting in the medium size. Later for early Fall, it will make up most attractively in feather- weight woolen in mauve-red tweed, purple wool crepe, or one of those PD tvony lovely printed jerseys. Printed silk crepe in tweed pat- tern with the godets, collar and belt of plain harmonizing silk crepe in soft brown tones is fetching. Bottle green wool jersey, black crepe satin with godets cut of the dull surface with white silk crepe collar and tie, and wine red canton crepe with beige silk crepe are ideal selections. Pattern price 15 cents, Be sure to fill in size of pattern. Address Pat- tern Department. The New Fall and Winter Fashion Magazine is 15 cents, but only 10 cents when or. dered with a pattern. HOW TO ORDER PATTERNS. Write your name and adJcess plain- ly, giving number and size of such patterns as you want. Enclose 20c in with Every Pattars By Annebelle Worthington ; whiten Syess fon, dusivess § 4 for 'occasions, is . ted jn Style No. 2962. No. 2962, Size.., Street Address Sil ol stamps or coin (coin preferred; wrap it carefully) for each number, and address your rder to Wilson Pattern Service, 73 West Adeloide St., Toronto. Patterns sent by an early mail. a particularly clever man who doubt- less spent weeks in its preparation." Markham sank back in his chair and laughed heartily. "Vance, you have contributed the one ray of sunshine to an otherwise gloomy and depressing case." Vance bowed with mock humility. "It gives me great pleasure," was his dulcet rejoinder, "to be able to bring even a wisp of light into se clouded a mental atmosphere." A brief silence followed. Then Mark- ham asked: "Is this fascinating and picturesque conclusion of yours regarding the highly intellectual character of the Odell woman's murderer based on your new and original psychological meth- ods of deduction?" There was no mis- taking the redieule in his voice. "I arrived at it," explaine' Vance sweetly, "by the same processes of logic I used in determining the guilt of Alvin Benson's murderer." Markham smiled. "Touche! . .. Don't think I'm so ungra'eful as to belittle the work you did in that case, But this time, I fear, you've permitted your theories to lead you hopelessly astray. The present case is hat the police call an open-and- shut affair." "Particularly shut," amended Vance dryly. "And both you and the police are in the distressin' situation of wait- ing inactively for your suspected vie- time to give the game away." "I'l admit the situation is not all one could desire." Markkam spoke morosely. "But even 80, I can't see that there's any opportunity in this affair for your recondite psychological methods. The thing's too obvious-- that's the trouble. What we need now is evidence, not theories. It it wasn't for the spacious and romantic imagine: ings of the newspaper men, public in- terest in the case would already have died out." 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