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8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-fifth-tuthe-fifth-tumblermbler 1/322 P u b l
i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
The fifth tumbler, introducing Professor Theocritus Lucius Westborough
...
Clason, Clyde B.
Garden City, N.Y. Pub. for the Crime club, inc., by Doubleday, Doran & company, inc., 1936.
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015028942830
Public Domain, Google-digitized
h t t p : / / w w w . h a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s _ u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
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8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-fifth-tuthe-fifth-tumblermbler 3/322 P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
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/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
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/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
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theporcineMr.
eventsthatfol-
heocritus ucius
mild-mannered
htheinstincts
faH olmes.
roomatthe
olvedavariedgroup
evil-tongued
men,a hotel
sanythingbut
mmercialartist
ckwithapen-
sses.
elybaffled,
hiscastofchar-
hosemain
airpin, ac igarette
tothewrongroom,
movingpicture—
Detective ieu-
rrietf romNiles,
arriedat noon
c lock inanauto-
herman.
ed,andmodern
otted,withe -
nuinesuspense.
asa surprise
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
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u s e # p d - g o o g l e
8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
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/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
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/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
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8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
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SO N
heocritus
amildlittle
er— with
Y. 19 36 PU B L I S H E D O R
UB , NC .
Y , DO R A N & C O M P A NY , N C .
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ifePress, gardenc ity, n. y . , u. 8. a.
36
Y , DO R A N f t C O M PA N Y , N C .
S RV E D
N
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8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
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ents
holly
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
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/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
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8/13/2019 The Fifth TuThe Fifth Tumbler.mbler
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vening
ebookofTheoc ritus uc ius
ing
ht
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P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
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u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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openingfromdarkenedcorri-
glustand laughter,sorrowand
solatedbythinpartitionsas effec-
bymilesof bleakdesert.H un-
ofeachother se istenc e, c lus-
oof.Mysteriousandinscrutable
ors
dTheoc ritus uc iusWestborough,
gedouble bedroomdesignated
telislikeagiantbeehive " t
onthis simile.Worker bees:out
morningandgoneuntilsi .
ack-claddowagers. Theirhus-
havetoiledtoprematuregraves
womenmightspendthere-
dandmiserable,in doingnoth-
orry forthem. aborestetiamipsa
estborough,whowasaddictedto
ges.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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UMBL E R
O h y e s , an d o f co u rs e d ro n es . I a m
mentbondsand ames k indly
einclinedtoplacethatporcine
gory.A lso,sadlyagainsther
ildMissGant.
hisfountainpenandresumed
oamanuscriptforwhich,after
dapublisher.Themanuscript
is ifeandTimes, andWest-
asttenyears toitspreparation.
lyunfortunatetheworksof
hers—Marius Ma imus, abius
erus, andStatiusV alens—have
recordofthegreat emperor
olumn,whichdescribesthecam-
moreelo uentlythancould
shaft,ashigh asaten-story
thecolorof bronze,iscovered
carvingsin whicharerepre-
fivehundredhumanfigures.To
ctofdistance,theartist,A pollo-
sprogressivelylargerasthe
it.C uriouslyenough,astatue
hetop ofthemonumentwhere
eurthecolossalfigure ofthe
aused—hehadsaid greatem-
erackedhis mindforasynonym,
.
ddname. Dearme, wonderif it
ofGauntandtheB lac kPrinc e "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
arson salarmc loc kmeasuredof f
. twasnotoneof yournewelec-
toasof torloudc alltosuitthe
atteredwrec k. C hrishadboughtit
oandhadthrownitac rossthe
en.Nevertheless,itcontinued
ately,and,bydintoffre uent
s,itwouldevengivea reason-
ntothec orrecthour. tnowsaid,
ven, and, sinc eChrishadsetitat
morethanthreeminutes.
atall Scandinavian,tawny-
esmotheredasecondyawnand
e desklamp.Thelight,stream-
vealed ueer-lookingsymbols
s. C hrisread, Therateofc hemi-
othetime isproportionaltothe
illunchangedinthemi ture.
ngthe decompositionof
wedthoughtfullyattheendofhis
edto atableofnaturalloga-
alongoneofthemanycolumns
e hethought, ottinganumber
vonneGant.Yes,andherhairis
lightpurple.O rwouldyou
ispencilc ommenc edasuddenand
surfac eof thedesk . I magine
toget awaywiththetrick
etakenapokeathim. Yeah—and
nc ildroppedunheededtothef loor.
couldn tkeepagirllikethatinstoc k -
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
he cutestlittlecrinkle.. .
ant...
ntlaboredwith commendable
n asilkstocking.Shethought,
ntpair, too. O hwell, maybeit llhold.
s g o t to "
nelychiseledfeaturesand
ponwhic hChris arsonhadre-
acockbluenegligeewhichspoke
peroustimes.Shefinishedher
dof thethread. There f that
o u t of l u ck .
inin herbathroomwith
novalcakeof thehotel ssoap
terwascoveredwithacopious
nderif ithurtswhentheythrow
ntaskedandsmiledattheref lec tion
bovethebowl. I t syourown
orcedyoutostayhere.
t, theref lec tionsaidc onsolingly.
ttheMerdoc kCompanywouldgo
afairlygood obw iththem, didn t
thelpitaboutB etty.
ockingsinthe washbasinand
mongthesoapsuds. Thereare
n, shegeneralized. O nek ind
waysliketohavethemaround.
asty,andMr.Swinkislike
U g h "
eknobwhichopenedthe
down thepipe.Thenshe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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UMBL E R
e bowlwithfreshwater. m-
hesecondtime,MissGant
boy nowshowtohandlepeople,
what ' dhavedonew ithouthimthe
tac ent, ofcourse. Whyisitthe
utfatporkerslikeSw inkalways
tsurveyedthereflectionwitha
d p a y my b i ll f a st e n ou g h N o
ell, ' vemanagedtogetalong
hanyoneyet,andif do,it
moSwink . MissGant slaughter
Therearethingsworsethan
yYvonneassheletdownhergolden
n hose.
omwith twinbeds,butto-
haditalltohimself . Hewassandy-
ioned, alargeman ustbegin-
gar—his fourththatevening
edaviletaste,fornoreason atall
thom.He scowled.Thetobacco
ecrushedthebutt againstthe
.
H a m m on d t ho u gh t . n h i s gr i p wa s
foverf romhistripontheroad.
erv iceforabottleofWhiteRoc k.
H ell, don tliketodrink
eroomhepausedto seat
desk andcommencedtoscrib-
stationery. H ammond spenc il
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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UMBL E R
dgold, shapedtoasharppointat
anpencilsboastedonlyof an
atthe paper,andthelead
edthe goldtiptobring anew
edhisartistic effortsbydraw-
halongwaysfrom thefamous
wasyetareasonablygood
urve.
ongtime. shouldhavegonew ith
eadac hestall. w ish had. We
er.
o uartersandc ommenc edthe
ents. PoorNorah Thisisa
omanoughttohaveahomeof
montheroadallthetime. . .
thoughifweeverhaveak id. Won-
ketohavealittleshaverthatwas
ahwantsagirl. . . thatwouldn t
uptolook likeNorah....
y . mightbeabletomakeafootball
asofferingnofurther possi-
atacaricatureofhis sales
f thatguy isasalesmanager, ' m
ofWales ' msic kofhissales
otatwic eashighasitshouldbeand
ndlikeitifhesugarc oatsitw ith
beenbaseballplayersandprospec-
we veascendedthestratosphere,
ntarctic w ithA dmiralB yrd. Now
odigfortreasurein ingSolo-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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UMBL E R
a u i ce D o es h e t hi n k we r e a b un c h
hefinaltouchestohissketchand
se atThompson sprofile.
ndoto ingSolomon sMines,
postrophizedtheportrait. Whythehell
outanddoagoodold- fashioned
llbetyounevereventhoughtof that,
thecaricature—thelikeness
ble— andtosseditat thewaste-
dharpies Theysitinthelobby
and ' dlikeaf ive-spotforevery
ted. H eopenedthedrawerof the
nt-mindedlyw ithin. shouldn t
ndermyskin.Theywerelying.
ng " TherewasaGideonB iblein
ondthumbedthroughitaimlessly
asanddroppeditlikea hot
g i ve a l l ' v e w on i n p ok e r th e l as t s i
eardthem.
f hotelstationeryandbegan
gunderhisbreathashe
There swhathelookslike. Dia-
moter,ishe indofswine
nsurancemoney, ' dsay . A ndif
Devonlitac igarette. H esmoked
ylitonewith thebuttfrom
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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UMBL E R
chdelicateperceptionofthe
y,disorganizedtreadofan inebri-
ThatmustbeMr. Sw ink ,
I tsoundslikehim, but didn t
an. f openthedooratrif le
dpeekedintothecorridor.
w ithakeyhole. H e sdrunkas
reflec ted. A ndtothink letthat
Shewatc hedhisc lumsyef forts
nMrs. B lakely se c ellentears
.A soundwhichhadnobusi-
ofthethirdfloorof theH otel
lyheardthetinkleofbrokenglass. .
shereflec ted. Thensheremem-
athing ofthepast,andit was
hionabletocarrybottlesinthat
eredtheroom. He didn tc lose
s.B lakelythoughtthatwas
condsound,andthere wasno
ecorridorandpeepedthrough
ndMrs.B lakelyscreamed.
dehisbook. twastenminutes
dutyatthehour.H eroseto
musculararms,and then
omwherehelatheredhis hands
s.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
boisterousracket heavy
runkagain, C hrisspec ulated.
fumbling. Thedirtyhog.
saminute,andthen someone
m,piercingandshrill, andit
secondscream,onlyatrifle
thefirst,andthen athirdas
dor.Thescreamerwasa stout
be.She wasstandingatthe
m,number315,whichshouldhave
hehall.Mr. H ammondstuck
dtherewereMissGantof 311
rtoffluffy bluething)andMr.
hlittleMr.W estboroughfrom
" C h r i s u e st i on e d.
lakelygaspedhysterically . I
threeinches,allowingC hris
wink,likean enormousB illi-
onthe floor.Someonehadcut
tandfoldeditback,leavinga
reefeetfromthedoorway.
heroomwhichC hrissniffed
God " hec hokedandturnedatonc e
utthe door. Pleasegotoyour
ws.There sadangerousgasin
herewasafranticscurrying,
ofmultitudinousdoors.A d ust-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
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u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
itwasn thisbusinesstoplayde-
police—and errySpanger.
ghtaway,butwasitwise touse
Theremightbef ingerprints. He
,andit lockedautomatically.
ownroom arsonpic kedup
de plainedthecircumstancesto
A ndtell errySpanger, he
na semicircle,likethe udges
c euponthe gyptiandead. H alf
eChris arsonhadfoundthe
Swink,andthatbodywasstill
gthe arrivalofthemedical
eyesnowflittedfromonetoanother
the q uable shousedetec tive,
nd perple edhandacrosshis
e. errywasaboutforty-fiveand
isfac ewasround, ov ial—
oughhedidn tlook thepart,
erhadthereputationofbeinga
eO ' B yan, ac olossalf igureof
i feetfour, ifaninch, and
atelybroad. arson,nosmall
ntappraisingly,decidingthat
ertomi w ithinarough-and-tumble.
of theWaterTowerstationinwhose
uablewasloc ated.
ckof thehomic idesec tionwasthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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UMBL E R
twoor threeminutesafter-
ck e a cu l at e d. T h en e i th e r th e wh o le
saturatedwiththegas,or this
enedthedoor.
ne d , O ' R ya n o pi n ed . S e e ho w
dfoldedouta theway.Theonly
o makesuretheglasswould
or. t splainenoughtome.
befastenedtothedoorinsome
e pickedupthewirefromthe
tdoyoumakeof thishook thing "
nordinaryhairpinbentoutof
nced.
h se n se t o i t, c am e f ro m O ' R ya n .
hat loopofstring,buthowwould
etothedoor "
swered. Hec losedthedoorand
wirebetweenthetopedgeof
mesothattheshort end,theone
allydownwards. H ere show
Swinkopenedthedoor, thew ire
ehadto tumbletothefloor.
it wasandgotawhiffof the
gyhandtuggedathismustac hein
Theonlything ' dliketoknow
ateanswer.H iseyesroved
boutthe bedroom.Therewasn t
as ustac onventionalhotelbed-
blybutsimplywithametalbed-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
largeloungechair,andtwoor
noneof theseweretheob ec ts
seyesf littedf romonetoanother
heroom. inallyheopened
oderatelylargecloset.Getting
kmadeathoroughinspection
nhere—althoughtherearen tany
a r so n o b e c t e d. F o r o ne t h in g i t
oranotherhedidn thavea
beingseen.Mrs. B lakely
hisroomandscreamedassoon
tion. I didn tthinkhedid.
of thedeadman. H aveyou
y " O ' Ryanshookhishead.
dhurriedly e amineditscon-
redbuc ksonhim. He glanced
sser. Therock inthatstickpin
redor missmyguess. A ndit s
anybodycould vepickedit
alkedtowardoneofthetwo
ev iously inspec ted. Wheredo
Spangeranswered. E very
nnectedthatway forthatmat-
thehotel. tmakesforf le ibility .
acentroomsintoasuiteat a
ngerclosedaboutthenarrow
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
the doorknob,andheturned
ngtheknob.H etuggedand
ed,thenrepeatedthee peri-
ppositesideofthe room.
o ck e d.
tively. Theyshouldbe.
ithoutordersfromthefront
ey "
estion. Dothesedoorshave
willoneofyourordinary
"
nydoorinthehotel, Spanger
Thatis,theoneswe keepat
floorkeyswillonlyworkon one
ds uarethumbtowardone
ro o m "
arsonanswered. Sheusedtoshare
rgirl, butherroommateleft
andshemovedintothissingle.
ontheotherside "
moc cupiedbyaMr. andMrs. Ham-
ostof thetime. Salesman, believe.
erofpeopleroomingoffthis
fterMrs.B lakelyscreamed.
ammondsamongthem "
nt, C hrisansweredpromptly .
ory . Yes, andMr. Hammond.
Mrs. H ammond.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
h nn y " O ' R y an a s ke d . Ma c ks h oo k
nt wanttoclearupbeforeDoc
rson, how dyouknowSwinkhad
nicacid "
thesameasprussic acid, isn tit "
hatwasali uid.
teli uid, boilingat78degrees,
n ed .
toroomtemperature. supposehe
rtok illhim. toughttobeeasy
fwas bought.There safifty-
whodoesn tkeeparecordof
nine,corrosivesublimate,or
ut ofthestorewithouta pre-
lowly . I don tbelievehe
e.
medicinalpurposesonlyin
c ent, believe. nhalingthesolu-
dizzyandprobablygivehim
tk illhim.
prussic ac idwoulddothe oball
cidwithoutwater.
a t "
akeit.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
a ch em is t, i sn t i t "
nehastodoisputsomeac idin
mor sodiumcyanide,andcork
hemicalreactionwhichgivesyou
diumor potassiumsalt.
n me " O ' R ya n e c l ai m ed .
yusedthatmethodtok illthein-
arsonelaborated. Theycovered
andthen theytookatwo-
omewater,someconcentrated
sodiumcyanide.Thenthey
thetentandranforit. Now,
ytheli uidhydrocyanicacid
pump.
lphuric ac id " Mac k in uired.
No, anyac id—evenaweakone
a black-coverednotebook.
c yanide, yousay Whic hdoyou
ethereaction.Mostpotassium
reverysimilar—both inphysical
calaction.
mant uizzically.
otaboutit, arson.
micalengineeringc ourse.
v en s o , ' m w i ll i ng t o b et y o u kn o w
you llf indinyourc ollegete t-
ontheside, arsonf lared.
obw iththeUnitedC yanideC om-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
fyou retry ingtoinsinu-
" M a ck i n te r ru p te d u i et l y. I ' v e
andawholelotof uestionsto
ngopinions. H ec ontinueddidac -
nhismemorycertainmental
ortunity isc oncerned, anybody in
it.Thatmeansany employeeor
and Nottomentionthepossi-
side.A sfaras motiveiscon-
ewhenwegeta fewstoriesfrom
hSwink . A ndasfarasmethod
napuzzledmanner. There re
oclearup. wanttoknow
wo blue-coatedpatrolmenen-
r " O ' R ya n e c l ai m ed . W h a t d
f irsttoanswer. talkedto
dme, chief . romthedeskhehas
cesto thelobbyaswellas the
edapapertoO ' Ryan, whoreadit
ist, asnearlyashec anremember,
eirkeyssincehe wentonduty
ositivenostrangerswentupalone,
e samestory.
O ' R ya n a sk e d.
kpartof thehotelandstartedask-
atrolmanrepliedw iththeairofone
boththoroughlyandconscien-
satimekeeper—thin- lippedguy
ostandbytheemployees en-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
egoingout—see Thisisa big
ent stakingnochancesona guy
mewhenhe ssupposedtobe
surethat nooneleftthehotel
andthatnoonec ameinwho
ef ireesc apes " O ' Ryancate-
redtriumphantly . Youbet did,
capesleadingto thealley.B oth
dfloor,butthestairsswing
em, andwhenhegetsof f , a
pagain.
scapeintownisbuilt thatway,
Didyouthink tolookatthedoors "
nd wentovereveryf ire-esc ape
o b "
ya n i nt e rr o ga t ed . F i n d th a t so m eb o dy
d. E verydamnoneof emwas
ef.
o b . O ' R y an g r in n ed l i ke a p l ea s ed
s " Mac ksnorteddeprec atingly .
bw ithonly fourtof ivehundred
aybeahundredandfiftypeople
eupallnight, Terry.
w e r e p ai d f or , a in t i t " O ' R y an
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R21
ctive. Whenyouwereonthe
tabadc op. What syourslant
and.
kmyself—fat, slimysortof fellow .
eoplefelt thesamewayabout
ppenedtonight—well, c an ttell
nttomyroomearlyandgotof f
rningsomethingfierce.
ahundredtimesaweekwhen
ydetail, Mac kcutin. Tellme
k,anyhow.
enedasw ideasthoseofababy.
don thavetotellyouwhathunc hes
houghtthefellow dbearwatc h-
onhimwhenever gotthec hanc e.
a ny t hi n g.
thehotel "
ow. Noranyfriendseither. n
imwithoneman. Guybythename
ownthehall. Signedtheregisteras
Yorkwhenheblew inlastMon-
eroomclerk , thathewasa
r th a n a m ' d l i ke t o me e t hi m "
Noonesmiledatthisw ittic ism, and
. Shallwehavehimin,
ocketfora cigarandspat
sket. F irst wanttoget ar-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
edout. You rethenightc lerkhere,
"
eleven.
llevening "
ine. setthealarmc loc k forthat
pandstudyforac oupleofhours.
minuteMac k sfac elookeduncom-
ememberyoutoldmeaboutit.
t "
aprobleminc alc ulus.
ortofmathematic s, huh "
arsone c laimedwitharuefulfac e.
arithmicderivative,andwhenyou
ponentialfunction.
Mac ksaidw ithconv ic tion. A ny-
wrappedupin thelogarithmic
en tyou "
ranoiseinthehall "
"
ngtogetintoaroomthatdidn t
h a ve i n ve s ti g at e d, a r so n d ec l ar e d.
erkwithathoughtfule pres-
a r so n "
ofhisdaily routine—andsmiled.
morning.A hastilysnatchedtwo
agrandrushtothe L " tomakea
ganic . Moreclasses. ab. C lasses.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
backto thehotel.Grababite
Thatalarmclock Damnthe
sinterruptingwhatpromisedtobe
eshingsleepyou veeverknown.
fit. tisn tenough.Youknow
refallingbehindinyour
medsc hedule ustdoesn tallow
outside ofSundaysandthe
nonthe L . Nowyou reon
premebossduringthewee
tletoboss.C omplaints.Some-
ngsomebodyelse. Mrs. B lakely
einherroom. Youhavetogetthe
erythinginsideoutand assure
estvestigeof arodent.Makeout
fyou reluc ky , itc hec ksw iththe
sometimesthecashierhasforgotten
sbeenpaid. Thenyoulook in
f thenameshowsthereyouhave
howsoc c upiedintheroomrac kbut
ersarebadmedicine— andadamn
iddle-agedfellowcomesin
saroomforthenight. You re
. What reyoutryingtotell
smywife. Youarestillsorry, but
.H egoesoutmutteringven-
profanityafter you.Youturn
et.Thecashier srecordis
oucanget thehousecountand
dycomesindrunkandyouhave
withoutfallingdownthe ele-
work onthebills— stacksand
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
utandsky isgettinglighter.
thecloudsabrilliantcrimson
t s s e ve n o c l oc k ,a n d yo u r e
re soddenandheavy.There s
f blood.Younevergetenough
ghsleep.. .sleep.
andturnedtothedetec tive.
p r ob a bl y d o.
ndhedid notpursuefarther.
er "
rSwann.
eredlac onic ally.
rmed. Tookhisw ifeandwent
C ollinsiskeepingthetele-
f indoutwhere. Swann l1be
boutthis—I don tthink. tsure
ood.
teningtothisinter ec tion. I f
rson, yououghttobeatthedesk
ayingon. arry f iguredyoumight
kgruntedapprov ingly . I fevery-
ell, our obwouldbeawholelot
ou dprobablybetterstic karound
. mayhavetoaska uestionor
c antohelpout, C hrissmiled.
he p ro gr am O ' R ya n pu t in . W a n t
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
mationofvitalimportanc etoc on-
henstoppedhastilyas hecaught
bout, C lanc y " thelatterasked. The
rentlyatthelittlemanin the
lk inonyou, c hief . stopped
andonthedoorknob.
here llbefor immy, Mack
feetfourinc hesO ' Ryan
r,whocouldn thavebeenmore
snarrowshouldered,flatchested,
dition.H isthinhandsweredeli-
ndhisfacewas triangular:broad
arrowingtowardasmall,
hairwas silveryandhiseyes
ndapairof gold-rimmedbifo-
matonce.
O ' R y an d e ma n de d g ru f fl y .
"
c orridor. rec alledoverhearing
nfromthisroomwhichmayor
u.
ewsecondstoscrutinizethe other
esaidatlength.
erthe thresholdandsurveyed
room.H elookedcuriouslyat
nnoddedatChris arson.
a r so n . d o n t b e li e ve a m a c-
gentlemen.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
edlye cited,andhisvoicecar-
isc onversation "
Thursday. tmusthavebeeneither
ay believe.
d di n ne r .
abetterideaof thetimethanthat
embarrassment.
, but amafraid amunableto
tapersonofe tremelyregular
ogotodinneralmostanytime
clock.
ngroomdownstairs "
etof indthetimelateronf roma
ac kpeered uizzic allyattheun-
oyouknowabouttonight sbusi-
L i e ut e na n t Ma c k, i s n t i t h a ve
er time—sinceseven-thirty.
atc htonight. A lthough don t
helpful, w illit "
egoingon A nythingatall
c omingdownthecorridor. Hewas
ghhehadbeen drinkingtoo
tealittlenoiseinsertinghiskey
gbeforethat "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
sc ompletelyabsorbedinmy
yinthehotel "
wasthink ingaboutTra an.
a n "
rorswhoruledRomefrom96to
a b oo k — T ra a n : H i s i f e an d T im e s
m a f ra i d, M a ck d e cl a re d .
rryingamuchwornblackbag
eglanceddownwardtothe
happenedtothisfellow "
ndout, Doc, Mac kgrinnedamia-
borough. Youc angonow.
gthedoctorwith anobvious
tMac k , hesaid, I wonderifyoure-
mesWestborough.
" M a ck e c l ai m ed . M y G od , ye s
en wasf ramedinasdirtyadeal
' llsay remember imWestbor-
ur b r ot h er "
orrec tedgravely.
heardaboutthat. A nginapec -
pe o pl e m is s h im — b u t h a ve n t
Dropinathead uarterssome
iketohaveagoodc hatw ith imWest-
owever, shouldlikef irsttoaska
thefirstmurdercasein
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
nremotely involved. f inditmostin-
tbetoomuchintheway. . .
" Mac k in uiredofhisasso-
antstostic karound, lethimstick .
roughmyself .
ghtenedupandfacedthe
waytokillaguy evermetin
isthatthedamnsc hemeworked.
ompleteflop.
bythat, Doc " Mac kasked.
ttoprussicacid poisoning:
rsclenched,pupilsdilated.B ut
doraboutthelips. Thereisonthe
enostrils. fhedidn tswallow
t.
uy isthetwoperc enta ueous
esPharmacopoeia—A cidwm
m. neverheardofanyonedying
don tsay itc an tbedone, mind
of it.
oneofthefragmentsofthe
kdatO ' Ryan.
ofprussicacid,Doc.Thisis
erkind.
k sw ink f rombehindthedoctor s
c to k n ow w ha t t ha t m ea n s. H e s
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R/31
cidwoulddoitallright, thedoc-
rined.H einspectedthetopof
fdetachedindif ferenc e. sup-
umcyanidewithanacidinthis
vedopeditout.
almondsstillclings.Thereis
cidwas containedinthis
eeredthis ob, thedoctorc on-
bleofachanceunlessheknewhe
endbendingdown toseewhat
onforprussicacidvaporis
ablyoneoftheleast efficient
ar. There sarec ordofafellow
ngonepartin twothousandfor
es.Nowcarbonmono ide
, Mac kdeclaredemphatic ally , has
iththisasmyauntHarrietup
aseinseveralways, Dr. Hil-
ohimself . O nc ethevaporgot
versethemembranesbyosmo-
owdoesafellowmanagetoget
"
r, asfaras ' mc oncerned.
eindustrialuses, believe, thedoc -
rialc hemistry soutofmyline.
boutit, arson Youseemtobe
ec t.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
umcyanideis ingoldsmelting.
nowofanygoldsmeltersinChic ago,
uch.Sodiumcyanideisalso
eel.Themildsteelis immersed
thing, Mack interrupted. There
ythingelse "
sedinsilverand goldplating.
' R ya n e ch o ed . T h er e s a b u il d in g
slousywithsilverplaters.
adog scentingthechase.
nfollowup. H isc igarbobbed
hismouth. C yanide salso
tit "
graphersuseit asanintensifier
avers.Yousee,potassiumcya-
ntforallthesilver halides...
echnicalforme, Mac k inter-
e, though, thatwec anaddbothphotogra-
list ofplaceswherethecyanide
ad a b ou t a n ho u r, ' d s a y, D r .
atc h. Thehandsshoweda uar-
imeheopenedthedoor, Mac k
ginatO ' Ryan. I suppose, Doc,
onswhyit washomicideandnot
romthemedic alevidence, Dr. H il-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
rc ananybodyelse. A ll c ansay
he wenttoahellof alotof
eyusedto pulloutmyfirst teeth
, O ' Ryancommented oc ularly .
tuntwouldmakeit easiertoget
morgue, Doc " Mac k in uired.
t he r e, a n d ' l l d o a po s t. H e
hisbag. There snotathing
w, notathing.
anks. Solong.
rgruntedonhiswayoutof the
an.
h sthrough, wec angetdownto
roomoverto immySelzer.
dbelloweddownthec orridor in
edyouthcarryingacameraand
e room.
i m my , M a ck d i re c te d . w a nt
stwherethisguyfellandac lose-up
g. A lso wantyoutogooverevery
hyourbrushandmercury
arson sandWestborough s
better taketheirimpressions
beforewehavehimcartedoff to
immySelzerc alledc heerfully.
outofherewhile immydoeshis
son. A nyvacantroomsinthisc or-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ntlemenmakeuseofmyroom "
pproved.
kedac rossthec orridorfollowed
arsonandW estboroughwere
y immySelzer.
r so n a nd W e s t bo r ou g h, h e s ai d , I
nts.
imeboth arsonandWestbor-
ed.A stheywalkedintothe lat-
rridor,the patrolmanstationedat
led.
akidsaythey wanttogetto
GrahamandH ammond. A skC ap-
l l ri g ht , w il l y ou "
nandMac kconversingwithPatrol-
Ryanwhatthepolic emaninthe
ere " O ' Ryanasked.
pi ed . T h e Gr a ha m s ar e n e t d o or t o
eH ammondsareacrossthe
h u h "
. N o , ' l l t ak e a l oo k at t h em m y -
ltonuphereanyway.
hedoor. Sweet obthisisgo-
ainedtoSpanger. We llproba-
y inthehotel. Wishwe dgetone
d about—somewaywecould
orridor,forinstance.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
nstthepalm ofhisother
maybeabletohelpyouatthat.
sak indergartenteac herliv ing
bythenameof f f ieColmar.
twillnever seethirty-fiveagain.
sa brotherbythenameof
dmehisnamewasMarc us. H e
todinnertonight,andshe
m.
ha s
nny, andyouw ill. gatheredthat
dSisterdoesn tseehimanytoo
ohim inherownroominstead
estoyouruncle erry forper-
sted, bec ause neverwouldhave
muglikehersanyhow.
, e r ry . W h a t s i t a ll a b ou t "
e, shecouldhaveherbrotherinher
omakeeverythingaboveboard,
ortentously,andMack
ooropen, suppose "
nattheanticipationofhis
p, a n d th a t s u s t wh a t sh e d id . A n d
n abletoseeeveryonewho
ontheir waytotheroomsin this
rridoronthenorth, isn tthere "
ednearlyasmuc h. Theelevator
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
dor, andit sthenaturalpas-
hotel.
slongasanybodyc ouldhave
corridor,we llstillhaveto
tel.
ddeninspiration. Thelinen
hewasinterruptedbythere-
amesChiltoninc ustody.
essfulbrokerhepurportedtobe
perfectly.H ewastallanddig-
hgray aboutthetemples.H is
couldn thavec ostlessthanahun-
cktiehad probablysethim
peculated.
atWestborough sdesk . Sit
Thechairheindicateddirectlyfaced
onfrowned.
ikethird-degreemethods. ' mnot
erany uestions.
th a t, S p an g er p u t in . Y o u r e g o -
boutthewayyoutalkto our
e m u p in c o tt o n wo o l M a ck
regoingtof inditw isertoc o-
rhometown, Chilton "
witha slowandlanguidassur-
n tmindtellingyouthat.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
e l l , wh a t do y ou d o i n Ne w Yo r k "
towardthedesklamp and
m a b r ok e r. A n d d o n t b e l i ev e t ha t a
"
rrangedtheshade. Yes, he
mpalone.
ulders.Theywererathera
, Chris arsonthought.
M a ck d e ma n de d .
ngham.
chMacknotedinhis little
g i n C h i ca g o, C h i l t on "
on r e pl i ed s u ll e nl y . Ma ck s n e t u e s-
ion.
s "
myfirm.
a edinthemannerofaf isher-
oreline.H ewentonin asilky
youbeenstay inghere "
y.
"
rs. F ourfulldaysyou ve
outwithsuddenforce. H owmany
attime "
sandfumbledfor acigarette.
edsarcastically . F ourdaysand
t "
, C hiltonmumbledevasively .
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
dthatoutbeforeyoulef tNew
silent. F oraso-calledbigbusiness
eryef f icient.
thetaunt. I t snoneofyour
mbinationbusinessandpleasure
eto waitformycustomers.
ingyourw ifealong " Mac k in-
pleasuretrip, O ' Ryancontributed
init snoneofyourbusiness, but
married.
onthandChic ago safunnytownfor
ellowfromNewYork.
iness, C hiltonreminded.
ys. Convenient, isn tit "
tshifted nervouslyinhisseat.
edtobegettingunderhis guard,
ghtc lerkc ouldn thelpbutad-
chthedetectivewasconducting
l th e t ru t h, C h i l t on M a ck s u g-
dignantlytohis feet.
notgoingtobec alledaliar
an sgigantichandonhis shoulder
r.
i gh t t he r e S e e "
tac k . Youknew lmo
dd e d. V e r y w el l " M a ck a s ke d .
tyoumeanbyverywell.
me a n "
fore registeredhere.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
c u a i n te d w it h h im , th e n "
usuallystart " C hiltontiltedhis
ssedhisank les. I satne tto
eveningsago.Strangersusually
vepoureddowntwoorthree
thing, didn the "
etec tive sfac ew ithgrudging
otabadguess.
c kdisc laimed. You vebeenseen
otelduringthelast fewdays.
sell himsomething,orhewas
ng.
d o— t h e i n k of G o ld .
C h i l t on d e cl a re d v eh e me n tl y . T h er e s
ominW esternmininglately,and
eagoodbuy,but— themotto
youinvest, investigate. "
Mac krepeated, writingdownthe
notebook . DidSw ink tellyou
ingonthelevel " Mac k ues-
booktohispocket.
vebeenupagainstalotofc onmen
hemprettywellbynow.
mm i t yo u rs e lf "
wouldn tputinac entw ithouta
wnagent.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
e t "
w ink lastMondaynight, didn t
edwithassumedc asualness.
hiltonreplied uic kly , tonight.
tseehimMonday, then "
mM o nd a y. d i dn t m e et h i m un t il
w i th h i m la s t ni g ht "
hm l as t n ig h t.
nnerw ithhimtonight "
ours "
onthetelephone ustbeforedinner
est.
entdowntogetherafewminutesaf ter
adfinishedourmealat eight.
"
ra whileandsmokedour
he lobbyatanytimebefore
. Hehadsomeproduc tionc harts
"
t ay i n S wi n k s r o om "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
nutes.
sroomaboutf iveminutesto
y o u or h e "
hsdoor "
a n d do e sn t r e u i re l o ck i ng .
oorc losebehindyou "
nSw ink sroomwhenyouwent
el l .
stic kpinly ingonhisdresser "
e—yes.
hisnotebookandwas otting
maryofthelaconicconversa-
Swinkgoaf teryoulefthisroom "
ew ithhimtherestof theeve-
veuntilnearlyeleven.
"
stc orridor "
wnattheotherend.
henyousaidgood-night "
hecorridoruntilSw inkhadopened
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
omyroomandtookof fmyc oat.
someonescreamandrushedout.
einthehall.
kdismissedthesub ec tasofno
aveSwinkatanytime whileyou
n.
b e tt e r te l l yo u t he t r ut h , C h i l t on b e -
f therearsuspenderbuttonsonmy
slippeddownintothewashroom
e portersewiton.
g on e "
es.
toyourownroomoruptothe
view.
hat sallwewanttoknowtonight.
ay inthehotelforthene tfewdays,
ckoutwithoutseeing mefirst.
n de r s us p ic i on C h i l t on d e ma n de d
rsuspic ionuntilwegetthisthing
uietly, younomorethanany-
hasthoughhe wouldliketo
gain,andstrodeout oftheroom
m.MackturnedtoO ' Ryan.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
strikeyou, Terry "
rf romhispoc ketandsc annedit
him atransfertothedetec-
k ' mgoingtodoit. senthim
heroomclerkandseewhathe
whathesays. H ebegantoread
wink,accompaniedbyC hilton,
omandwenttotheelevator.
atthe thirdfloorandbothmen
upagainhalfan hourlaterand
ytheroomclerkto gointhe
rtenderremembersthatC hil-
mSwinkandwasgonea uarter
t uitesureof thetimebutthinks
othmenleftthebar again
evatormendonotremembertak-
nytime.
hiltontoldus.
c ourse, there sonething.
nguptothethirdf loor. Chilton
heelevator.
mwalk ingup.
nyonewhodid. O ' Ryanheaved
doyouthinkofhisstory, ohnny "
etterthan thefirst.
methingf ishyabouthim "
rself . He sbeenheresinc eMon-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
ssandheadmitshehasn tdone
eNewYork togetintouc hw ith
m.
watc h.
nypeoplewe vegottotalk to,
somewhatc rossly . I fyoutakeaslong
withChilton, we llbeonthe ob
saidc heerfully , J errySpanger
cherwhomaysaveusapeckof
f f ieColmarandtheproprieties,
broadly .
manwho safraidofwhatthe
fac egrewsoberagainalmostin-
otherc orridor, however.
a r so n i nt e rr u pt e d, b u t t h ou g ht
eyoubroughtChiltonin. The
corridor,andournight house-
ki,spendstwoorthreehoursthere
heckofsupplies.Sheusually
, headded.
anddesc endedac rossMac k sshoul-
vebeenheardat theopposite
Nowwe rebeginningtogetsome-
urkindergartenteacherand
riss-c ross.
rsoncorrected.
ameis.
errySpangerhaddesc ribedher,
ve,atrifle near-sightedand
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
chgaveherthinfacea slightly
coloredhairwasgatheredupat
cientknot.Spangerhadgiven
makeyourselfdec ent, andthe
wereapparent.
c kbeganw ithoutpreamble, your
gw ithyou, didn the "
getupfromSpringfieldvery
oseehim. H e sadearboy—
ort.
eraboutentertaininghimin
ertoldyou thatitwouldbeall
pen, didn the "
tgetintotroublew iththemanage-
youshould. Youdidleavethedoor
eryminuteof thetime.
rotherleaveyou, MissColmar "
e el ev en .
ouandhegouptoyourroom "
d usthaddinner—suc halovely
e beenaboutseven.
lthattimeyoushouldhavebeen
passeddownthe corridor.
i gg l ed n e rv o us l y. I ' m a fr a id ' m
weebittoomuc hinterestinthe
pointedouteveryonewhopassed
eculateonwhothey wereand
fc ourse, ' mnotreallyac uainted
sfuntopretend.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
nishly . A f terMarc uslef tme
dthenwenttobed. That sall
kemeup.
c ream ustaf teryoulef tyour
N o , d i dn t h e ar i t , bu t t he n
he waterrunning. Shepaused
meseeyourtallhandsomeman
torgoup ordownthecorridor
end,didyou "
id n t .
venotic edhim "
oorallthetime. didn twantto
emanager,eventhough had
rmission.
ac kmadehastetosay, We
uupany longer, MissColmar.
pe d y ou t s u s t to o t hr i l li n g to b e
rcase.
hertothedoor andMackgave
ames, but ' venevermetone.
ngthelisthehadreceivedfrom
owdoesherdopecheckwithyours,
ahamhandedinhiskey atthe
ndwentoutwithhis wifeand
oroughaskedforhis keyabout
y,betweennineandten Devon,
y . NodopeonMissGant. H e
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R49
c ket. Yourgirlf rienddidn t
loneeither.
ughtful. I fyouwantanyhelpin
dtothedetectivediv ision, ' m
wlet shearf rom risk rowski.
inadmiration.
mberthatname, ohnny. Notunless
ndwhite.
rgewomanwithflashingblack
rstrainedbackfromthe fore-
ywasapparentineveryfeature.
ient,andmetallic.Shegaveas
setoa uestionaswascon-
asatfirst difficulttodrawher
enminutesMackandO ' Ryan
acts.
kinginthe linenroomfrom
leven.
openduring theentiretime.
oticedanybodywhohadpassed
eddownthenorthcorridor—
— w i t h th e e c ep t io n o f a ch a mb e r-
dwasinthewestcorridorabout
everyevening.
uldgivethechambermaid s
kwasagainre uisitionedintoserv-
fnouse tryingtotalktoher
wentoffdutyat eleveno clock.
themostunbelievablein-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
eatmanytowelswerealways
ouldcreditthemonstrous
tremecarelavishedupontheir
t intheirheartsto complain.
smissed, andO ' Ryanwas ubi-
assistanc eof arsonand
nimprovisedfloorplanofthe
wasanattentivespectatorto
ion,evengoingso farasto
am. F ormyownreferenc e,
apologetically.
Ryan sbigbluntforefinger
twowaveringparallellines
edbotherabout, ohnny, are
vacantrooms, arsonsays,
ier. ' mgoingtohavePhelan
heveryroomin thiscorridor.
e cyanideormaybefindthe
din.
kngintopeople sroomswithouta
sted.
riendlypushintoac hair. twas
arsonbelieved,butSpanger
eyourage, erry , thepolic ec aptain
, Spangerremonstrated, fussily
otel sguestsf romannoyance. Mack
rossthecorridorandbawlfor
tacledyouthappearedatonce.
ck i n u i re d .
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
nlyonthedoorknob. ' veused
l thelikelyplaces,too.The
oaslick obofkeepingthings
nthedoorknob "
s , a nd W e s t bo r ou g h s — a l l me s se d u p
h obtomake emout.
couldn tidentify "
hosethree.
ue "
e m t o gi v e it a r i de "
Mac kconc ludedthec onversa-
throughwe llmovebac k inhere. B ut
eprintsonthedoorknob.
theef fic ientSelzeranswered.
orough sbedroom. O ' Ryanhad
ehousedetectiveandassured
enantthatPhelanandMcC ar-
s, too " Mac k in uired.
goodunlessit sdonethoroughly .
olikethisatall, thediscomf ited
eshouldtakeordersf romhim.
ughttohaveawarrant, Spanger
gthewomen " Mac k ueried.
onuphere, Terry .
ceandreachedforthe telephone.
thatdetailslipmymind "
ewritingdesk,tooka sheet
wer,andwroteeightnamesin
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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TU MB L E R
ndoutwhereyourtesttubec ame
O ' R ya n s ho u te d . W h e r e "
thatgotinaroundmidnight
ears old.
. Mr. andMrs. Ronald . Graham.
ammond,waswiththem.
eGrahamk id—he sc alledC ed-
sbugsonchemistry,andhis
t sabigc ardboardbo w itha
dbottlesinit.
rstandingly.
umean. Myownyoungsterwantsme
dgotintosomesortof trouble
enton. Madethedamnedeststink -
andhisfolkstookit away
inacloset,wayonthe topshelf.
oingthroughtheroomand we
sstubesthatyouuseformi ing
"
enit, O ' Ryanspec ulated.
SwearsthesetwasO . . whenhis
.
dthedoor.
We regoingtolook intothis.
mseveraltimes beforeand
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R55
first.H ewasnearlyastall as
wasfarf rombeingasbroad. He had
air andalightmustache,
thatc uriouslawwhic hseems
pposites,Mrs.Grahamwasn t
blondewithwideblueeyes.
overtwenty-two, butherson, Cedric ,
e toherappearance.C edric,
rent,wasathin,somewhatnerv-
f boreddetachment,obviously
presenceofadults.
minvitedc ordially . Captain
' veseenyournameofteninthepapers,
' dhavethehonorofmeetingyou
of folkswhodon tc allitnohonor,
wn " Mrs. Grahaminv ited, bustling
dric, runintothebedroomand
stheworstpartof liv ingina
I dohopewewillbeabletof ind
m , O ' R ya n e p o st u la t ed . W h e r e s
son s "
dy lithographedlidofac ard-
agic MarvelsofChemistry . Strips
ous bottles,phials,andshort
oodenrackinthecenterheldsev-
y,otherscontainingvarious
nspicuousvacantspaceinthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
esttubesand helditbetween
Samek indallright, hepro-
gedoverthenamesprinted on
arply.
isshoulder. Whatdoyousee,
ntedtoalabelononeof thebottles.
toread, Sulphuric A c id—V ery
paredtheotherbottlesandtheir
There ssomethingwrongabout
manufacturerwouldputanything
ofk ids. A nd wasright. This
withtheset. t sadif ferentk ind,
elishandletteredand not
g, though, Mac kcommented. H e
emstomeyouhavesomee plain-
dric c himedin. I askedhimto
Papa "
m "
tomakesomee perimentsthat
dn twanttolethimhaveit, but
ycompromised. boughtthe
onornevertoopenit unless
operation.
C edric pipedinashrillsoprano.
ogetit, Mrs. Grahamlamented.
n t i t, M r. a rs on "
particularlysointhec onc entrated
erfulattractionforwater,which
sues.A singledropcouldre-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
erhusbandfirmly.
wthatstuf foutrightaway, Ron-
haveitaroundhereanothermin-
e en u s ed , M a ck o b se r ve d . W h a t
sfor, sonny "
f reeshydrogen, theboye -
ntofwords. wantedtomake
dme.
akestobeac hemistallright,
aham.
so n " M a c k in u i re d .
yc orrectaboutthate periment.
dric and hadourselvesabig
onwhilehismotherwasat a
eironfilings inthebottomofa
stenoughof thestuf f toc over em.
nto meltawayandthegas
heacid.Thenwetoucheda
blueflame.
llthis " Mackasked.
, Mrs. Grahamputin. I remem-
yof thel sparty , andthatwas
theac id " askedMac kabruptly .
kmadeanotherentryin thein-
heasked arson. H ow longhas
"
errySpangerc onf irmed. I tookpar-
movedinbecausehelooked
eerertome.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
opleknowSwink " Mac k in-
ah a m ec ho e d. W e v e s ca r ce l y se e n
acrossthehall " Mrs. Graham
ood-morningtomeonce.
Mrs. Graham Mac k inter-
Why, ofc ourse.
on e o f e m .
pressiononherfac e, Mrs. Graham
ndtoher hair. arsonnoted
vidcrimson.
hyonearthyouwantit, butit s
inwithabsorbedattention.
rderedacrossthehall thiseve-
Someonemadesomepoisongasin
erhis door.Thetesttubewas
on ssetandthere soneof those
ghthavebeenusedtomakethe
ere. A w irehairpinwasusedto
door—andyourwife wearsthe
ruthf romyou, Graham, hede-
rewereyoutonight "
t o ne , G r ah a m ba r ke d ,h i s a w s et -
thinkstilllessofyourmethods,
edbyeither.
u e st i on , M a ck b l us t er e d, o r
en aneagerlyinterestedspec-
n grantedpermissiontowatch
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
othis minutecontributednoth-
he interruptedtobreakthe
rc asecanbesolvedsoeasily , ieu-
yoneroomingoffthiscorridor
mindedthatC edricowneda
e " e r ry S p an g er c h or t le d . W e h a d
askedMac k, hiseyesremaining
mefromschool,hismotherwas
hemicalsettoplaywith.Pretty
estinkingestmessyou veever
deggsthathadbeenrottingsince
upanddownthecorridor,pop-
appenedtobehometo letthem
huc k led. Seemslikethatdamnrot-
ours.Youneversmeltany-
lp h id e , C e d r i c to l d hi m . I t d i d
idwewereallgoingtobeasked
s. Grahambrokein. I loc kedCed-
ec loset, andhehasn tbeenallowed
edric announcedsulkily . Rottenold
hingbutalotofbabytric ks. When
g o in g t o ge t m e a re a l la b or a to r y, a n d ' l l
ttothen, youbet.
ydrogensulphide " Mac k in-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
eitwhenac teduponbyadilute
J ustaddsomehydroc hloric ac id
ance,andyou llgetyourrot-
yhydrochloric ac id, C edric in-
vedsodiumthiosulphateinwaterand
tworked,too.
ngerc onfirmed.
ef loorknewaboutthis " Mac k
e m t al k a bo u t mu c h el s e fo r t he n e t
dhavetobeblind,deaf,dumb,
mputatednot toknowwhat
Grahamunderwentavisibleal-
mindtellingyouthatifeveryoneonthe
e chemicalset,itdoesmakethe
edmewhatwedidtonight.Mrs.
dric toamovie—afterwardsweall
Mrs.H ammondwaswithus.
a nd " O ' K y a n as k ed .
orsomething.
f thetime, Mrs. Grahamputin,
havesortofmadeitahabitto
wheneverwegotoashow. ' d
behometonight, orwewouldn t
rse, shedidn thavetogow ithus,
nny— practicallyinsistedthat
e av e "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
amreplied. I didn tlookatthe
a m co n fe s se d . I t w a s u s t ei g ht -
obby.
ththekeytoyourroom " Mack
eitw ithyou "
ditinatthedesk . Wealways
, Mackreminded. Don tyou
"
supposewec ouldgetan-
llyneedit.
ndonlyroomkey wasdownat
yuntil—whattime dyouget
t w el v e.
tospendatamovie.
Wewentdowntothe oop—
tto knowwhere.Thenwehad
houghtitwas, Mrs. Graham
ttalkofanythingelsealltheway
erpicture. don tthinksomuc hof
ting, Cedric volunteered. The
menalltiedupand weregoing
hem,butthethird Gmancame
t " Mac k interrupted.
ietallevening, Mrs. Graham
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
heseemedworriedaboutsome-
ose.
ck s e c l am a ti o n mi g ht h a ve s t oo d f or
oldme,Mrs.Graham,thatyou
etwhenyoutookitawayfrom
oc kedwhileyouweregone "
et ourhatsandcoatsand
stof thetime, Cedric c ontributed.
mbertolockit.
gryglanceather offspring.
beentak ingadvantageofme
o t ha t , M a ck c ut i n . A r e y o u
ngthings, Cedric "
ic ac idbottle. Hasanyof
ur fathere perimentedwith
foreheadinintenseconcen-
t r e me mb e r d o n t b e li e ve P a pa
anthatinthebottle.
nyoneelseinthehotelaboutthis
stboroughin uirede c itedly .
theboyrepliedaftersomedelibera-
oroughaskedofGraham.
rtalkingaboutit.
m "
might vementionedittoMrs.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
ngat, Mr. Westborough " Mac k
W e s t bo r ou g h e c l ai m ed w i th a n e rv -
dererundoubtedlyknewthathe
mtheboy sc hemic alset. B ut
tythathedidn tknowabout
s notusuallyincludedwith
efore
apped. H ehadtohavesomeacid
einhere.
c ase, it sinsomeroomof f thisc or-
prompttodec lare. Weknowthat
dorafterwards.
oroughpronounc edgravely , that
uarelyonthehead.
oomwhic h lmoSwinkhad
e, I wantmorefactsbefore
together. et stalk toMrs.
sttof indthebody, andwehaven t
factsf romher, Spangersnick -
ebiggestgossipinthehotel—and
g.
Mac kdirec ted. O ' Ryanbellowed
en. Themoreshegossips,the
noldgirllikethathasalotof
ng outthingsaboutherneigh-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
emovedfromthe floorat
ed.Someone,undoubtedlythedili-
gathereduptheshatteredfrag-
dlaidthemuponthe writing
edthemwithf reshinterest. Un ues-
nbrokentubewouldhavebeen
osefoundinthe rackofC edric
H einspectedthesludgeclinging
e tube.Transparentcrystals
vethisanalyzed "
y "
tsaltthisis, you llknowwhether
idewasusedandalsowhat
intent alonganothertrend
arson, peoplearealotUkeyour
emuptogetherinatesttube—that s
atyoucalla reaction,andsomebody
beenthink ing—whatdoyoucallthe
orksstartbut don ttakeany
hrisvolunteered.
ell, ' veahunchourolddame
fthose. We llgethertotalk ing,
ening. A lthough c an tseehow
thingtodowithputting the
herself .
R ya n a dv i se d .
gossip, Mac kwenton, ignoring
melikethatwithnothingtodobut
hy, ' llbetshec antellusevery-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
hiscorridor— evenwhatthe
aham smiddlename.
O ' R ya n o ff e re d u i ck l y. W a n t t o
absent-mindedlyoutofthe
dtorainagain "
gownwhichenhancedthe
om,SarahB lakelysweptinthe
eanliner.H erlittlegrayeyes,
ghalargepair ofhorn-rimmed
tiveandprying.H ernosewas
eofaneagle sbeak,andher
romising. ittlefoldsofskin
bbyneck.
belligerent.
urspastmybedtimewaitingforyou
-abidingwoman, and wanttotell
now.
it " Mac ke c laimedwithpre-
s. B lakely , understandthatyou
whathadhappenedtoMr.
siblyatthistributeto herim-
did, O f f ic er—I don tknowyour
tMac k . H ec ompletedbelatedintro-
tainO ' Ryan. supposeyouknow
rsonandMr. Westborough "
SarahB lakelyacknowledged
hatthesegentrywerenot
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
herselfin achair,arranging
eration,whilehersmall gray
ratefeatureoftheroom.
vegotridofhim A lotofpeo-
hi c . d o n t k n ow w h et h er t h at s t r ue
kprobably am, but doknow
sleepagainif hadtositinthesame
erstoutbodyshivered. I never
don tintendtonow. Whatdo
aptainMack O r areyou ieu-
thedetec tivec orrected. B eginat
kely,andtellusaboutthis eve-
oomearly , Mrs. B lakelydec lared
daheadac he, havethemoftenlately ,
toldtheoculisttheyoughttobe
aminedmyeyes,buthesaid
fyouaskme, he soneof thesec on-
emenwhosimplywon ttake
whowmyowneyesfeel, shouldn t
enyouwenttoyourroom "
eaf ternineo c lock , but don t
tmusthavebeenaf ternine
se wastalk ingto stherHat-
floor—youknowMrs.H at-
estborough saidtoher, Gra-
ckalready—I don tknowwheretime
y ustc an tstarttodoanything
timetodosomethingelse. A nd
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
ypoorGeorgealwaysusedto
c loserguessthanbetweennineand
ed, attemptingtoswitc hthec onversa-
George. B utitwasafutile
atehusband, youknow, hedied
rfellow Well, Georgehadasay-
orslaves. He oughttoknow,
avedathiswork,Georgedid.
ou llk illyourself ifyoukeepitup,
when go, ' dratherdieinhar-
lvenow ifhe dtakenmyadv ice. B ut
bornman. hadaregularbat-
thimtoput onhiswinter
ac ksaidc onciliatingly , but, Mrs.
aboutthetimeyouwentto your
avebeenafternine-thirty , the
e stherand wereinthelobby,
theelevatorbutMrs.W hip-
er— oneofthoseblack,shaggy
hetakesouteverynight. t s
' veremarkedonitseveraltimes.
y—probablyannoyedathis
enMrs.B lakelyafreehand,
oyourroomuntilafternine-
beenmuc hafternine-thirty , because
orthat Mrs.W hippetcamedown
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
c ause ustbefore hadsaidto
r. Sw inkwalk ingdownthe
stetoputin.
on tknowwhattimethatwas.
room, wenttobedrightaway, or
twasSw inkyouheardwalk ing
Mack uestioned.
viertreadthananyoneelse. He
ink. putGeorgeonaneighteen-
grumbledalot aboutit,but
andhelost twentypoundsin
wassaying,Mr.Swinkwalksheavier
tumbledaroundso couldtell
rink . mustsay wasdisap-
neverthoughthewasa drinking
occasionalglassofwine,but
ongeraroundthehouse,
hing—well, anyway, af ter heard
ouldn thurttoputmydressing
utinthehall. He mightbein
dnevercomesamiss,if do
asyouwouldhavethemdounto
vealwaystriedtoliveupto. Sarah,
cprac tic ingChristian ' veever
osaytome.
thehall " Mac kasked.
thekeyhole, and mustsaythat
t stoodinmydoorwayand
gotthe doorunlocked,andthen,
heardsomethingfall. tsounded
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
thought, Mercyme sMr.
bedw ithhim ' H edidn ttry
d thoughtthatwasfunny.
nd thought, O hmygoodness,
e, bettergoandseewhat
wentacrossthehallandlookedin
khadn tgotaroundtoturn-
tin thecorridorwason,and
oom.H ewaslyingthereall
sawsucha sightinyourlife.
yrippeduphiscarpetandfolded
anactofpurevandalism
epiec esofbrokenglassonthef loor,
knewsomethingwaswrong.
m p s yc h ic a n yw a y, k n ew u s t as
ou resittingac rossf rommenow,
winkwasdead.Therewasa
knewsomebodyhadmurdered
med.Mr.H ammondcamerunning
antgirlout ofhers,andMr.
arson.Yes,andMr.Devon,too.
wayand openedthewindow.
erallgo backtoourrooms.
w inkhadbeenmurdered " Mac k
h at s a l l c a n t t e ll y o u ho w k n ew
noseonyourface— nooffense
.
minentprotuberancewhile
atbeakofyours, ohnny.
tenanthastilychangedthesub-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
hedeadmanpersonally , Mrs.
k ne w h im v er y w el l , an d , on t h e
can tsaythat didn tknowhim.
etheotherday. hadseenMr.
hisroomseveraltimes,and
whenhec ameuptomeinthelobby
afternoon,madam,lovelyweather,
' s a id , I ca n t s a y th a t it i s , be -
aythis monthandwillprobably
ndhesmiledandsaid, That s
welaughed, andhesaid, I really
ce amanewneighborof
toldhimwho was, andhe
l a k el y a n d s a id , Y e s, G e or g e
heanswered, Why, usedtoknow
estfellowson earth.O nly
ndersuchcircumstances. A nd
ld i s a s ma l l pl a ce , i sn t i t ' A n d h e
dearMrs. B lakely , youreallymust
ngmetotakeyouto luncheon.
ingroom, and mustsaythat
othings. venbetterthan
wkwardinpublicsometimes,as
y was uitesurprisedtonightto
nderthe influenceofalcohol.
unc hthathehadnouseforitin
verreallyknowthe truthabout
oldmine " Mac kprobed. His
sforwardinsurprise.
youknowthat t soutinC olo-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
orgetown. sn tthatac oinc i-
o M r. S w in k , W o u l dn t i t b e a wo n de r -
oinvesthis moneyinatown
fc oursethemoneywouldn tbe
wouldbeinthemine, andthat s
bolinkofGold, think, orisit
ell, anyway, theprinc iplewouldbe
hemineorthetown, as saidto
ottedline " Mac kwantedto
s a id t o M r. S wi n k, M y po o r de a r
opinionthat hadtobelooked
gh mustsaythatwhenitcame
se alwaysgotalongbetterthan
oGeorgelef thismoneytiedupin
wanceandnothingelse. O fc ourse,
nvestments c an, but haveto
slawyer,andheis inclinedto
y , onetimewhen wenttohim
mnlyasa udgeuntil gotc lear
aughing, MydearMrs.
ourhusband sgood udgment
imeyouv isitme. Well, that s
ndhedidn tseemtolikeitvery
nttosayawordagainstmylawyer
econservativeoldfogies,and
ttheyweren tevenabletohang
it.W ell,afterlunchhetold
oyedmeetingGeorge sw ife, and
mutual. B ut mustsaythat
af terthat.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
khad anyenemiesinthis
uestioned.
at h e h ad e a ct l y. O f c o u rs e , Mr . H a m -
kehim, andtheGantgirlpre-
eraf tershegotc aughtw ithhimin
h r is a r so n f la m ed .
ressingaguestof thishotel,
enightclerk,hisfacea vivid,
essforadramaticsecond.
Mrs. B lakely , heapologized.
ngman, thatifyougoaroundc alling
ouwon thaveyourposition
odthatpolitenesswasoneof the
otelemployee. ' mnotgoingto
stime
rs . B l a k el y . ( a t o ld s o w, ' d
harridancanthrowherfilth
art sc ontent, and c an tstop
hingasslander, suppose. f
w ar n h er , o b o r no o b .)
ettingsomewhere, Mac k
t H a m m on d l ik e S wi n k "
spredictionthatMrs. B lakely
tin thishumanfermentand
ve spowersofdiv ination. H e
entaloudsniff andrighteously
blac kgown. L ikeapiousvul-
r perhapsapray ingmantis. That
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
isinthehabitofdevouringher
idn tH ammondlikeSw ink "
edagain.
h at h e d id n t . M r. H a m m on d m ay b e as
now. B ut alwayssaythatifa
sgoingonrightunderhisnose, he
awoman.
" Mac kcontinuedtoprobe.
rtedrightoutintheopenw itha
rahH ammond A ndifevera
manwas Mr.Swink Theway
ht ustaswellhavec omeright
I ' dc ertainly liketogetbetter
ister. Myhusband sawaymost
lonely . "
icattempttomimictheinflec-
an svoic ewasludicrous, arson
sting. He putin uic kly , Mrs.
rlyeverybodyshemeets.Sheis
yperson.
' R ya n g ru n te d a pp r ov i ng l y. T h at s
l a k e ly b r id l ed . I d o n t l i ke h e r st y le
mileateveryone—a womanlike
but thewayshesmiledat
erentfromthewayshe smiles
aidto stherHatterasthisaf ter-
otthroughsayingitthan
d seebutMr. H ammond. Well,
medownwithafeather Talk
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ougossiping " Mac kwanted
onf idenc esisnotgossip, Mrs.
I don tknowwhetherMr. H am-
fhedid, hedidn tsayanything.
ouldn t. Nomanlikestolearn
oolofhimbehind hisback.
ttostayhomemoreandlookaf ter
er. Satanalwaysf indsmisc hief foridle
g r ea l ly w r on g , it s m y o b t o do
angerremarked. Didyouactu-
outofMrs. Hammond sroom "
ahB lakelyemphasizedsenten-
dtosuggest:
eeanydef initeevidenceofanaf fair
andMr. Swink , didyou "
ack-and-whiteevidencethatyou
c ourt, no, Mrs. B lakelyde-
sawholelotmoregoingonthan
ac e. Myfriendssay ' m
velingman " Mac k interrupted.
ad—I guessthat sthewaytheyput
ompany.No-Runnoorsome-
c alled. Mr. Hammondisawaymost
ygetsinona ridayandstays
That swhy wassosurprisedto
don teverrememberthathe
ore.A ndhealwaysgoesout
ing.
hepump. You repretty
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
urneighborsinthiscorridor,
e ly "
hristiandutytobeneighborly. A l-
e ssomeofthemthatdon tfeel
w,Mr.W estboroughisanice
andMr.Devonis realcheerful,
regularic eberg. simplywon t
e paintsherfingernailsred,too,
tdoesn tknowanybetter. A s
s, I f t h e o r d ha d wa n te d u s to
d h a ve g i ve n e m t o us . t i s n t
gainstHisw ill. "
mdoforaliving " Mac k
gain. H e sanartist. H ehas
op. Hec allsitanof f ic eandsays
ttomakeit soundmorerespect-
n ttellme, though, thathedoesn t
stthesame. A ndhowMrs. Graham
paintinga lotofshameless
n c ansee.
mechanicallyaccuratepen-and-
y, Westboroughvolunteered
ra h B l a k el y s no r te d . W h o e ve r h ea r d of
wnudewomen A ndhowhe
ethan c ansee. tmustc ost
tokeepan apartmentinthis
tmuc hofanapartment—j usttwo
but forthesamemoneythey
hesuburbs.A nditwouldbe
o t sshamefultokeepthatboy
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
nac age, as told stherHat-
to mischiefwithhischemicals
isn tMr. Graham sboy. Maybe
en tbeenmarriedmorethan
rchildby aformerhusbandwho
toldme. mustadmitthatMr.
ustlikeareal son,although
meashav ingoneofyourown. Mr.
imonc e, there snosensationinthe
aveyour ownfleshandblood
. ' vegotthree, said, and
gabout. YouandMrs. Graham
veoneofyourown,andthen
ot r ig ht . "
h i m, a n yw a y H o w d h e t ak e t ha t
eandtoldmetomindmyown
beenveryf riendlysinc e.
sw ifeac uaintedw ithSwink "
ethimfac etofac einthehallone
ennod. B utthenthatMrs. Gra-
g.
dy uiveredw ithrepressedlaughter.
ic erec ordsstraight, Mrs. B lakely ,
raham smiddleinitia l, E ,
nedpromptly.
fac eandtook two uartersf rom
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
oufourbits, ohnny. Mac kpoc keted
Mr. Devon " hec ontinued.
verywell. He alwaysseemspleas-
ather peculiarlanguagenow
d, andmakesmistakesinhisgram-
rybodywhoc anhaveac ollegeedu-
ss ' mnosnob. L iveandletlive
tedthesentimentwithanappro-
ntinued, believehesells
ec onf irmed. I c heckedthatupthe
ed. Devondidn tlook uiteright
anmakeouthe sonthelevel.
s billinadvance,andthat s
otebook . Mrs. B lakely, we
tellmewhatyouknowabout
B l a k el y s ni f fe d a ga i n. w as w o n-
askabouther.Sheusedto
roommatemovedoutonher last
hewholeweek shotelbillto
ecoulddoit, orif shedidshehada
y shewantstolivebeyondher
ansee. know itsoundsbigtobe
' m s t ay i ng a t t he q u a b l e, b u t
erandmak ingastenographer s
lyhuntmyselfamoreine pensive
eseclubsforgirls wouldbea
elieve, onlyofc oursetheywouldn t
erroom.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
astincturedwithvenom. arson
gaboutthat. Swink , sodrunkhe
blunderedintothewrongroom.
eathathewasin therethan
lemin differentialcalculus,
esneered. H owc ouldhegetinto
min Thesedoorslock , don t
hapatiencewhichhewasfar
nt sdoorstuckalittleinthedoor
aysc losetightenoughtowork the
penterf i edit, andhe llverify
ngaboutthec onditionof thedoor.
kn g on i t t he n e t d a y, M r s.
e dprobablysayanythingyoutold
curbedahotretortin answer
W h e n d id t h is h a pp e n "
Tuesdayevening.
tingtomeaboutit, arson,
ec essary , arsondefendedhimself .
heconditionofthedoor wasobvi-
soonasshefoundhim inher
c eandesc ortedthemantohisown
tterwastrifling.
whenpeoplestartgettingintowrong
ed. You retak ingtoomuchon
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
DidyouseeMissGantopenher
shetellyouaboutthat after-
fterwards, arsonwasforced
ow ingly . manwillbelieve
rltellshim.MyGeorge wasa
menwereconcerned.
rnedtohis groundsofcom-
ene ttimeyouf indafellow ina
eredperemptorily . Thehotelpays
s,not you.Youweren teven
"
en, oryouwouldn thavebeenright
ed.C omeonnow,howdidshe
a i r m u ss e d "
lthymind, arsonacc used
supposeit syourrottenpro-
andtooka stepforward.
ercrac k likethatoutofyouand
arsondemanded, histemperrisingto
' m r e ad y a ny t i me y o u sa y "
eenthetwomen. Shutup, you
r ' llloc kupbothofyou. Yes,
rs.B lakely,ratheragainst
urnedto closethedoorbehind
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
n u i et l y, i t s t i me f o r yo u t o ta l k
sbetweenyouandtheGantgirl,
w ink theothernight "
edandhisvoic e uiveringw ith
wheeledtofacethedetective.
a t y ou m e an .
ac kcontradic tedinatoneofdeadly
gonbetweenyouandtheGantgirl "
y . sc arcelyknowMissGant.
theothernight, suppose "
t s m y b us i ne s s to k n ow w ho t h e
ndMissGantis oneofthem.
ustanotherguesttoyou "
neditsc oolness. Youareattac h-
cetothe incident.Swinkwas
lydrunk,butstupid and
himafteryoufoundhiminher
ed. Takeyourtimeandgiveusall
feetandoutthedoor.
,of course.
oorbetweenthetworooms "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
f it. Theconnectingdoorsareal-
ceordersthemopened.
enit.
asskeyaroundwithme.
f du t y.
m "
emdownatthedesk . Sometimesa
kagetoaroomwhenaguestis
Mr. Swannhasapasskeyand
emaidshavefloorkeys.B ut
rs.
tationsintheblac kbook . A ll
k toyourstory . Wasthedoorto
hallopen "
ed.
oofargone. reachedinhispoc ket
helpedhimovertothebed,
openedthe window,andleft
i m "
hatmydutytothehotelinvolved
ks.
oughthelittleheapofarticles
mthedeadman sclothesand
ed inaneat,orderlypile.A
se.A tooledleatherbillfold.
nony andpenc iltomatc h, both
bo .Twohandkerchiefs:one
obv ious spare. A leather
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
d, isbotheringme, too.
t s t ic k, d o es i t "
Nope, testedit, anditworks
ringloc ksthedooreverytimeyou
dapasskey, Spangerc ogitated,
howhegotholdofone. A s arson
anyof em, andwekeepac lose
fapasskeywasmissing ' d
here sbeennosuchthing re-
urewhich of fertoyouforwhatitis
nterpolatedinatimorousvoice.
or someonetoborrowsurrepti-
asskeyandretainit sufficiently
made "
cisively.
ror so.Noonecouldsneaka
withoutit beingnoticed.
lyafewsecondstosec ureawa
oughpersisted. I t sc onceivable
one withoute citingundue
mpression,itwouldbe, believe,
duplicatekey.
ooddodgeforf ic tionwriters,
everseea keymadefromone,
stf romwa w ithnopartic ular
observedveryhandsomebronzespro-
literally lostwa —proc ess. A
ithapreparedmi tureofplaster,
theringredients,whichhardensina
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
withstandhightemperatures.
awayandthemoltenbronze
old.
ctro-deposition, too, arson
u dhavetomakethewa c onduc tive
e, andthenyou dhangitf rom
ution.
e o i n e d no n co m mi t ta l ly . d o n t
seerpurdooorelectro-plating.
evermethavetohavetheoriginal
eablank ofthepropersize
enlittleinterestinthisdisc us-
eaofhis own.
kdthelocks.
ththeeagernessofasmallboy
eson. I don tsay itc an tbe
w a s on t h e fo r ce , l e ar n ed t h er e s
omeguyc an tpic k—ifyougive
righttools. B ut w illsaythis:
ughputtinggoodcylinderlocks
gthemisno obforanamateur.
eralk indsof loc ksmyself: ohnny
formyowninformation, e peri-
when f irstc amehere. c ouldn t
s t bo r ou g h br o ke i n e c i te d ly . T h e
ntheonehandthe difficulty,
le,ofsecuringapasskey onthe
obabilitythatthetwodoorscould
rmeans.Perhapsthesolution
er,doesn tthehotelkeepa com-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
something, Terry , Mac kputin
g r ea t i de a , al l r ig h t, b u t Sw i nk s k e y
ham s, yes, butnotSw ink s. Take
sdope, andyou llsee ' mright.
deskafterdinner,buthenever
cemoretohislist, agreedthat
ksuggestedthatH ammondbe
.
heheardMrs. B lakelyandher
eandSwink.W eneedmore
boutthese peopleinthecorri-
elyhaddrippedherpoison, ar-
his conscience.Orrather the
ninnatesenseof conductbe-
dtheloyaltyone owestoanim-
dthe law . Shouldheorshould
mory A lonelywomanstealing
e uiethoursof thenight. Un-
ves Yes,hetoldhimself,but
Murdermostfoul, eventhough
haven ttherighttoshieldany-
. B uttothrow intothedisc us-
osechoicenesswoulddocredit
l, theredidn tseemtobeanyhelp
astnightwhic h thinkyou
gan. I twasprobablyabouttwo-
rs.H ammondcameintothe
s.A lone.Sheaskedforherkey
bouttenminuteslaterSwink
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
key.A ndhewasin evening
ck e a cu l at e d. W h y d i dn t y o u te l l
hedoortothec orridor. Phelan,
. No, alone. We llgetherhus-
, Mackdeclared,consulting
useagoodstrongc upofblac kcof fee.
"
lephone. I ' llseewhatc anbe
okeintothetransmitter, thenhung
cof feeinafewminutes, and told
ndwiches.
vely . That sthetic ket "
dinNorahHammond. H erf laming
selyaboutherslenderfigure.
umbledinbangsfardownon her
wsweretwodarkandnarrow
hiteskin.H ermouth,friendly
wasatrifletoo largeforthe
M a ck a s ke d .
eref i eddownwardonhersmallred
inlysorrytolearnofMr. Swink s
amabletotellyouanythinguse-
fromthehotelthe entireeve-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
outwithhim. B ut didn tknow
Ryanpronounc edpaternally .
c kordered.
y an . M u st ? "
akeyou "
u e .
o b ad , O ' R y an d e cl a re d .
ehotel " Mac kcon ec tured.
o. Therearealwayssomanygos-
thelobby.
at sputtingitmildly.
obusinessgoingw ithhim—I really
nd. B ut redisawaymostof
eenso manylonesomeevenings.
oboredw ithmyself ' dwantto
er " Mac kprobed. A c oc k-
ose "
rynice.Mr.Swinkknewhow
tertainingtalker.We danced
thatwasn tsobad. orafatman
tonhisfeet.Not suchagood
se, butfarf rombeingapoor
u o r af f ec t h im M a ck w an t ed t o
raisedherheadandlaughed.
sk that Wehadseveralhighballs
evening, and neversawaman
arryany li uor, Spangerc om-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
eirstomachor something,
O ' R y an i n te r e c te d . W h y
fromhimearlier "
eptpullingmedowntomychair
toraiseasc ene. Yousee, shec on-
endof red sac rosstheroom, and
dn tseeme, thankgoodness, but
ingthatwouldattractattention.
etogetaway " O ' Ryanasked.
wardinhischairand wentto
yeverybodyinthe placeturned
wasneversoembarrassedinall
red sf riendhadgonebythat
Ryancommentedparenthetic ally ,
mostofhistimein getting
stnight,and tonight.
p i g N o ra h H a m mo n d e -
hewaiterwokehimupfinally
mecoffee.A fterthatwemanaged
gh "
e "
atwereall Well, slappedhis
andaf terthathestayedonhis
tthethingshekeptsay ing The
q uable, and said, Nothing
kinto thislobbywithyou.
w ill. H etriedtoputhishaton—
yhome,anditwasaterrible
right, baby. ' llwaitouthere. B ut
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ght c ause ' mc omingintosee
doorofthecaband walkedintothe
rewasn tanybodytherebutMr.
ynic e, and knewhe dnevertellon
ed,stareddownatthecarpetasMrs.
erstory . gottomyownroom
wasneversomadinallmylife—I
e. Honestly, believethatifMr.
omyroomthatnight would
arevolver,youknow,whichhe
eson theroad.
t he n M a ck i n u i re d .
A nd satupforalongtime
sactuallyafraidtogoto beduntil
mthene troom. thoughthis
hen heardthemattheC lub, but
weetestmusic everlistenedto.
yselfbefore gotoutofbed,
yougetfortwo-timingthebesthus-
eragain. "
ullyathischin. Soyour
I s u pp o se s h ou l dn t h a ve
edoesn twalkaroundw iththe
Ryaninformed.
that.
nounc edslow ly, hasgotaboutas
asmyauntH arrietupatNiles,
mthinking, Mrs. H ammond, it s
Sw inkwasn tshot. A lsothat
hotelallevening. H eturned
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
weregoneallevening, weren t
s, ofc ourse.
Mrs.Graham.
oyalonehere, didn tthey "
mwithus.
rthename. twasaboutsec retserv ice
ofshooting. don tc aremuch
dneitherdoes uella.Mr.
ditthough.
rtheshow"
ataC hineserestaurant. Ronald
upontakingus.
w iththeGrahams, aren tyou "
p le , s h e e c l a i me d . L u s o n e of
g ot . d o n t k n ow w ha t ' d d o wi t h-
esoutontheroad.
day, didn the "
Mondayasusual, suppose "
eemoredayswithhim. Seems
ttochaseouttonight withthe
rhusbandat homealone.
NorahHammondanswered
nttogo, butheinsisted. Saidhefelt
c ompany, andhefeltheoughtto
ehemeantit, and didn twant
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
Mr. andMrs.Grahamright
WasMr. H ammondinbed
forme. Shelaughed. Men
ings. c ountedsi separate
andtheroomwassimply reek-
edhimproperlyaboutit.The
lddo forhishead.
Ryanmovedwithsurprising
tothepatrolmaninthec orridor.
drightaway, andkeepMrs. Ham-
anduntilwe vehadachanceto
f romthedoor. Thatmustbe
c kcon ec tured. arsonawaitedthe
ithmisgivings. Hedidn tliketo
trumentalinfocusingpolice
nightofthe road.Yethewas
ackandO ' Ryanweresharply
ucouldn tblamethem.H am-
ample, hadsoundeddec idedly
dac uiredheadachesonlyafter
usal,notsuddenlyandoppor-
ictorianvirgin.A lsohecould
mmondhadbeentellingtheen-
rmedherhusbandabout hereve-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
edinasoundlesswhistle. Yes, thesit-
sting,heconcluded,ashe
osstothedoor.
ywithawell-loadedtray,
standad ac enttothebed.
strongandblack,hadgulped
sthoughtfullymunchinga
methepatrolmanbroughtin
maswerepartiallyobsc uredbya
dpurplesilk . Whatyoubeen
hedemanded, infuriatedandplainly
arsonhadalreadyobserved,
whento becalm.Themore
peared,themoreplacidMack s
renow uietly f i eduponthesales-
ot untilhehadrelightedthe
beensmokingor chewingmost
ttitude, Hammond.
fistagainstthenightstand so
etrayclattered.H ishandwas
ackcoveredbyshortblack
mnwhatyoulike " Thedishesc lat-
wafewpeopledownattheC ityHall,
won tstandforanyofyourgoddam
' llgetyourshield.
I f itwasa uestionof
your pullmightwork.B ut
rderrap.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
esalesmanechoed, hisvoicesof tened
bigenoughtopullmeoff this
Nottill getthetruthoutofsome-
d.
achairwhileMackcoolly
orlamp.Thesalesman slower
hatyoumeanmurderrap "
etectivetobluster, arson
t.W ithdisarmingsuddenness,
seyoucaughthimplaying
H a m m on d s ho u te d , sp r in g in g t o hi s
thavelookedtw ic eattheswine.
barked. Weknowdif ferently . She
withhim lastnight.
mond shandplowedfeverishly through
saidthat "
uisition. Hewasasrelentless
ysiciandissectingwithhis
ooutw ithyourw ifetonight "
dozenc igars Q ueersortofhead-
toc almmynerves, H ammond
eweren tyou "
l, g ue ss w as "
eandsayyoudidn tknowshe d
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
Think ' dhavestayed uietly in
n t ha t "
pt e d. W h a t w ou l d yo u h av e d on e "
de ec tedlyagainsthisc hair. I
' dhavebeatenhimwithinaninc h
t y o u M a ck s n ee r ed . W h a t y ou
you dhavetakenthatgunof
k no w "
m, Mac kc ontinued, hiseyesf i ed
mond s. Youdidn tshoothim
betterway. H epausedpor-
d,whatmadeyousmokesomany
w a s ne r vo u s, a n d
ory,andnotevenverygood
Mac kderided. Whydon tyou
mokedallthosecigarstocover
m on d r ep e at e d.
onds, Mac k flungathim.
Hammond sbew ildermentwasap-
asit arsoncouldn ttell, and
.Thedetectivewentonlikea
onenailafteranotherintoa
thydroc yanic ac idsmellslike
crossthecorridortoGraham s
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
tstealatesttubeandsomesul-
sc hemic alset "
H ammond sforehead. No.
edinasilkyvoic ewhic hallbut
tputtheac idinthetesttube
siumcyanidetoitandc orkupthe
tyourself intothisroomthroughthe
rownroom And,without
all,hookthetesttubeabovethe
f thosethings, H ammondshouted.
elikethis.
edoor, Mac krepeated, hisvoic e
do. B ec auseyouc ouldn tgo
thedoorafteryou withoutdis-
tyoucouldgobackto your
nnec tingdoor. A ndyou rethe
could.
mmondprotested, completelyunnerved.
tyoumeanbyatesttubeandac on-
yownroomeveryminuteof the
odowntothelobbyforac igar.
c an t. wastherealone.
shorttimeagoyoureferredto
"
somegossip, H ammondc onfessed,
f loor.
tooneofherc ronies. nthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
fsuddenangerheadded, Theold
ewholedaylong.Goddam
ngaboutMrs. H ammond "
yhomemorebec auseNorahwas
nk.
"
ntiref rankness. I didn tthink
myself knewNorahandc ouldtrust
Theworstpartofgossiplikethat
k in. Youc an tkeepfromwon-
tsomethingtoit.
h ea r d th e ms a y "
ustc aughtthatbyac c ident. The
utup.
worriedyousothatyouwouldn tgo
Macke c laimedsarcastically . Ham-
e palmofhishand.
it , y ou w o n t . B u t N or a h me a ns a l o t
g u es s . ' m o n t he r o ad a l o t of t h e
tyofopportunitiesforhell-
yeds uarew ithNorah. Uptotoday
dn tbeendoingthesamewithme.
hesitantly . usedtowonder
enhe learnedhiswifehadbeen
know. A nd tellyouithurtslike
gaboutyourw ife, O ' Ryan
hion. We veheardherstory,
dwastohavedinner with
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
Hammond svoic ebetrayedhis
Ryanheartily testif ied. That
mond.
iefinthesalesman seyes.
ntofyoutosaythat. apprec iateit.
dedbrus ueness, advised, F orget
dtotakefulladvantageofHam-
d
epusoutbygivingthestraight
ions "
earSwinkmovinginhisroom
mtalk ingtoanotherfellowabout
ad. I c ouldn tdistinguish
s ta y i n th e r oo m "
s.B utSwinkcamebacklater.
nminutestoeleven, Mac kpro-
dissent. I don tmeanthen.
ov ingabouttheroom.
M a ck e a c ul a te d .
u re o f t he t i me . ' d s a y it w a s ni n e-
as a l on e "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
a ga i n "
t, don teverrememberhearing
dabouttheroomforfive,maybe
stoppedhearinghim. wasn t
ntion,totellthetruth.
Sw ink " Mac kasked uietly .
d b li n ke d r ap i dl y . I c a n t s we a r th a t
eavytreadandwalkedlike
ouldtell.
ssivesolemnity, I fyou
me, Hammond, thepersonyou
derer.
truth, howdidthek illergetout "
ter redHammondhadbeenal-
m. ThroughtheGantgirl s
presentnotebook. H ecould
htonthetime. Hammondclaimshe
ndhereaboutnine-thirty.
olmardame,doesn tgointo
ve.
erroomearlierthanthat, we d
epuzzleonourhands, O ' Ryan
aseourfellowc ouldn thavegoneout
tknockingdownhistubeand
ougheitherof thead oiningrooms
ofthem. O fc ourse, there sthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
to arson. Youopenedthew indow
asitloc kedorunlocked "
de, arsonre oinedpromptly .
murderinasealedroom things
tectivestories, O ' Ryanpro-
antgirlwasn ttherehesimply
om.
M a ck d i ss e nt e d. I p u t it s t ro n g
penthedoor,because wastry-
down. H epic kedupthebroken
ldit bythewire,whichwas
aroundtherim. L et sseeifa
kusandclosethe doorfrom
oingit.
acksuspendedthefragment
ngtheotherendofthe wire,he
begantopullthedoor shut.A s
lide thewiretowardthehinges
rs. inally,hereleasedhis
dbetweenthedooranditsframe,
finishedclosingthedoor. H is
throughthebarrier.
eO . .
k in. Catc hthething, somebody,
anymorethanitis.
ually.Thewire,releasedfrom
ame,allowedgravitytotake
ughtthefragmentoftubedeftlyin
ttlesonething, ohnny, hepro-
edtheroom. A nybody inthe
hattrick.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
a ck a g re e d. L e t s t a lk t o D ev o n.
rdthedoorwhenhewasinter-
ofhistwo subordinates.
ththerooms, c hief, vouchsafed
rticularlyscrewy. Phelan
siumc yanide sawhitepowder, isn t
epowdersintwoorthreepeople s
eywerealllabeledsomething
an . I d i dn t t a st e a ny o f e m t of i nd
.
' R y an d i re c te d , a n d we l l s en d
arters.
er e , P h e l an r e pl i ed . A l l m a r ke d u p
ho. H edeliveredseveral
Youwerelook ingforapasskey,
a dm i tt e d. f o rg o t to t e ll y o u ab o ut
andborrowedonefromtheroom
hatitlookedlike. Then c ompared
t. H esighedregretfully, I t
butitwasadud. Therewasn t
re.
meyouwerelookingfora
vision,Phelan.
t sanyuse, though.
foryouanytimeyouwant, Mac k
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
elanshuf f ledembarrassedly . That s
handclappedthepatrolman s
l l a dd a g o od w or d t oo B y t h e w a y,
eanythingthat lookedlikesul-
notherac id "
tookspec ialnoteofevery-
eli uids foundweretheink in
es,andsuch unk,andapint
mo n d s r o om .
O ' R ya n c hu c kl e d. H a v e y ou
acantrooms "
n e t o b . f t h e bi r d we r e l oo k -
roomandGraham sapart-
y ofthose.
patrolmenstartedf romtheroom
Gee, CaptainO ' Ryan,
henameof Swanninsistson
managerof thehotel.
n.
veningdress,completeeven
carriedinhis hand.A bald
thetop, anda uttinga uiline
entfeatures.H ewasamiddle-
y,andhebegantalking as
om,omittingallformalitiesof
tbreak evergot, and ' vebeen
ntyyears. Swann sspeechwasa
O neof thosethingsthatc an t
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
od, mylawyerw illprobablysay.
ate.A nythingyouwant,say
yreferredtoahugegoldwatch.
ratherlatetonight,Swann,
us . Sc adsofdoughanddaughter
Tryingtobuya manforher,
ngsthanpoverty . He reachedinto
uchadvertisedcheapcigarettes
ahammeredsilverlighter.
sPrinceA bdulofMuc kamuc konhand
redpeople.Regularthree-
obreakawayfrom,andthe
kamuc k " Mackrepeated
yway. Princ e sblac kasa
sillywomenwerekotowingto
ey llgettheirpic turesinthe
e, worseluc k. H ebrokeoff
yattheroomc lerk . L arson,
desk "
around, Mac krepliedbeforethe
Swannadv ised. C ollinsissup-
andit sgoingonthreenow.
ly . twaslikehav ingane -
middlewitha Tobecontinued
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
signalledfortheelevatorandwent
bywasdesertede ceptforthe
C o l l i n s as k ed a s C h r i s we n t to h i s
arsonshookhistawnyhead.
renotsayinganythingaboutit.
n minutesago.Youshould
ofwhen toldhimthenews. Col-
beganto cleanhisnails.
ossc amebac k tothehotelaround
hedhismanic uringandproc eeded
eadysmoothandglossyhair.
andgoupstairs.
ar Didhetellyouwhy "
H enevertellsmeanything.
mployees entranc e. F ellow,
eamurderc allyourshots. hada
e keenest-lookingblondesyou
s o rr y ' l l c om e d ow n tw o o r th r ee
nsstoppedandlookedbac koverhis
nethingaboutthisbusinessthat
theswellestlittlealibiyoueversaw:
romthreeo c lockon, andsomebody
yeveryminuteof it.
hadonelikeit. Well, solong,
athadbeenoccupiedby
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
up, grabtickets, andc omedown.
ok theelevatorrighttotopf loor
hile collectedthecards.
atthebrokenfragmentsofglass
hat sallthisstuf f "
s E ightyearsbuildingupthis
ervicefortheirmoneythanany
ishappens.Guestswillbemov-
c rushedouthiscigaretteinthe
I fyou rethroughask ing ues-
nandstallof f reporters. Get emto
fitcanbe done.
omtheroom.O ' Ryanob-
Spanger, I t satoughbreak
ssible, Spangeragreedsolemnly .
srightabouttheguestsleavingin
hinktwicebeforeregistering
sSwann " Mac k in uired.
o f a s l av e dr i ve r , bu t a s u a re s h oo t er .
rderthan hedoesanyoneelse.
monthsnow, andthisisthesec ond
e severtakenanightoff .
esherun "
vebeenheretwoorthree
rnished, Mackcommented,
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
alongprettysmoothly. That s
odoeshec aterto Permanents
of transientbusiness, Spangerre-
eopleliketostay inahotelthat sout-
ofaraway. B utSwann sbigplay
s. Wetreat emrighthere, and
nythingtheywant.Singleand
with privatebath.Two-and
partmentsliketheone the
angive emaslargeaplac easthey
wanttopay. H epaused.
theoldB lakelydameisoneof em—
e years.
mtobeprettywellsoldonthe
S p an g er a g re e d en t hu s ia s ti c al l y.
eirmoney sworth—andaboutf ifty
hy it ssuc harottenshamethata
en.
hurry , people l1forgetaboutthis
observed. Hetook f romhispoc ket
arlierintheeveningand made
marks. Twomoretosee,Terry,
et shaveDevonin.
manofuncertainage,pos-
airand shifty,lusterlesseyes.
nd small,pointedearswhichlay
th i ng a b ou t i t— s e e h e b eg a n su l -
wnroom, and don tknownothing
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
hat, aren tyou " Mac ksneered.
ght "
s a id .
e re "
ow T h in k k ee p l oo ki n g at m y
ven tyou "
naroundten, Devonadmittedgrudg-
y in g i t wa s — s ee B u t i t m i gh t v e
Well, wherewereyoubeforeten "
.
see Youc an tmakemeanswer
n t, eh " andDevonanswered, a
o. Mackshota uic kglanc eat
otakehimdowntothestation,
a gr e ed g e ni a ll y . W e v e go t t he r i gh t
ustanordinarygardenhose, but
hsthroatandturnonthewater
everknewaguyyetc ouldhold
es. t sk indaroughonthe
dwithachuckle.
oaprofuseperspiration. H is
butO ' Ryan sbroadbac k
ethodofe it.
on c ed e d su l le n ly .
ensible, O ' Ryansaidmildly .
e "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
pronounc editDee-von, w iththe
,andnotinthe accepted ng-
ith seven.
' R y an o b e c te d . T h at s n o n am e .
von "
o r n a nd r a is e d in r i sc o .
h i ca g o "
ers.
t, isthere "
d t he r e is .
, s u pp o se "
e sa r ca s m. I ' l l s ay ' m
oftheoutfityouwork for " Mac k
s, n c .
paperfromthe desk.
asaperfec tblank . O h, hell, sit
me, w illyou "
edeskand scrawledthe
andwriting.Mackfoldedthe
breastpoc ket. Thanks So
urroomuntilten "
wasoutwork ingmyterritory
kealotofc all-bac ksatnighton
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ntingto buytilltheold man
thepeopleyouc alledon " Mac k
ntly , F inesalesman ' dmake
"
remont. wasoverlastat re-
gonThorndaleA venue. She
atabouta uarterofnine, and
eRandolphandWellsStreetstation.
ndolphtoMichiganandcaught
hisnotebook . Whydidn t
plac e " headmonished. Do
remontverifiesyourstory,
aed "
D e vo n e c l ai m ed .
Thedohinkusthatkilled
thirty—while youwereriding
ogersPark , ifyou regiv ingusthe
o y . C a l l t he r e mo n t da m ea n d as k
pforac leanertonight. Herhus-
ere,too. Devonproduceda
tpocket,offereditto Mack,
ed,insertedthestogie inhis
gle. Well, ifyouguysare
on s ' l l h it t h e ha y . ' m a l l
ingf romthec ornerofhis
of thedoor, andO ' Ryansaid:
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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TU MB L E R
rtome, and don tmakemany
ou g ht , t oo , S p an g er p u t in , s o )
worksforPhoeni Distributor
asis,andtheytold mehe s
pshisbillpaid, too.
othisprintstoWashington, Mac l
otarec ord, we llknowaboutitini
mySelzergetaway, O ' Ryanre
lsignanorder, andyouc anhavehir
rterstomorrow.
pu t h im o n h is g u ar d , M a ck d e
wo n t b e n ec es s ar y . t h in k ' v e g o
tappedthepocketc ontainingth
adwritten.
kobserved, istheonlyperso
et shaveherinandgetitove
ih yo u, s ai d Sp an ge r, I ' m g oi ng t
arekillingme.
Mackassertedunsympatheticall
y .
ughhis gold-rimmedspec
reof thehoteldetectiv(
goodguy, Mac kremarkedt
ddedassent, andWestboroug
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
edwithapprovalthather
eredevoidofthemurderous-
monlyaffectednowadays.
sGant svoic ehadav ibrant
mpleutterancesmusical.West-
entachair.
n ,m y d ea r "
turned tothetwopolice-
wanttof indoutwhat knewabout
Mac khadagainproducedthein-
wanttof indoutafewthings
me,please.
t i t " O ' R y an r e ma r ke d o c ul a rl y .
ch, yes.
eredoyouwork "
ately . H ersmilewasatrif lewan.
thisweek hada obw iththe
cretarytooneofthevice-
thatoutf it, O ' Ryanremarked.
t i t "
ayhere " Mac kwantedto
orethan was ustifiedin
d a o b . w o n t b e h i g h ha t a nd
wa s n t . t w a s u s t a o b .
i s ne t u e st i on . I t s r a th e r
outthings.
ommate, ' msorrytosay.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ck i n u i re d .
lady lef tmeinthelurc h. She
ge, and hadtopayherbill
' Ryandec laredindignantly.
S h e la u gh e d. O h w e l l, g u es s
H o w ol d a re y o u "
y . Myadvic etoyouisto
epeoplesay we rehavinga
sameolddepressiontome.
, but ' venohometogoto.
' mpersonanongrataw ith
' llhavetotakeGrant stipand
Shelaughed:herlaughterwas
hopeitwon ttakeallsummer.
tedherflimsybluenegligeemore
t s c ol d i n he r e.
dow,whichnobodyhad
arsonhadfirstflungit open,and
ortalettheplac eairout, guess,
ea n he "
suc cinc tly .
dintosilenc e, andMack launchedinto
nowSwink, MissGant "
.
omne tdoorthef irstof the
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
eforethat "
forethen. wasonadif ferent
p ea k t o hi m "
orrec ttosaywhendidhef irstspeak
I tmusthavebeenonTuesday
ontheelevatortogether.
b ou t "
boutw ithapersononemeetsfor
andinvariablytheweather. We
sa fineday,althoughitwasn t.
mafterthat "
Shepausedtosc rutinizehise -
tseemtosurpriseyouverymuc h.
acrossthehall hasbeentalking.
akely "
s c a ll e d n e ve r d id k n ow , a nd ' v e a
s,anyhow.
enyoufoundSw ink inyour
wentcompletelyV ic torian. t
msittingtherethat even
then "
u Therereally isn tmuc hpoint
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
bewedon t, Mac ksaidnon-
y,wewantyourownaccountofit.
ofhisroom.
h a ve n t t h e fa i nt e st . w a s re a dy t o
hingfromnineo clockon.
do "
e ar m a nd s a id , L e t s g o t o be d ,
helpedhim backtohisown
e usedtheconnec tingdoorinto
he " Westboroughsensedtheten-
ve sassumedindifferenceand
s uestionwasveryimportant
emednot tonotice.
sthere—oh, seewhatyou
entherewassuchadoor.
he n "
oor, ofc ourse.
nec tingdoortoseeif itwas
pointyou, of f icer, buthedidn tgo
"
y s ho u ld ? "
oustoseehowSwinkgotinyour
mentthefactof paramountim-
here,nothis mannerofeffect-
hene tdaytof i yourdoor,
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
wo u ld b e , bu t d i dn t s e e hi m .
inlylocksallrightnow.
teduponthegirl sfac e. H ow
n "
thac oolshrug. A sintimately
forthatmatter,anyonein the
ywell. However, muste c eptMr.
amindebtedforane c ellent
entertainingconversation.
e floorinanembarrassed
:
ut arson, notMr. Westbor-
in i on o f a r so n "
ectured,wasanother uestion
tive.MissGant sanswercame
ofhim likedverymuc h. H ec er-
cultyina tactfulandefficient
erandtookupa bludgeon.
m " hedemandedabruptly . Her
essive—widenedinastonishment.
sw ithhim "
then "
eyouthisevening "
onthemezzanine.
oom, yes.
gthere "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
en metSw inkandChiltoninhall.
tedSw ink sroomatnine.
mC edric Graham, Mrs. Ham-
ht- thirty , returnedat uarterto
oownroomatnine-thirty .
nroomsinc edinner.
eight, returnedatten, and
Sofar asknowndidnotgo
oor. Didnotreturnto hotel
roomuntilten.
wnroomatnineforty - f iveorso.
sroomatnine-thirty .
estoredhisfountainpento
hec hallenged. Whatdoyouthink
t bo r ou g h e a c ul a te d . I t i s a r em a rk a -
ed. nfact,thereisonly one
syouhavefailedtoaccountfor.
Mac kdemanded, bristling.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
oment—thatthe murderercan-
ethehotel.Thecausasine ua
ofthe personsroomingoffthe
ore,hemusthavebeeninthe west
nothaveleft itsincethattime.
besurethatthemurdererwasin
hirty O nlythewordofMr. Ham-
ortantpoint. fH ammondbed,
utthereisalso theinevitable
ammondmaybemistaken.
stincludemyselfamongthem,can
sseswithregardtothepassage
nnatetimesensewhichfunctions
cision.Psychologicale peri-
determineinwhichcategory
medoubtwithregardtothe
sof ieutenantMac k stime-
theopinionofMissC olmar.Nev-
ogicaleveninthe treatmentof
tmakeastarting pointofsome
e entiretime-table,including
tion, isappro imatelyc orrec t. Who,
ohavebeenin Swink sroomat
o ar et he X ' s , Y s , a n d Z ' s
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
riskadigressionf romthestric t
ec tureis, believe, fully usti-
s ustonefac tthemore, touse
foundlogician,RobertB rown-
sitsignific antthatChilton
duceseeminglyironcladalibis
sforten B othof thesegen-
usedthesuspicionsofthepolice.
kingwithentirefrankness.
enamestrikesaresponsivec hord
hagrin, amunabletorecall
veheardit. amac uaintedw ith
eless,thenameisoddlyfamiliar.
theruponfanc y sunmapped
etruthabout thereasonforhis
atreturn, as rec all, wasalsoat
angec oinc idenc e, touseaphraseby
lednowadays, said ordB yron.
nherroomatnine-thirty , but
gainthatcuriousrecurrence
togetherpurecoincidence
nofevengreaterperple ity
nein thismicrocosmofsus-
morethanacursoryac uaint-
an.Q uaeritur:H aveanyguests
theadventofSwinktwo weeks
oregisteredlastMonday,andMiss
edtoherroom fromanother
ossiblethateitherof themse-
nearSwink
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
tousethecollo uialterm—had
orminturninguponhis de-
ttemptedtointeresttwopeople
alschemes.H owever,bothof
.B lakely—deniedactualinvest-
cedtotheconclusionthatno
wnk sdeathisasyetknown. Un-
isted,butwhetheritsroots
Swink ssupposedlyunsavory
oweekshehasspentat this
ec ture.
uestionsofopportunityand
t isfairlyobviousthatSwink s
eotherre uirementsinaddition
outlined. Hemusthaveatleasta
ccesstoacyanide,andameans
w ink sroomandtotheGraham
sesthenec essaryknow ledge, yes, but
turtoassumeforthisreasonthat
completechemicalengineering
eededtolearnhow toproduce
ndeniablythecyanide.Police
ough,andthepoliceshould
gits purchase,sincesuchpur-
madepriorto theadventof
ksago.
fallacyinmyreasoning
murdererevolvedhisschemesub-
Swinkandthenpurchasedor
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R181
mbarkedsohopefully,hastermi-
y.
yanidemustbulkinthe solu-
ottheonlyingredientre uired.
st havehadsomekindofacid.
ediately. itherheknewofthe
ntheGrahamboy schemicalset
haveknown Well, Mrs. Ham-
blyinformedandshemighthave
oothers.
entheprov idedhisownsupplyof
salwasusedfor thee cessor
annotbelievethatthenegativere-
aybe takenasconclusive.The
enina placewherethepolice
onfessthat amunabletosurmise
e.
stellthe truth,accordingto
theopinionofCedric Graham
usedfromthebottlecontained
erofeffectingingressinto
ms.Twochambermaidsand
rsonpossessthemeansofopen-
on,however,deniedthathecarries
ndno suchkeywasfoundupon
inev itablyhisnameoc c ursinmy
gthoseinthe westcorridorat
Miss Gantbetraysatleasta
eisthoroughlyconversantwith
epossessesthemostlikelyop-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
nide.A nd,finally,hehasready
me,thesituationis verysimilar
binsonproblemwhich ieutenant
onand arsononlymeetsevery
arsonistheonlypossiblesolution.
sonputhisinformationso
hepolice C andordeliberately
on Thatwouldimplyadegree
otthink arsonpossesses. O rdoes
ychologic alwaters sinkovermy
fpsychology,however,whatcan
e s H isplotshowsatleastone
hadhenotstoopedtowardthe
t tubeshattered,wouldproba-
othevapor.
erertakeintoconsiderationthe
sonisoneofthe firstfaculties
dbyalcohol Didheknowof
ic ation(sinc eitoc curredupon
daresayitmaybetermed
thebefuddlementofhisvic-
c are—thathistrapmightc lose
Thechambermaid,forinstance.
tshehadalreadyleft thecorri-
pitfall
f indmuchtoc ommendinthe
rimesareperilousin theirincep-
rtheir consummation, as
ttheslayerofSwinktookcom-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
swereeasilyprepared,the
cultyin itspositionabovethe
adsecuredaccesstotheroom.
edthaninanattempttopoison
uldhavebeendifficultandnearly
redonewhen tisdone, then
e uic k ly . A slowerpoisonwould
ncetomakeanaccusation.B ut
drocyanicacidrenderedthis
por,introducedthroughthe
greaterrapiditythanif the
amnotmistaken.)
etemptationtoobserveparen-
,preparedbyaneasyprocess
n whichcrushedpeachstones
wnanddreadedfartowardthe
itness theinscriptionupon
hic h haveseenatthe ouvre,
meunderthepenaltyofthe
is, ofc ourse, anobv iousreferenc e
ture.
nefuldrug,oratleast one
amongthe Romans.Tacitus
tingincidentsintheA nnals:
erbeingaccusedofhightrea-
sonfromhis robes,drank,and
eSenatechamber.
a,deliberatinguponamethod
audius, ref lec tedthat thedeed
sonthat wassuddenandin-
oyedtheskilledpoisoner, ocusta,
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ompoundwhichmightderangehis
Thisdrugseemstohave beenin-
wasonthevergeof recoverywhen
n,underpretenseofassistingthe
dintheimperial throat,a
omerapidpoison.
me ocustathatthedeath
beassuddenasif itwerethehur-
Tac itus ac c ountc onf irmsthe
stication.Britannicusis saidto
voiceandbreath.
nc idents haveunderlinedthe
actionof theto ic agent. c an
n thecyanideswhichwould
titudeofthedrug swallowedby
thatemployedinthemurderof
havestrayedsofarf romthe
ar shallneverbeabletoreturnto-
msosleepythatfurtherreasoningis
t—whatappallingsecretsthene t
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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doorofhis office,andthenoise
toa scarcelyaudiblehum.
lytheoak-paneledwall,the
kingthewindows,andtheanti ue
Must vec ostapiletof i upthis
reen-leatherupholsteredchair
sasSwannbegantheconver-
soonasyouc amein. Q ueerthings
uisitivenarrowslits. What
wanndirec ted.
edhisthroatwithtwoor three
hedinhisvest pocketfora
s.
fulglanceatthe proffered
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
tomyown, thanks. Whatdidgoonlast
dylikecherootandspatthe
ccuracyintothesandofanurn-
meonegotintoSw ink sroom.
one uic kmotion. Thehell
and flickedthematchat
rand itfluttereddowntothe
me.W hoeveritwas,hewrecked
dignantinventoryofthedam-
restuffedand twochairsreup-
telse.Room samess.
oudidn ttrytoc leanitup.
, S p an g er r e to r te d . I t s u s t
iedc urtly . H alfanhourorso
nsawsomething,too, headded,
nabletogetanythingf romher. She s
cs.
s s n or t m ig h t ha v ee p r es s ed a n y
must vebeenlook ingforsome-
Spangerdrawledsarcastically . I
goutof purespite.
eforewelef tlastnight, Mack
oc kedthen.
nanythingaroundherenow,
ttaguyc anmeltrightthrough
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
dblothimup, Mac kadv ised
edashis handwasabouttoclose
here ll findthehousekeeper "
mmons. Swann susuallaconic
yintoanearnestpleading. See
' vegottogetthisthingc leared
ealreadygivennotice.
on twantitc learedupany
lefttheofficewithoutwaitingfor
sedinconversationwiththehotel
oawaitingelevator,andthe
ehindhim.
" hein uiredof thepilot.
omseventothree. Whatf loor,
hif tedalever, andthec arshotup-
n e t s h if t g o of f d ut y M a ck
deanothernotationinhis
wardthewestcorridor.Thedoor
a ar, andhewhistleduponc atc h-
nterior.
the coversfromthebed,
g mattress,andscatteredtufts
alpiles.Mackinspectedthe
servedthatithadbeenslit in
turnedhisattentionto the
pholstery,theystoodinnaked
htunawaresinthebathtub.O ne
e,Macknoted.
eyesflittedto thetopofthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
" hee ac ulated. Hewalkedover
enthedrawer.H isfaceworea
ashee aminedtheinterior. Then
omtothec loset. Sw ink stwoe tra
amaswerestillhangingthere,
ebagwastowardtheback.Mack
and erkeditopen. Hewasre-
thoughtfulair when erry
llow, hegrumbledandthen
youmakeof it, ohnny "
eer.
u ee r "
a. o o ka t t hi s b ag .
thinginittogete c itedabout.
ybodyhadpawedthroughit, does
o es .
dresser.
nsidethebureauyet. B utthedraw-
eleft emlastnight.
lltop drawerwhileMack
detective sshoulder. Soc ksand
d.Spangeropenedanother
sapileofshirts. Noneof thisstuff s
uestioned, lif tinghisbushyeye-
kinsidethedeskdrawer,
ghere.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
er, letterheads, envelopes, anink -
e, Mackc orrec ted.
erydesk inthehotel.
owneattheinsideof thatdrawer
maidhasn ttoucheditsinceyes-
es a id . T h is p u nk d i dn t s e ar c h
ghtycarefulnottodisturbany-
veadamnaboutthemattress
handagainsthisthighina
here sanidea. Whydidn tthis
sstuf f B ec ausehe dalready
ightwhenhewasintheroomatnine-
didn thavetimetof indwhathe
in andgoesovertheplacewith
sgotnerve, thatfellow "
chairswitha ruefule pres-
ghtSwinkhaddoneaman-sized ob
atthehelldo yousupposehe
winktry hishandatblack-
see—thegoodoldletters.
h el l W h a t w ou l d a gu y b e ap t t o
arriagecertificate,maybe,
hink thismugfoundit "
f wereSwinkandwantedto
lac eonearth ' dpic kwouldbe
ess.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
tchangeittoanotherroom.A nd
o.Theylook ustlikethechairs
doncetheywereoutofhereit d
a ce e m .
kahousemanissuddenlygoing
" Spanger uestioned.
ers. H owshould know
B utif wasSw inkandwanted
dthink thatmaybehemight. See
hingportable.
utalklikethecountryboywho
ethoughtwherehe dgoifhe
wherewouldyouhidethepapersif
edemandedwithac huc kle.
ent-mindedlyfromonewallto
k no w " h e e c l a im ed . I t hi nk ' d
underafakenameandput em
ettenbuc ksthat swhatourfatf riend
ogetmorefacts, Mac kwenton.
womanheardsomething,andthe
. SomighttheH ammondsandeven
rossedthec orridorandknockedon
.
a m u ff l ed v o ic e as k ed .
lk toyou.
fewminutes. ' mtak ingabath.
eedunderhisbreath. H eturnedto
eepaneyeonthisdoor, erry , and
sneakoutonus.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
ecorridor,andthepleasantly
eGantanswered, Whoisit "
again. Therewasthenoiseofa
dthedoorwasflung open.
sGantc alledcheerfully . L ieu-
W o n t y o u co m e in "
eshold.Thechambermaid
tand theroomwasimmaculate.
booksonthewritingdesk
pen. twasbyA ldousH u ley ,
oMacke actlynothing.The
hologyofmodernB ritishpoetry.
andonedliteratureforhis
erselfata dressingtableand
uchestoher bronze-colored
kirt ofatailoredsuitand a
astnight " Mac kaskedabruptly .
mthemirrorto hisface.
a l wa y s do . W h y "
g on n e t d o or "
ngallevening. inally , it uieted
gettosleep.
that "
c an thelpyou.
d-bye.
alledto errySpangerin
outit "
till getback .
c orridorandknoc ked. red
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
makesthesecondtimeyouheard
ot ghpeepedfromhisbed-
ieutenantMac k , hebeganashe
havemadeananalysiswhic h
d.
papersimpatientlyaway.
at wanttoknowrightnow isif
oingonacrossthe corridor
restoredthesheaf tohisbreast
m s or r y, b u t h e ar d n ot h in g . a m
gprofoundallegiancetothegod-
thour.
Mrs. B lakeley smuf f ledvoice
thene troom.
ou W e s t bo r ou g h in u i re d .
eintoMrs. B lakeley sroomfol-
nd errySpanger. Theirate
ousedetective.
haunted, and don tintendto
isplac eif c anhelpit. A nd
ke, soyou llhavetoputthatthing
heedgeofthewriting desk.
yNowwhat sitallabout "
there, sheshrieked. Doyou
othewindowandtossedthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
at sthisaboutSw ink sroombe-
kenpossession. A — a—polter-
sevenring-tailedf ishes, what s
boroughinformed, isac ombina-
geist,a spirit polter,tocause
ethat,inthelanguageofpsychical
taddictedtopractical okes.
eirdnoises,andso on.
c laimedc ontemptuously .
thimasthoughhe werea
ewasabouttosetfoot, uoted
Therearemorethingsinheaven
eamtof inyourphilosophy. "
a ck s c of f ed , n e ve r h ea r d of a
e.
youknowaboutit, Mrs.
tly. Therearethingsinthisuni-
steriousto beunderstoodbyour
Don tyouthinkso, Mr. West-
nting, Westboroughdeclared,
trelyaway. The renchastrono-
rion, devoteda uarterofac entury
andreportsdealingwiththis
stanc eshec iteswere, believe, well
kelyproc laimedwithanawedempha-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
havemovedacouchandchairsin
devilhad heldacouncilmeet-
ndishesfromshelves,emptied
oksfrom bookcases,andlifteda
ightupseveralfeetfromthe
onit.Theyhaverungdoor-
ors,turnedkeys,firedguns,
stofallto thefloor.Theybom-
umwithover300stonesand,at
tole ababyfromitscradle
ingc lothes. A ndyousay, ieu-
dthediscourse. H owdo
ltry-gooseinSw ink sroom "
notreferringtoaspeciesof
here, Spangerchuckled.
eatric al, shewhispered, I
u t in u i ck l y.
veitwasaboutf iveo c lock .
"
reshakingherhead. No,
ginthehallatf iveo c lock inthe
protest. I don tproposeto
calledmylawyeronthetelephone
uresmethat don thavetoan-
ions.
a ck i n si s te d , I ' d l i ke t o k no w wh a t
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
atf iveo c lock inthemorning.
right, W estboroughputin
ely , youwanttohelpthepolice
ustice, doyounot "
it ed h e si t an t ly . T h at s w h y w as
rerto ustice " Westborough
ackbrokein,apuzzlede pres-
othatbybeinginthehall "
w , ' lltellyouaboutit, Mrs.
herself inac hairandad usting
ackskirt.Sheturnedthefull
eyesuponMack. Peoplewho
uic k toscof fatthethingsthey
epronounced. L ieutenantMac k ,
ketbook,watchcharm,keycase,
vec arriedandtouc hed "
dulity,Mackpassedovera
dittightlyin herrighthand,
backinher chair,herfacebear-
rs. B lakelydec laimedinadeep,
nedw ithelmtrees. Therearerows
tisastreetinawestern
dW estmay.
m ne d " M a ck e c l ai m ed . T h at s w h er e
s. B lakely ssepulchraltonesc on-
thenumbersdonotc omec learly .
efrontyard.She isaboutfive
.A womanissiftingflour into
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
all womanwithyellowhair
ebackofherhead.Shegoes to
A nn. Thec hildentersthehouse,
ac ook " Mac kdec lared, hisfore-
le ity . Myw ifeandk idtoa
tknowwhathocus-pocusyou re
ohandittoyou.
t " W e s t bo r ou g h in u i re d . I
estingdemonstrations.
efountainpentothe detec-
mannerofahenwhohas ustlaid
posingegg, Doyouseenow
hismorning "
e t in t o Sw i nk s r o om , M a ck
mmonsenseoncemoreinthefore-
eedsomethingbelongingtoaper-
business "
doorknob, Mrs. B lakely
andsohadhismurderer. have
tswithlessuponwhichto work.
erlyandasked, Didyoufind
nformantshivered.
row inge perienc eofmywhole
rethantouchedmyhandtotheknob
noisef rominsidetheroom. A tthat
resenceofa poltergeistandthat
r. ranback tomyownroomand
overs.Notthat thatwoulddo
oncecamewithinthesphereofhis
don tbelievethathappened.
pangere ac ulatedunderhisbreath.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
dsoabsorbedinherwork thatshe
e.Thereport,Macknoted,pro-
toshowthebathtowels,face
es,blankets,andwhatnotsup-
isglanceswervedfromitto Mrs.
motherlyfacewassurroundedby
tookone lookandmentally
erewasareallady, andheknew
am.
erself, Sheleftthreebath
donlygettwo, andlookedup
ghtlypuzzlede pression. A s
ared.
omthepolic eforc e. Mr. Swann
m "
aytoputit, shelaughed. I
eyouweregoing topayavisit.
mattressesinthishotelever
toanother "
esa fussabouthismattress,
They rethebestinner-spring
owbec ause selectedthem. No, they
roomto another,althougha
tressoveronceaweek:oneweek
ne tweek fromsidetoside.
point, Mac kdec lared.
anargument hadw ithyour
maidscarrypasskeys,don t
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
fulwith em A boutopening
otherpeoplehandle emand
openthedoorforaguest,
dfirmly. Shemusttellhimpolitely
totheroomc lerk . A ndifagirl
ymeansher ob,andsheknows
asskeyrec ently "
thekeyswhilethey regoing
c k uestioned.
nd .
homefromthestore,andshe
ideof theloc k, Mac ke plained.
edevilforit—I begyourpardon,
es, butshekeepsondoingit ustthe
ygirlsw iththathabit "
negirlforcarelessnessof thatna-
f lected. I toldherabouttwo
havetodismissherifsheper-
nthelockwhileshecleaneda
"
yrelationtoyournightc lerk "
onisanentirelydif ferenttype.
eagerness. Doesthisgirl
openingoffthe westcorridor
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
houghtfully, Why yes,she
omatthechambermaid,A nna
allyrunto earthwiththeaidof
dule.Shewasaplain girlwitha
J ustadumbSwede, Mac k
rs on "
r thebedanddepositedher
cases. tseemedtotakeseveral
o graspthatshewasbeing
e sa i d fi n al l y, b u t c a n t t a lk t o
edtowhilewe reworking.
elofhiscoat.
tertalk tome, sister.
h e ga s pe d . I h a ve n t d o ne n o th i ng .
ustwanttoaskyouafew ues-
orkingifitmakesyourcon-
spreada sheetoverthemat-
corners.Sheshookoutthe
wc asesonthem. Whatdoyou
ketodoaroom " Mac kasked.
dbeganto dustthetelephone
enceforsolongthatMackwon-
e uestion.
enroomseac hday, sheinformed
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
tandf inditstic k inginthelock
e a cu l at e d. H o w m a ny t i me s a d ay
oundlikethat "
missingwhenyouc ameout " She
eon, tellthetruthaboutit, sister.
r o b .
u th . n e ve r d id .
an, ofc ourse, Mac kwenton,
omething. B utitwasgonefora
oustraight, mister. ' venevermissed
hethird floorandwentdown
romwithincamethestrainsof
ngTrapeze, e pertlywhistled.
Sunlightstreamedthrough
owstoilluminatethetall, gangly
sbenc h. H ehadc lampedwhat
achairin aviseandwassand-
.
dotheloc ksmithworkaround
msuspiciously.
totheroomclerk , mister.
kedbac k thelapelofhisc oat.
theryouknow itornot, butthere
plastnight.
t. Thec arpenterlaiddownhis
thepocketofhis apronfora
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ndanickelsackoftobacco.
in "
e "
hisnotebook . Did arsontell
otof i thedoorof room311 "
rw ithit "
nstthe amb. Notmuc h, but
omlockingwhenitwas
ralpagesinhisnotebookand
thwork " heagainasked.
it.
blankshere, suppose "
tesforeveryroom "
mbtowardalargesteelc abinet.
it, andsawthat erry
outthe twopadlocks. You
ht.
mresponsibleforthosekeys, andno-
emwithoutmyknow ingit.
ethingaboutthelockshere.
o kn o wa b ou t e m "
m wi t h sk e le t on k e ys "
C l a r k e e re d . W h a t d o yo u
rdedlocks Thekeyhastopush
ersinthe cylinder,andavaria-
inchwillstop theplugfrom
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
eywouldworkonalayoutlike
vengetoneinthekeyhole—ittakes
arac entric key "
tedwithridgesonbothsides,
rrugatedtof itoritwon tgo
keyourwordforit. B utyourc orru-
pickbeingstuckin toforceup
f icult. Thekeyway spretty
t makesithardtoget apick
bers. ' mnotsay ingitc an tbe
sthoughthink ingaloud. God
enkeyholecanbepicked,given
thtime enoughtodoit.B ut
ningoneof theselockswitha
mateur.
ec ouldn tdoit.
larke c laimedc ontemptuously .
edlastnight, Macksaid. This
holdofSw ink skeyandslipped
the doorlateron.Thatwould
euveringtogetitawayfrom
n,but stillitmightbe done.
asopenedtoo, andhec ouldn tget
twasdownin thekeyrackalleve-
hittheroomc lerkoverthehead
heloc ksorhegotholdofapass-
oyouthink "
lders, I ' mdamnedif know.
waytof indout, Mac kwenton. I
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
off bothdoors—314 and315.
shouldbeable totellwhenweget
. A ny iggerthatforcedthe
avesc ratc heson em, wouldn t
oo k a no t he r d ra g a t hi s p ip e . I ' v e
themanagerbefore start
ks.
kpromised. H epausedonhisway
master-key locks, anyway "
ing it.Thelocksherehavea
dthe firstlikearing. Then
upwitheitherthe plugorwith
eyturnsthe plugbutnotthe
s theplugandthe ringto-
ngeasier, Mackcommented.
estoget thetumblersinline,
otasharda obasiteverwas.
c ks " Mac ke c laimed.
v e t ak e n en o ug h o f e m a pa r t to h a ve a n
nside.
gbac kheresometimeafterthree.
openedbythen "
rderf romthemanager.
hat. Mac kwentuptotheground
estboroughwasinthereread-
aiddown uponseeingthede-
donotw ishtobeobtrusive, but
tohaveyou glanceatthis
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
spersistence,Macktookthe
rough themhastily.
ninblackandwhite. Sowhat "
tprovehelpfulasameansofap-
beganhesitantly.
kscof fed. You vegotalotof f ine
c an tevenpronouncesomeof em,
ymean—andit readsswell,but
whatdoyousay Nothingthat
doyou "
vedbyaguysittingaroundonhis
em, Mac ksaidpatronizingly .
hefac ts, andthatc allsforlegwork .
tittakes. A nounc eof legwork is
sDoyouknowwhat ' mgoing
ead.
e s u a d wo r ki n g on t h is c a se . W e r e
plater,everyphotographer,
veryotherplacewecanthink
egotsomec yanide. fhebought
r,andifhehookedit— well,we ll
escriptionofastrangerhang-
wecantieinwith someonein
egotalotmorework todorightinthis
astheafternoonshif tcomeson, ' ve
ththeroomc lerk . ' vegotto
oturnsdownthebedsin thewest
eelevatoroperators. Hell, ' ve
nthewashroomwhof i edC hil-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
estborough,isthewaycrimes
theonlyway.
stspeechesMackhadever
heperfecttributepaidtothe
nce.Mackwentonina some-
Thatwasn tsuc habadpointyou
laboratory. We llhavetoc hec k that
econtinuedtothumbthrough
. H e l l , w ha t s a l l th i s u n k ab o ut
I didn tmeantoincludethat
reflectionsofmyownthatare
ase.
hepaperwith aninterestfar
poisons, don tyou, West-
owashe crossedthelobby.
youdon tknowtoomuc hforyour
readthelegendonthebuilding
Sodo , but don thaveto
red-brickbuilding,andit
wholesaleandsmallmanufac-
tof the oop. Truc ksrattledand
tonepavementofthestreetout-
aitedfortheelevator. tde-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ediluviancarwithtwistedgrat-
torwaswranglingwithasmart-
acksteppedinsidethecar.
eavingthedoorsto theshaft
Theinspec torgivesmetheoldNed
ult. c an tbeoneveryf loorat
sympathized. F our.
tingWorks. They vegotthe
gison thesecond,andthere s
You dthinkthosefellowswould
estofthe cityinsteadofnest-
tors, wouldn tyou "
PlatingW orksandtheplat-
nd secondfloorswithfruitless
lver-platingestablishment,he
odifficultyincontrivingthede-
ncasethe oldladybecameun-
r— well,thatwassomethingelse
eallpracticallyburglarproof,and
nthestuff.H ecalledonseveral
threephoto-engraversinthe
dthesameconclusionswithre-
learlythetracingofthecya-
ublesome.
el q uableandapproac hedthe
erk,wasforthe momentunoccu-
ourpasskeys " Mac k uestioned
drawer. I nhere. Weonlyhave
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
nyouletabellhoporsomebody
ustabouteverythinginthehotel
erredtosomereports. A bellman
o clocktotakeapackageto
ve i t "
kpondered. A nybodyusingeitherof
t thedeskallevening.
gthat, ordidyouactuallysee
l ti m es , C o l l i ns b r id l ed . L a s t ti m e
en.
eforethat, huh "
M a ck e c l ai m ed . H e l i t a f re s h ci g ar
tativepuffs. DidGraham
astnight "
yorso. Hewasw ithhisfamily
fyouwanttoknowthetimethey
thattoo. twasa uarterto
, M a ck c ut i n . W h e r e wa s
b ut i t w as n t h e re . H e g o t i t ea r ly i n
did bringitbackagain.
youtoldPhelan—O ' Ryan s
mitted. SpeakingofPhelan, how
erallthe timespeopleaskedfor
uldn tdoit.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
inwashbowlsgleamedfrom
atedfittingswerepolishedto
tiledfloor wasscrubbedim-
handsunderametalspheroid
andturnedonthehotwater. A
cestryapproachedtolayaneatly
outinthe bowlandpicked
uty lastnight, George "
"
called,hadsaidpractically
deredbywhatundergroundchan-
ountofC hilton simportance
en aroundtothehotelem-
e l as t n ig h t "
TheNegroc huck ledthroatily .
nabadway, andA h hadtosewa
orleav ingthebarwas ustsilly
used,orelse hehadalready
tivegloweredthreateningly.
eforc e, George.
.
o me c l ea n w it h m e ' l l p ut y o u in
Mac kadmonishedsternly. Did
sto tellmehewasin thewash-
ionwasapparentlygenuine.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
t n e ve r s ee n h im t o da y . H o n es t A h a i n t ,
George, haveac igar, andleft
hehad braggedaboutto
hime actlynowhere,here-
arpentershop.
f romhisbenc h. I ' vegotyour
w ink snow. Takethismagnifying
er.
partsfromthe lockinthe
,andthenleanedovertosur-
eventedalowwhistleof aston-
d , hu h "
C l a r k a gr e ed c u rt l y.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
w "
penedwires.
yshouldwe Wec antellbythe
mportantthemessageis. O nestar
ostars
wasthisonemarked " Mac k in-
op e ra t or n o t to r i ng . ' m g oi n g
ors,Spangerfollowing.A car
thee actfloorlevel,andThe-
ooughgotout.
ustsawyouarrivef romtheup-
or.
" Mac kwantedtoknow.
ythe windowwithme.
e n he s a wm e "
andwenttowardhisroom.
oeonic c elerity . Canyou
tboroughmurmuredassent, andMac k
aoutthereandrunitaroundto
f ireesc ape. eeptheengine
me.
offeredcarkeysanddashed
twasavery creditabledash,too,
ckandSpangersteppedinto
otupwardsto thethirdfloor.
rwiththespeed ofatrack
eeppacewithhim.H ereached
cedtowardtheend.A tallman
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
sfumblingwiththefire-escape
e c laimedanddartedaf terhim.
rt, and,despitehissuitcase,
meinthedescentofthe fireescape.
eelstairs.A tthesecondfloor
oundunderC hilton sweight,
indthatthe counterpoisehad
on. He reachedtheground ust
cruisingYellow.Gearsground
nd thecabwasofflikea
sownc arwaswaiting, w ith
elandtheenginerunning.Mack
lydisplacedWestboroughfrom
er,ablockin advanceofits
nMichigan.Mackreachedthe
eenlightc hangedtored. He turned
nceofthe signal,barelyescap-
t ord,loadedwithfivefat
nathemaswhichneitherMacknor
ttle manwasleaningtensely
huntislike. Thereisac ertain
donthegas. Thefoolhasn t
himinhalfamile.
lamorofabell. twasringing
y,andtoC hicagoansitmeant
br i dg e M a ck e c l ai m ed . S o me
h. We resunk if theybeatus
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
wnandopenedthesiren. ts
tossedthegageofbattle tothe
ng,orsoW estboroughfancied.
gh, thesirenshrieked, whilethebell
time.
ganasalways,butMack
killofa practicedChicago
eitherside forthepolicesiren
etwocarslessenedto halfa
noticedthegates.Pointed
edfromoppositesidesofthe
desofthe bridge,partingthe
Sea hadbeenpartedforthe
ridge,aponderous,clumsymass,
w, M ac k u b il a te d .
itheredto anabruptstop
sMack,bya deftmotionofthe
gside.
on " hecommanded.
contemplatingabreakonfoothe
eppedsheepishlyoutofthecab.
didn tknowyouwascopsor
before.
dn tyou " Mac kaskedsternly ,
Getin, hedirec tedc urtly .
tc asef romtheta i, tosseda
pedinsideMack scar.
a o fd o in g a s ne a ko n u s M a ck
ouknowyou reamaterialw itness "
tobrazenitout, saidicily,
at w a s un d er a r re s t.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
edshortly . We lltalk inyour
er q uableemployees, byherc u-
m cooperationofthepolice
onvincingtheidlycuriousthat
nderabouttheupperfloors.
wasleftseverelyalone.
thC hilton skeyandthey
d.W estboroughfollowed.The
havealikingforthe littleman,
im away.
mandedandC hiltonpointedatthe
upanenvelopewiththeH otel
nitsupperc orner. H etoreitopen
austeresilence.
on, hesneeredf inally . C anyou
hisbreastpocket,butMack
wayfromthere riskhim, West-
oroughrepeated, thenhisfac ecleared.
fChilton spoc ketsw ithhis
doesn thavearevolver.
ted. Nowhandmethosepapers
Chilton spoc ketandhanded
ttertogetherwitha billfold.
eA genc y—lic ensed, bonded. Re-
erativesofallnationalities,
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
upations.Personalsurveillance
Dictographandwireservice.
nfidentialmatters,including
ckmailandthreateningletters.
rnishedforalloccasions.C allon
Sundays.Notthe largestbutthe
ispoc ket. I ' veheardof
gsc anbeforged. knewac rook
omtwentydifferentagencies.
hough, andhe sdoingtime. Why
outbefore, C hilton "
yw e re f a ke s , wo u ld n t ? " C h i l t on
B utsinc ethey retherealthing
myhand, atleastnotuntil ' dgiven
his say.We claimourinvesti-
ndwemeanit.
Thatdoesn tsoundsoscrewy.
rememberthec rook wastell-
to flashhisfakecredentials
assthatstall, you llhavetostill
downthef ireescape.
, Mac kremindedhim. That
h i t M a ck d em a nd e d.
velopefromhiscoatpocket.
oughtfully.
s i gn e d A m co , b ut w h at t h e he l l A n y on e
egram.Theytellyoutosaynoth-
lpyourself. You reinthatf i now ,
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
rac ket " Mac kasked.
makeouthewasonthelevel. had
estigated we vegotaconnection
Theywiredon Thursdayafter-
e andSwinkanaccredited
utSwink spast " C hiltonshook
n. Wasn tthatpartof theinves-
sted.
fourmenhandledit. A s said
shisoperativesanymore than
hinkSwinkhadbeenanymama s
t h at M ac k i n u i re d u i ck l y.
oulders. C allitahunchifyou
yougetafeelingthattellsyou
elevelorac rook . Yououghtto
ared, hiseyesf i edsternlyonChil-
tkeepingsomethingbac k "
k n ow . Yo u l l h av e t o ge t t he r e st
i l t on , o fc o ur s e "
obert asper. C hiltonwasoneof the
eMayflower.
e s t bo r ou g h e c l a i me d . N o wo n de r
iliarchord inmymemory.
eof theforty -onesignatoriesof the
pact.He diedthesamemonthas
dleft nomaleheirsbuta
erinterrupted, I f iguredthename
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
H ebentdownforhissuitc ase.
etomakemytrain.
s v o ic e b ar k ed l i ke a p i st o l sh o t. I ' m
ilton, or asper, orwhatever
hyour roomthenightofthe
eon asper sfac e. Why—
arched, weren tthey "
ndidac ompleteandthorough
d, Phelanwasinc harge, and
ellow . Hedoesn tmissmany
e d i d n t f i nd a n yt h in g .
oi nt M ac k e a c ul at ed . H e d i dn t
apersyoushowedme. Whynot "
utvolunteerednoanswer.
d emundertherugoranythinglike
Phelanwould vespottedany
ouhad emditchedinagoodsafe
etinthis, said asper, indicat-
gedtowardthedoor, butMac k s
heentrance.
kdemandedperemptorily .
archwarrant, asperhedged.
f those, doyou ' llgetitallright,
ugtill do. Now, areyougoing
ot "
eycasef romhispoc ket. I t s
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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rprisingly uietattheHotel
guestssleptuntilnoon.
o hisroomfromanearly
rovalthatthechambermaidhad
nswhilehewasen oyinghis
andmarmalade.Shehadleftthe
orningsunstreamedfromthe
fteraweekofdelugesand
c agoA pril, itwasgoodforthe
cted,todiscoverthatthesunstill
ngdesk,W estboroughtook
ocketandseveralsheetsofsta-
espiteMack sscornofhisfirst
eman tomakeapermanent
eunscrewedthetopfromhis
a crampedhandwriting,which,
auty,wasentirelylegible—to
borough.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
k ingthelockofSw ink sdoor
hewrote. Thiswasdone, he
ght,amatternotimpossible,
ond sstoryweknowthatSwink
ng.C hilton—I mustremember
niesbeinginSw ink sroomatany
emurderotherthanthe period
fty-fivewhenhewasthere
,underanycircumstances,have
doorthen,since thechamber-
tnineo c lock .
thebalanc eof theeveningremains
e lef tthebaratteno c lock
stayed inthelavatorylong
ewabuttonuponhis trousers
ketoknow usthow longthatop-
membertoasktheporter toper-
tanyrate, asperwasnotgone
anfifteenminuteswhich,de-
thewashroom,leavesane -
whichtoclimbthestairs tothe
ratorrememberstakinghim
k sdoor—I understandthat
cut fromthefloorandfold
tthetest tubeabovethedoor.
ough,deniespickingthelockof
nt.Yetitwasundoubtedlyentered
rebeanotherpickor similarim-
uestinthewestc orridor B ut
tconcealedduringthee haus-
, c lear-sightedandshrewdasheis,
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
mousvolumeofscatteredrefer-
okethe admirationofhistorical
wassingularlyincompetent
sminorcrises.H edebatednow
to callthedeskorwhetherhe
rcounterin personforacan
nativeofferedob ec tions. Hedid
now,butontheother handthe
right brandanditwouldbe
eturn.Moreover,W estborough
feltthattheywerelaughing at
dbacks—as theyusuallywere.
nteditself,enablingW est-
knot.H eknockedatthedom-
ighbor, andthetallformof
aredinthedoorway.Graham
smouth,andthe airwasfilled
ccosmoke,whichWestborough
usted, hebeganw ithhishabitual
uponthepointofdesc endingtothe
eredthatyouand aredevoteesof
w illbekindenough
Grahaminterruptedheartily . J ust
nthis morning.
en-stripedcanwasonthe
ngstandwasnearthewindow
ingboard.Therewasa draw-
d Westborough scuriosity
s.
ye aminingyourdraw ing "
kallyouwantto, butthereisn t
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ngapen-and- inksketc hoveraphoto-
llaphotostat " Westborough
hydoyoumakeyourdrawingupon
c elyv isibletome.
estborough, Grahamlaughed.
atforanysize want, andthepro-
matically—noscalingandno pan-
tatwas,ofcourse,orderedfrom
lob ect,somydrawingwill
hen ' mthrough havethe
here llbenothingleft uponthis
k lines.
estboroughmuttered. Doyou
rk "
O nlyoc c asionallynow. used
h.
wingboard,W estborough
. c ertainlyamindebtedtoyou
Grahamout A nd donotsee
nto lginforafewdays, Gra-
ahH ammondinv itedher. Norah s
e andarealwaysgladtohave
thof thegirlsgoodtogetaway
adpipewithgravedeliberation,
hishost. Theatmosphereof
fewdaysisscarcelytheenviron-
hepronounced. I mustgo
okeepyoufromyourwork.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
rahamprotested. I c angoright
bothermeany.
estboroughreflected,cancause
ape anduselesspersiflage.H e
arttohisownroom, andhishost
seagertogetridofhim. Never-
eedthatGrahamshouldprotest
sdepartureandthatW estborough
ost sprotestationsasgenuine.
drawingboardupon West-
elittle mantouchedamatchto
ewatc hedtheartistf illhispenfrom
handssimpleblacklines grew
waysapleasante perienc e,
watchwhilesomeoneelsedoes
thewordsomuchinvogueto-
eculiarGermansound— yes,
d go n e to l g in a l so " W e s t -
sehecouldthinkofnothingelse
drovethemdownearly thismorn-
any longerthanhec anhelp,
eethingshe sdropped gather
ytoowellw ithhiswife srelatives.
d herparentsthinkthatno man
noughforher, asnearlyas c an
nguished,andWestborough
themusttakehisdeparture.H e
he tobacco,saidhehoped
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
n hissister-in-law Thissim-
ractive,Westboroughstrolled
bumpingintoMr. arsonon
elyto thenightclerk,whom
epondedw ithac ordial Good-
r, arsonshowednosignsofdoing
blocktrafficinthe corridor,
edalonetowardtheelevators.
urpriseasRobert asperstepped
aspersaid, Good-morning, in
edtodiscouragefurtherconver-
hdidnotallowhimselftobe dis-
youuponyourfortunaterelease,
andeven asperunbent.
edtowardhisownroom, butWest-
more.
houghtimpertinent, wouldlike
ond, and ' mout, aspersaid
avetown, though, orthebondisfor-
ndaprisonerstill " Westborough
fromYeomenoftheGuard. He
ouldmakeit, Didthepolice
Mr. Sw ink spast "
asualenough,for asperwason
c u rt l y, I f t h ey d i d, d i dn t
nttowardhisroom. Westborough s
had disappearedaroundthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
hsignaledan elevatorandrode
houghtful.
uestreamlinedDeSotopurredwest-
mmond, thee hilarationofeating
bertireswascomparableonly
roma longtallone orf rom
tedcronies.One ofhisgreatest
whichwasdoingatleastsi ty
ardhimat ane ualpace.See-
thisharmlessamusementnow,
presseddownthethrottle. or
etwocarshungneckand neck
omobilefromtheoppositedirec-
inouslyfastrate.ThenH am-
ad, erkedhiswheelsharply
with inchestospare.
d,NorahH ammondbegged,
tdothatagain.
r en t w e " H a m m on d a sk e d.
inghappily,laidhersmall
andhairyone. redHammond
onightsagoit hadseemedthat
againbetweenhimand Norah.
denpassion,he hadswepther
sunderstandinghaddissolved
hadsprung.
astheyapproachedaroad-
ce-creamconesforC edricand
erredacigarhimselfandli tone,
hile hewaitedforthegirls to
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
balanceofherconeto C edric,
his. I stilldon tunderstand,
to persuadethepolicetoletyou
g, d o n t ? " H a m m on d d em a nd e d
es, headdedmysteriously , I got
mptroller sof f ice.
emoreand wasuptoseventy
elittle morethanablock.H e
ohurry , buthecouldn thelp
fdollarsandcents whenonthe
medhabitwhenpleasuredriv-
wntoconformtolocalspeedlaws
-brickpavedstreetsof lgin.
a largeframehouse,ofthebay
ofarchitecture,whichwasbuilt
twentyfeetabovethestreet
iblyhesitantaboutleavingthe
agestogetmygoat, hewhis-
emannerofawifewhenshe
omorethanaspoiled,sulky
, butyouwillstayfordinner, won t
badly ifyoudon t.
h , ' l l d o th a t, b u t, f o r he a ve n s
c s. He lif tedabagineither
thelongf lightofsteps. I ' ll
ong, youknow, Norah. ' vegot
dfinishpacking—you know
yaheadtomorrow .
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
dinthemannerofa wifewho
oatleastthehundredthtime.
tedYvonneGantinthec orri-
veseemedlikeacoincidence,
foregoneawholehour ofpre-
epvigilbesideherdoor.There
antedto tellher,butwhenhe
ninblue, hec ouldn tthinkofone
annerandsaid, Good-
evators.C hris arson s
ull toallowofmuchtimefor
ac uiredthefree-and-easy
env iedin arryCollins. Say
hetoldhimselfangrily.
rise, MissGant, hebegan
tis, wonderifyouwill—I mean
l—havebreak fastw ithme.
i ms e lf . I ' v e d on e i t at l a st . )
oolandspac ious, arson
oulddocreditto Gargantua.
rries, whic hwere ustbeginning
erecorrespondinglycostly,and
ediblenumberofitems.Miss
erehungry,andC hrisliked
dewomenwhotoyeddaintily
oreof thoserollsandanotherpot
eted.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
veeatenenoughnowforaboacon-
ingwaseasyw iththisgirlac ross
enotdoinganythingspec ial, what
Pa r k " h e p ro p os e d. O r c a n
toldhimsimply .
atC hrisastheywalked
. H eseemstohaveagrouc h
remarked.
r is u a li f ie d . W e h a d a s or t o f
ndboth ofusaretoo stubborn
task thec auseof the uarrel,
formation.
ayishgreenwhileacloud-
zonlikethe invertedbowl of
groisteredlikeahoyden, and
ormedintoaladyin delicate
etentativelydonningseasonal
e curvedpathuponwhich
shsurprises.H erewasanelm,
warfishlocust,thenamaple
c ottonwood. twasgoodto
others:awillowwhichdrooped
rowofsentinel-likepoplars.
eoffolded-upumbrellas,
pily.
benchandsatdown. A
MissGantobserved, stillthought-
thatundertoneof tragedyevery
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
nical, arsonc ommented. A nd
ehotel
Thisisthefirstc hanc e ' vehadto
ss.
ngeyourroom, C hrissaidgravely .
suedac oolc hallenge. Why "
kofyoune ttotheroomwhere
r e g iv i ng m e t he i t te r s.
MissGant " hepersisted
youwould.
ratheralotonyourself , Mr.
ably am. begyourpardon.
hesaidbitterly tohimself. O f
rderedaroundbya stranger.
esaidinasof tenedvoic e, movingaper-
ideof thebench. J ustoneof
entionto it—C hris.
rsC hriswastorememberthe
eenthem. twaslike— hecould
mile. . . .
k ily, I supposewe dbetter
get back.
c ouldn tlast, ofc ourse. Minutes
knowthatthingof ugene ee-
epresentismeregrass, uic kmown
eandstandsforeverfast. "
GungaDininpoetry .
C hris " Thelaughterinher
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ogetabadbreak, but, Christ if
maynevergetanotherc hanc e. Pull
y,you vecrackedtoughercribs.
s t so m u ch g r av y "
ndlesson thecarpetedfloor
tnec essarytomoveontiptoes,
raprecaution. He stoppedbefore
upanddownthecorridor.
s ho u ld b e a b ul l
ng, Devonfloppedtohis
d,butnolockhad beenknown
long.Thisoneyieldedwithin a
dinaudiblereliefwhenhe was
mandclosethedoorbehind
oodwiththestillnessofastatue
pointedears. C oast sc lear
slink ingtowardthew indow. Hetooka
Stillraining Whatalousy
andmethodically,Benny
ack theroom. tdidn ttakehim
rofa closetandfeltdeepwithin
v on e u l te d . T h at s y o ur m e al t i ck e t
hthebullsnow You vegotthe
ttingpretty
apumaDevonstif fenedinto
dthesharp clickwhichtellsofa
aloc k. ikeatrappedbeast s,
romoneside oftheroomto
vortofind ahidingplace.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ennyDevon, andforthefirsttimein
saprayer.
indthedoor,motionlessasa
naturalstiffnessofhisback,the
throatmusclesbetrayedhis
enchedwithdeath-likerigor
dtakenfromthec loset. fhisluc k
evon. fhisluc kheld
ow M e or h im . C h ri st , ' v e go t
oorcommencedtoswingin-
andneedlepointtapestry,
f aperiodwhenwigswere
ti uetteof theSun ing s
ation.O bviouslyintendedasa
dnotfor use,itdidnot look
Nevertheless,asitwasthe only
ughseatedhimselfgingerly
astudy.
gthecrime " ieutenantMack s
edWestborough smeditations.
morenotesifyouc aretosee
atthem, Mac ksaidgood-
seen errySpangeraroundany-
eplyingnegatively,Mackstrode
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
u e st i on t o a r ry C o l l i ns . H e
yforanhourortwo, theroom
nhaveabellmanhunthimforyou.
uested, andwhenyouf indhim,
s t bo r ou g h s r o om — o r a r so n s . H e
onalelectricclockabovethe
Twentyminutestonine.
wasbluew ithsmoke. I forgotto
lef tthismorning, West-
rkingitupnow.Returningtohis
lskin pouchandoffereditto
ieutenantMac k "
Mac kgruntedlac onic ally , bring-
ket.H elitit reflectively.
mutt, Westborough, but think
ou. Whatdoyouthink isthene t
iffidently, H aveyouinvesti-
honecalls believethehotelkeeps
abetlikethat, Mac kdeclared
led. Theonething learnedwas
gotallherdopeon myfamily.
ning "
imentinpsychometry .
ucallit. Well, theoldgirlhadc alled
ohernearlyanhouron riday
estmay,andtheworld
ossipmonger.Sheknowsmore
aredoingthan theydothem-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
rienc esturnoutlikethat, was
ent.Mackpuffedthoughtfullyat
w iththismess, hesaid, isthere
damn. neverheardofamurder
tisit "
ps " Westboroughvolunteered.
No, we vec hec kedthatangle.
butwhatthe hell Nothing
ntoanyonehere. nfac t, asnearly
asn tbeeninChic agoforabout
ninterestingstoryabouthis
n, butit sgotasmuchtodo
arrietupatNiles,Michigan.
ardavidly . shouldlikevery
susinghisrealnameatthat
seditsince—gothitc hedonthe
medMaryWinters. Theywere
utthreeo c lockMaryWinters
bo r ou g h ec ho e d.
rethinking, butyou redeadwrong.
e waswithdrovethrougha
uttries thatstunteveryoncein
cominghellbent theotherway,
appened. A f terthey dpic ked
lowshewasw ith, West-
Wasn therhusband
ear. A ndifhedid, hemust ve
reisn tmuchroomforpedestrians
yisn tit anegetsmarriedat
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
M a ck c hu c kl e d. W e l l , Sw i nk — h e
ames,butthat sasgooda
hegoodoldestateracketonan
practicallyeverycentshehad.
hemanshe dtakenforanic e
theoldgirl killedherself
s.B utshehadonemighty
ildhoodsweetheartsinfact—
hittington.
Whittington.
e s g o t th e r ep u ta t io n o f be i ng a
uytobuck.H eputprivate
ail.Theycollectedalot ofdirt
utfailedtogettheir man.
anothernamethen—had faded
farasW hittingtonwascon-
eeksago.Thenoneof Whit-
isadv ic eonaletterhe dgot
mine.Theletterwassigned
ichdidn tmeanathingto
someofthesentenceswere
thinkofthe fakelawyerwho
egetshandwritinge pertsto
dwhentheytell himSwinkis
c sA mc oonhim. However, he s
etogeta convictionontheold
mcotodigupdopethat will
orusing themailstodefraud.
ttington " Westboroughin-
head. O r apic tureofhim "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
right, andif itdid, we llneverknow
thatsupplied thecyanide
epausedandaddedasan
en tfoundanytrailsyetthatlead
anidetothe q uable.
eraspec tof theproblem, West-
veyouthoughtofC olmar "
foreyoursearch,hewouldhave
eob ectswhichareapparently
henotes havemadeonthesub-
t disc ussedtherelativec hanc es
w ingornotknow ingof thee ist-
n theGrahamboy schemical
w , anotherbottleofac idshouldhave
glittlepoint, Mac kagreed. I
don riday. Sheremembered
heacid,butitdidn tmakea
er.Sheis almostsureshedidn t
lmostbutnot uite.
etfully. Thatinformation,
eryhelpful.
, butyoucan tgetallthebreaks.
andnotob ec t. Whatelsewould
artotheoneyoufoundin
Mac kgrewsuddenlythought-
ke t h at o u t "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ermaybetellingthetruthabout
sdoor.
umb, Mac ke ac ulated, crushing
r ay . I f a s pe r d id n t d o f or
raham sloc k . That sA -B -C stuf f.
asecondpickhiddensomewhere
whohidit A ndwhere "
oroughsuggestedagain.
o l m ar , M a ck e c l ai m ed
businesstothinkofeverybody. B ut
shissisterwasanac cessory . A nd
llbuyyouadinnerattheV illa
kindergartenforfiveyears.
forColmarw ithouthissister s
oroughadmitted, yetitmightbe
ftheralone forafewminutes
asthe purchaseofapackofciga-
sColmar sprofession "
Mac kstated. Westborough sfac efell.
orc eatSpringf ieldtoldus, he sa
on. He sgotapileof f riendsin
supposedtobesomesortof
snoc rime "
inalis engagedinanoccupa-
fac yanideisrefutedatevery
mented.
rc onsolingly . C heerup
for arankamateur. Thefore-
edtothefloorina noisythud.
soneguywhohadboththemethod
venamotive—atleast, it sas
' vebeenabletodigupsofar.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R199
' vebeenstallingaroundherewait-
ephonedmeapiec eofnews
ttogethisslant. B ut ' mnot
rse, arson " Westborough
g r ow l ed .
veryhumanbeingisc apableofmur-
cation, Westboroughan-
orabig, easy-goingmansuc has
wouldhavetobee treme.
d, Mac kreminded.
d, W estboroughadded. More-
f toomuchintelligence, believe,
tureofwhichwouldpoint
notwithoutthe arrangementof
h y ou , M a ck s a id . A n y a l i bi t h at
ookphony,andhehassense
salwaysinhisroomuptoeleven
etherebec auseit shisonlyc hanc e
atalli sadamnsightbetter
epausedandaddedw ithdeliberate
gh,inninety-ninetimesout ofa
wertoacaseis therightone.
atthenic eoldgentlemanwhowas
keDelavanthedayof thec rime
rer. Well, ' mgoingtoputthe
Doyouwanttositinonit "
edthedetectiveacrossthe
ndC hris arsoncametothe
dsmokinga straightbriar.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
y o u " h e a s k ed .
ped,closingthedoorandstand-
it. L arson, wehadthatstuf f
mistc alledit. t snotmyideaof
urgers.A nyway,itwas
meananythingtoyou "
hsulphuric ac L arson
Mac k seyeswerepiercinggimlets.
withsomepotassiumcyanidetwo
e thatSwinkfirstcametothis
kadmitted, I did.
dmethismorningtotellmethat
riendlytermswithMissGant.
ndafterwardsleft thehotel
esomeoldwoman, thenightc lerk
yofyourbusinessif didaskMiss
idyouknewheronlyasa
.
t ha t g ir l , ar e n t y o u M a ck
, arsonansweredsullenly .
anstthedesk . O fc ourseyou
t. A ndthere syourmotive, arson.
hewrongroombymistake. Hehad
d
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
sonlungedforwardinablaze
s a f i lt h y li e G e t ou t , or ' l l t hr o w
amusement. I doubtifyou
, arson. Thetink lingof the
tension.Mackpickeditup,
e th i s la t er . a r so n s f i st s u n-
withhisoddcharacteristicof
onal,notedthisfactandremem-
tionwiththedetective. arson
thisanger cooled uickly.
aidtothetelephone, Yeh,
andthen, w ith uic kening
Thevoic eattheotherendof
ing, andMacke ac ulated, The
stherestof it " Therestof thec on-
loguefromtheotherend of
oughfoundunintelligible.A t
ceiverwithan elationwhich
p e fr o m W a sh i ng t on D e vo n s g o t a
m. tevenincludesmurder. H e
gainandconversedwiththe
inksDevonisinhisroom, hetold
overthemouthpiec e. He sawhim
dseven, andhehasn tlef tthe
ac edtherec eiveronthehookand
ormation. J errySpanger
earoutof sightforthelast two
uiringlyatthenightc lerk. What
odow ithyouwhile pic kup
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
eofassistanc einthatmatter,
d arsongavethelittlemana
edinthesuggestion. I f
t sc ausedallthistrouble, ' dsure
esaid. Mac kscrutinized arson s
aminute. A ll right, hesaid
amnfool, but ' mgoingtotrust
ridorwerespottedwith
ndobscurity.A lighted
gh sdoorremindedhimthathe
e switch.Thetransomsof
elyweredark,andsowasthat
utlightshonefromthe
transoms....W estborough
ewasalso agleamoflight
. Heturnedhisheadandpeereddown
ansomwasdark.
,buttherewasno answer.
beforerappinghis knucklesfor
ewood.Stillno stiroflifefrom
redtofetchapasskey,andMack
sappearedaroundthecorner
rridor.
arkeneddoor,W estborough
hill.Thestillnesswasoppressive,
econversation,burstsof
of thelightedrooms,butthere
ying.Westboroughrecalledthat
w largelydeserted, butthee -
layhis uneasiness.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
sideof thedoor, Mac kadv ised
fleduneasilyas heobeyedthe
trappedcriminal,preparedtoshoot
uldbehuman,understandable.
lsilenceof theroombeyond
there,W estboroughtoldhim-
rything. A nythinge c eptthebald
wasout.
ntoreturnwiththe passkey,
islyn -likeeyesrivetedupon
ndwasburied beneathhiscoat.
edthemissingSpangerand shud-
ncludedmurder.O nemurderhad
attheH otel q uable. Thec hill
metime oranothervisitsevery
ughnow.Spanger,sounaccount-
haunts,was ashrewdand
sethathehadconductedanin-
penetratedthekiller ssecret
bo r ou g h e c l a i me d a lo u d. M r .
gthesamething, Mac kansweredin
h is b i rd s d o ne f o r e r ry , ' l l
dattheendofthe corridor.
headandsaw arsonwalking
shiningpate ofthehotel
m.
here " V ic torSwanndemanded.
nceanddemandedthepasskey
rteditinthelockw ithoutturning
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
thedetectivebarkedauthori-
ineof f ire. arson, when give
ushthedooropen, and ump
e-damned.Theremaybesome
erkedhisrighthandfromtheholster
ke.
hotel " Swannaskedwith
p " andgavethesignalto ar-
dthedoor andsprangtoone
d.
deepandthreatening, O utof
fDevonwasw ithinhemadenoan-
erinreadinessMackdashed
oppedsuddenlyuponthethresh-
ri gh t M y Go d "
ydisobeyingthedetective s
tolook withintheroom.H e
air. thadbeendrawnto face
anwasseated—witha start
t themotionlessfigurewasa
enedandbloodytonguelolled
enpurplishlips,whileeyeswide
tors.
edtothef loor. Westborough, inthe
whichremainedeveraloof,ob-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
chtheashesleft againstthe
igurein thechairtodart
urtcommandswiththeswift-
racterizestheseasonede ecu-
nngaspedandaddedanaiveand
iswillaboutdofor myhotel.
thavebeensomethingfrom
works. Westboroughavertedhis
ueasy, andheleanedagainstthe
e g a sp e d. I h o p e— I ' m n ot — g o in g t o
cedabouttheroom, mak inganef fortto
swereseeing.
had beentornoffandwere
thef loor. I tdoesn tmake
arMacksay ing—inhismind, of
ewasstillbusyat thetelephone.
tohimasodd,but hiseyeshad
eroombefore herecognized
stthewallwasa vacuum
onthe floor,aleathercase—
sedforvacuumcleaneracces-
en Whywasthebedclothing
se,buttheyconcealedamessage
unraveltheenigma.West-
mforathird time,forcinghim-
thethousandandonetrivialities
noticed.
elluponthewriting desk.
eatprecisionwhichsuggested
dsincethe adventofthemaid
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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TU MB L E R
besidethem.W estborough
tit wasempty.A lmostbutnot
again. Notonec igarettebutt, not
fleckofash. urthermore,the
hedtoit wereintact.West-
beforedirectinghisattention
ercarryingcase.
toryofits contents.A hose,
kea bigstripedsnake.
ssortedsizesandshapes.A
rysmallbrush.A bottleofmoth
electric ian stapeandascrew-
ars,allthesame,ofthe kind
noreasonatallthata sensible
as literature. Westborough
arsand notedthatitcontained
efunctionsofthese various
efully:
e up b e fo r e lo n g, a n d O ' R y an s o n
kdeclared,replacingthere-
Swann,willyoutelleveryone
heirrooms "
easpallid asthoughhehad
e,shuffledoutthedoor. arson
utadrinkofwaterandstarted
Mack svoic ecrac kedlikeapistol
nowaboutthis "
edhisbackuponthedetective
dow. Whatshould knowabout
notansweringriddles.
ardtheasphaltthreestories
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
surprisetomeasitistoyou,
r
bythatlastcrac k " Mac kde-
andthedetectivedecidednot
eadhemadea uic kscrutinyof
onthevery uestionswhich
edearlier.
on g al l m es s ed u p W h y i s t hi s u n k
He suppliedhisownanswer.
beenaroughhouse.
W estboroughdemurred.
ksnapped, hisvoicetingedw ithsus-
omhasbeendisturbed, West-
f therehadbeenaf ight, youwould
orsomeotherlightob ec ttobe
t ed , a n d ma y be n o t. t s e a sy t o
ec aseofc leanertools "
mthatway. Hemight vebeen
" M ac k e c l ai m ed . I t i s S un d ay .
ponWestborough. A llright,
whatyoumakeofit.
thec leanerc ase. A narticle
missing.
ew indowto oinintheinspec -
ed, Yes, it sthee tensionpipe.
nameoftheartic le, butthereisa
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
nob ec tnotinthec ase. The
sused forcleaningdraperies
t s s e e, M a ck e r ke d t he c i rc u la r
and. I t sametalpipeabouttwo
iseyesf lic kedrapidlyaboutthe
ethedamnthinganywherearound,
etorestuponac loseddoor. Maybe
mpaniedspeechasfaras Mack
ershadclosedaboutthecloset
ecompletedthelastsentence.
e s ai d , b u t th e ke y s r i gh t h er e .
epared,couldnotanticipate
ardasharpgruntofsurpriseas
ndthe secondfollowing,the
mbledintotheroom.
easedthehelplessbeingto
g er M y Go d "
sonrushedtothesideof the
sarmswerepinionedbehindhis
viouslytornfrom asheet.H is
ether,andhismouthgagged
placebyblacktape.Mack
dlistenedforhisheart. Thank
t in g .
W estboroughinterposed, I
Macknodded,andhehurriedto
ned,Mackhaduntied
eetandwasabouttoripof f the
angermoanedastheadhesive
n.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
whiskers " hedemanded
agun, you re usttootoughto
meddelightedly . H ere, takeanipof
eelbetter. SupportingSpanger
m toswallowagenerouspor-
brandy.Thehousedetective
ayedtositup. Takeiteasy ,
mwithapillow.
romhiserrand. Toldevery-
n,thenstoppedshortinbewilder-
lhappenedtoSpanger "
raw led. F eelliketalk ing,
hishead. I guessso. H ead
ugh.
usedetective sc ranium. Yeh,
right. Whodidit, erry "
S p a ng e r e a c u l at e d. I d i d n t s e e th e
ememberishearingastepbehind
bu t g u es s w as n t u i ck e n ou g h.
stars ...Maybe better
n "
erofbrandyand w ill. Mac k
dSpangertooka deepgulp.
gdownthec orridor
Mac k interrupted.
oldheadisn tfunc tioningtheway
dor, guess. A nyway, saw
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
or. gotdownandpickedit
lighter. took itunderalight
terlookatit, and ' llbehanged
e th e t hi n g. t w a s De v on s . S o
ll ustgivethatbac k toyou, fellow ,
over losingit. knockedon
tanswer, so waitedawhile
tillnoanswer. Then thought,
t op e n th e d oo r a nd l e av e i t in h i s ro o m. "
rec tinf ractionof thehouserules,
onishedseverely . A nyartic les
o beturnedinat thedesk.
e, Spangeradmitted. Ninety
' dgoby it. H erubbedhishead
w h a d.
eyouopenedthedoor " Mac k
didn tseeathingforamoment.
de. Then sawDevonlaidout
epointedtothetallarmc hair, only
siblef romthebed. I shestill
ac onic ally .
was ' mprettyhardboiled,
den,staringrightoutofthe
wasallbow ledoverinaheap.
tthere mightbesomeoneelse
heardthatstep toldyou
tgetac hanc etotellwhatsortof
artedtoturnaround,andthen,
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ghtthestarbusinessin thefunny
sawthemallright.
M a ck i n u i re d .
ven. wouldn tswearanyc loser
u, e r ry "
unborn. didn tseeasoul,
nguesswhathediditw ithunlesshe
hat, Mac ksaid, steppinginside
almostimmediatelycarryinga
twofeetlongandan inchand
ldthis verydelicatelybymeans
aidit onthewritingdesk.
Spangere ac ulatedasheslidof f the
ac rossthef loor. No, don t
rsonmadeamovetosupporthim.
gh t . W h at s t h at t h in g , o h nn y "
sDevoncarriedaroundforhis
ay ' vegotitdopedout: stopmeif
ythatchokedDevonwasstillin
ed.H escurriedaroundand
gyou,thenhe thoughtof
adplentyoftime— see—because
yougotoutyourpasskey.H e
it opensinward—soyou
sloughedyou,rippedupasheet,
heusedforthe gagwasalso
k. B u t d o n t k n o w wh y h e st u ck t h e
ofputtingitbackwhereit be-
roughsuggestedhesitantly , he
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ngerabreak—I believeyou
dthattheabsenceofthe
rchthe closetbeforeMr.
tallthatout, he sgotaheadon
edso uic kly thepotentialities
sasa weaponindicatesamind
ergencies.
snotMack slongsuit.
s a d i rt y k il l er , a nd h o pe c a n
s t h e la s t th i ng e v er d o . H e
nthearmchair. Whatdoyou
Devon "
oof thec riminalelement "
Wegotplentyonhim. B ut
guythatdidfor Swink.That
s
thavebeenworkingtogether,
aybethemurdererkilledDevonfor
wink.
eedwithoutenthusiasm. H eturned
J erry , whatbecameofDevon s
gotit. Spangerreachedintohis
itis. H ehandedMac kasilver
nspecteditclosely.
h is w as D e vo n s "
onthatbird. ' veseenhimf lash
es,it hadhisinitialson it.
hegentleman srealname
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
hat " Mac kasked uic kly .
WhenyouinformedusthatDevon
ght. Youwereabouttosayyou
heinitialsB . D. , weren tyou "
ht.
tithave Hemighthavebought
nameandnaturallywantedto
tlyattheash tray. You
hing.
asthekind ofbirdthatcould
ormore thanacoupleof
mbutwhathedidn thaveac iga-
e ploredthedeadman s
hereeither. That sfunny "
s t ch a ng e d hi s c lo t he s W e s t -
T wo b i ts t h at s u s t wh a t he d i d.
e e "
hangerin thecloset,and
thepockets.Suddenlyhegave
pa ng er a sk ed .
h at d i d fi n d.
doutfor inspectionlookedto
l,long-neckedpairofpliers.
hose " heasked.
iedsuc c inc tly .
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
akeyholeandgrabholdof
thekey sintheloc k, youc an
ofthedoor.
ntenable, Westboroughglanced
se, Mr.Devontoopenthe
Nope. Nippersc an tgetin-
des,thesedoorslockauto-
nybodyleaveakeyonthe in-
ou g h po n de r ed . I w o nd e r-
Ryan, his awsetatagrimangle,
hecorridor.B ehindtheblue-
fficerwerePatrolmenPhelan,
ellites.ToW estboroughtheroom
olice,alllargein bulkand
ons.Thelittlemantookoccasion
e actionsofhisfellow
ehorsebeforethestarting
of hisshoeagainstthefloor.
heperspirationgleamingfrom
dhavewageredanyreasonable
handsweree uallymoist.
amorestolidrace,had re-
omthewindowandseemeden-
ofhisown.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
ase plainingterselytoO ' Ryan,
edthatthedetectivewasspeak-
air. K nowntothetradeas
dahabitofsellingvac uumcleaners
cracking.
etermanis, Westboroughre-
opeathead uarters, ofc ourse,
everworkedC hi. Stuck tosmall
ndspecializedingroceries,meat
businesses.A goodplaincracks-
oup theusualwaybysoaking
t bo r ou g h u e ri e d.
ndescension. Dynamite.
fyouwanttoknow, andthat s
Devonwas soapinga
ec rac karoundthesafedoor
oup spouredinatthetopand
e edgeofthedoor.Thenyou
f fc omesthedoorf romthe
ase.
rgartenclass, O ' Ryaninter-
ougoingtosayaboutDevon "
o inagroc erystorewhenanight
m.Devonsplitsthefellow s
dthengetsrattledand leavesthe
ingerprintsonit. He ddonea
adhisprints atW ashington.
n " Westboroughin uired, c on-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
anuisanceof himselfyetun-
orinformation.
dentif ic ation, Mac ke plained.
nfileand completerecords
alook f romO ' Ryan. Howdoes
helatterasked.
Damnedif know. Theyboth
en tinthesame racket.Swink
-classone,whileDevoncracked
gtime,and Devonplayedthe
uaskme, ' dsaytheydidn teven
s know, Spangerc onfirmed.
agoodworkouttheother
kwantedtoknow.Thepatrolman
dMackpointedtothenippers
ewritingdesk . K nowwhat
el a n de c la r ed i n a h ur t v oi c e. I f
thernightwe dhavefoundthem.
verthewholeplacew itha
pocketinChilton ssuitc ase "
edidslipuponthat, guess.
" M a c k co n so l ed . B u t d o n t
hadagripw ithtrickpoc kets. H e
rdthec aseofacc essories. Didyou
"
emout, Phelanansweredc on-
s a t h in g i n th e r oo m we m i ss e d, ' d
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
sc rewy, Mac kdeliberated. Un-
ceThursday.B utwhy
ostayhere " Swanninter-
e corpse.
n t. Thehotelmanagerbreathed
dtowardthedoor. Youc an
utstick inyourroom. We llbe
ckadded,thebarestsuggestion
.
ookedscornfullyintothe de-
minute,andleftwithoutspeak-
Dr. H ildrethappearedinthe
Swannbeenk illingof fhisc us-
nspectedthecorpsewithacheerful
upilsdilated,lipsandtongue
saywhathappenedtothisguy.
ou , a nd ' m n o m ed i co , M a ck p u t
d
orc orrec ted.
df fe r en ce "
applytheconstrictingforce
undhisneck,andto throttle
indpipewithyourfingers.
aschoked, O ' Ryangrinned.
eadman sthroat. You
ngersononesideand thumbon
edfrominfront
D oc , d on t s m ud g e e m " M a ck b r ok e
beprints.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
hestif f sright, thedoctor
nsthek illerusedhisrighthand,
u.
e l p M a ck g r oa n ed . S o f ew g u ys
glancedin uiringlyaboutthe
evondoesn tseemtohavek ic ked
c ounteredDr. Hildreth, whowas
mhisbag. Givenagripsuffi-
lityfollowsalmostimmediately.
dthanifabandweretw istedaround
then " Mac kaskedthoughtfully.
a n y si g ns o f r ig o r ye t . H e e r ke d
ket. I t sa uartertotennow.
ledfromseventoseven-thirty:
pinbodytemperatureandshould
Mackrepeated,writinginhis
c.
pection.Presentlyhecalled:
gelsefunny.
hasn tbeenc leanedup, butit
Ryanaskedsarcastically .
wanything " Dr. Hildrethde-
doyoubleed "
apumpwhic hkeepsupthepres-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
y.B utaftertheheart action
pressure.
edriv ingat, Mac k interpolated. A
rdeath.
of thebody. O fc ourse,
M a ck e a cu l at e d. S u pp o se t h at t h e
his guyandthathewaswear-
doctorsnapped. Toosharp.
isglancefellforthef irst
e. Good ord, whathappened
omeovertothelightand ' lltakea
ackrepeated. Hebroughthis
av igorousslap. B yGod, ' ve
Doc . Youknowthosesilly little
nevercouldunderstandwhy
whenthe sleevewasbuttoned
mfullplay , Westboroughe -
buttonswasbroken, Mac kcon-
eedgeleavethatk indofmark ,
rstatedinanoncommittal
gthebackofSpanger shead.
ebuttonf irst.
ck p r om i se d . W e l l c he c ku p o n
ehotelifwehaveto. When
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
nasleeve, we vegotourman.
tMounted, thedoctor eered.
ger. What sthematterw ithyou "
eapedsuddenlyfromhis
heheadmust veknockedthe
otallaboutseeingColmar.
t m e an t h e da m e "
uyfromSpringfield.
h e r e wa s h e "
orw ithhissister, andtheywent
"
d. Sometimeafterseven,
kpondered. Tw iceC olmarvisitsthis
mebody sk illed. tmaybepure
ginstructionstohishenchmen.
hey llbringhiminrightaway, he
M a ck i n u i re d .
ttywell, Spanger. Thattough
lotofcracks.
p an g er g r in n ed .
m thefloor. Shootthe
elzer getsthroughchecking
nidea.
Mac kc huck ledasthedoc torwent
sgotoyourroom, Westborough, he
Selzeroughttobehereanyminute
thec orridortoWestborough s
nofferedchairs.Mack,rest-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
tedtopacethefloor,chewing
t he S wi n k o b , h e s ai d , i t
orridor.A ndonekillingis pretty
eatthat, O ' Ryandraw ledfrom
sk. Thelasttime washere
a ck p u t in . A w o ma n m ig h t v e
utthewomenareoutnow. t d
ytoc hokeaman, ' dsay. He
gers. L arson, ofc ourse he s
. Hammond snolilyeither.
dgivea goodaccountofhimself
e sGrahamandyou. H epaused
ereyoudoingwithyourselfall
picture, thelittlemanbegan
our-thirty , believe, andcalled
. amesWestborough.Shein-
didnotleaveherapartment
dbeeninthehotelonlyafewmin-
bookandaskedtheaddress
er- in- law .
e ct e d "
ustamatterof routinetoc hec k
werearightsmartmurderer, ' d
elittlealibiforsevento seven-
W o u l dn t a n yo n e T h at s w h yw e
hec k ingupon emall.
estboroughsummarizedinhis
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
emurdererleftthe hoteltoes-
" Mac kc ountered.
t k no w.
mnowon ' mgoingtobesus-
forseventoseven-thirty.
e rr y "
eredtothedoorand madea
or. L ookslikeeveryoneis, he
sGantandtheB lakelyhen.
M a ck d e cl a re d a ga i n. L e t s b e gi n
he room. What dyoudo
nded.
housedetective. thoughtyou
ourstoolpigeon.
emorec rac kbkethat, s uare-
a rk e d. W h e n w a nt t o s ee a f i gh t
o u is . N ow , a r so n ,w h er e w er e y ou "
youweredoing, bec ause c andamn
anetodinner "
, I fyou rereferringtoMiss
ensive.
k ey s u n cl e , M a c kc r ow ed . L i s t e n,
party. Whattime dyougetbac k to
pforward,butfell backas
t hesaidshortly.
w ithyouallthetime "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
ated, glaringasthoughhewanted
owedhimtoreturntohis room,
.
ed. YouforgetWestborough s.
R y an e a cu l at e d wi t h a de r is i ve g l an c e
:His ifeandTimes.
bee amined. Thetallartist
e otherandseemedtobeill at
men.A notherterribletrag-
gtoday " Mac kaskedabruptly.
amnditty thatgoes, B oots,
amrepliedsmiling.
epeated, hisfacepuzzled.
ee ac t, fortypen-and-inksketc hes
deredbyatight Scotchmannamed
paythreebuc ksapiec eforthem. ' ve
e obinatodd times,because
aw ingatthatprice—evenif it s
ograph.
ere " Mac kwantedtoknow.
thekidaregone, and didn t
dtaketogodowntotheoff ic e.
mseventoseven-thirty "
. L etmesee. wentouttoa
adfroglegsand abottleofclaret.
wasn tgonemorethanan hour
ong.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
othehotelaf terdinner "
mpusgoingonanywhere "
goingfullblast, butthat sall.
knowwhere "
ameac rossthec ourt. didn tpay
d asperc alledin. A mc o s
c astic ally . B eenpic k inganymore
rbegan, settlinghimself inac hair
y , I thoughtwe dsettledall
.
ndnew. Didn tSwanntellyou
' dbetterstayhomesoyoufellows
ell, what sonyourmind "
waskilledheretonight.
atisit, ahabit Whowasitthis
asV ac uumB enny. Heregistered
. nowhim "
s t h e li t tl e s u i rt w h o ca r ri e d a
' veseenhiminthehalltwoor
uthim "
pertookacellophane-wrappedpack-
oreof f theend. Smoke "
skedtheinevitable uestion.
gtoday "
pal, fellowthatusedtobewith
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
isownagenc y. stayedw ithhim
n "
otelandshotV ac uumB enny, of
ewasshotatf ive " Mac kasked
ns w er e d, W a s h e W e l l , h a te t o
dn tdothe obbecause wasat
chinganewsuperspectaclecalled
ttookaboutthreehoursto sit
didn tgetbac k tothehotelmuc h
"
tsupposetheushersinthebig
emberallthefacestheysee,do
w a nt f r om y ou , a s pe r — n ow . T h e
rdthedoorwhenMackhalted
you. SoDevonwasshot "
k n ow " a s pe r e c l ai m ed a n d
ridor.Macksaidthoughtfully,
ugh, andnow asper. Don ttellme
ibi,too.
d s we r e, W e l l , ' m d a mn e d. Y ou
me, aren tyou "
Mac ksaid. H ammond, what d
H adahellof atime,ifyou
owwithmyfather-in-law.
e oldladytookmine,and
allaround.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
i n l g in , i sn t h e "
toldyoubefore.
"
boutthreeo c lockonSundays.
ewedthefat. verything
, buttheoldmangotstartedonpoli-
eave " Mac k interrupted.
c ouldn tstic kanymoreof
ttime dyouc omeinthehotel "
a halfhourstodriveforty
ic kedupanailnearB looming-
thespare.
t ke "
o. B ut stoppedata ointfarther
tubepatched.Thatkilled
M a ck w an t ed t o k no w.
ad. Youc an tproveitbyme.
alongtheroad, notsoveryfarf rom
bably f inditagain, butthat sall
werethere "
rememberlookingatmywatc h
nthetube.
straighttothehotel "
heway "
ldanswer,apatrolmancameto
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
forO ' Ryan. C olmarandhis
evator.
in, O ' RyandemandedandHam-
ntohis room.
in hisearlythirties,borelittle
spinster,hissister.H ishairwas
ckandsparkling.H ewaswear-
ysuitwitha blue-edgedhand-
hebreastpocket.
k, theyoungmansmiled.
newhomakesitMarcus.
Thursdaynight "
f f iealittlesurprise.
sof uestionswhich,West-
esignedtocheckhissister sac-
assedtheir doorthatnight.
orywase c ellent, andhesoonreal-
orywastally inginevery important
er. He likedtheyoungster s
ndhisbreezyassurance.
ptoC hic agotoday " Mac k
ghtthatafellowwasc omingfrom
ntedto talktome.
wthhim "
r c alledfor f f ie, andwewent
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ysthegoldeneggs,assomeof
cianswillbelearningsomeday.
k toSpringf ieldtonight "
oncatchingthetwelve-thirty.
don tknowasweneedtostop
gelsewecan alwaysgetyouat
can twe "
l l b e gl a d to d o an y th i ng c an .
heroom. O ' Ryandemanded:
osteverythingyoudo, ohnny, but
There ssomethingsc rewyabout
s.
heendof faf reshc igar. B utthe
veit. A rrestalawyerw ithpulland
edalloverthestatetogethimout.
psofourselvesfornothing. O nthe
sgetholdofColmar, c an twe
a wa y "
' R y an c o nc u rr e d. I t d b e a
.
stlesspacing. H ere saprob-
verhisshoulder. Whic hguyhad
eeve, Terry "
ton, button, who sgotthebutton "
ly.H econtinuedinagravertone,
vec hangedc lothes.
r O ' Ryanbegan, andthen
olmenburstinto theroom.
"
c ited. J ustforgoodmeasurewe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
where attywaskilledtheother
hingstopsy-turvyinthereagain.
downfrom thecloset.
k ey s u n cl e M a ck w hi s tl e d sh a rp l y.
f th a t, e r ry "
hishead. I t sbeyondme.
" O ' R y an u e st i on e d.
s u it w e m is s ed ' l l e at i t . H a m mo n d
grip ustaswec ameintohis
tandtookalookatthesleeve.
onit.
ac k e c l ai me d. W h a t d t el l yo u
estborough Well, wegothim
ooughventured, thesc ratc hwasn t
.
Mackmutteredonhiswaytothe
eit, then "
s narrowshoulders. There
c tssharpenoughtoc utthesk in
ausethistypeofgash.Thepos-
withalarmingpersistenceis
Mac kechoed. Why, thatmight
f inishedforhim, I c onsiderit
onwaschokedto deathinsome
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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ascoveredwithamaskof lather
ddenly inmidair. O f c ourse.
othinkof thatbefore, hesaidto
mirror andtookuphisold-
let,heopenedthedoorof his
ridorthec hambermaid, A nna ar-
ber-tiredlinencart. Doyour
entofarticlesintheguests
Westboroughaskedher.
repeatedthemaidw ithapuzzled
meandoyoukeepac c ount
ns,andwhatnot intheguests
morningafterMr.Swinkwas
.Thatdetectivefellow,hetalked
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
c l ai m ed . I ' d a l mo s t fo r go t te n w ha t i t
a ob. Mr. Westborough, are
odSamaritan "
salittlegirl, YvonneGantmused
n uic ksand. Didthateverhappen
"
e v er h a d th e e p e ri e nc e .
dflounder,andtheharderyou
inyousink . Then atherheard
pe. twas ustapieceofrough
gather,Mr.W estborough,
howgrateful
oughhis bifocals. Mydear,
gratitudebutabusinessproposi-
nagementwouldob ec tifweworked
dMrs. B lakelysay " shelaughed.
ar, andvery littleof itgermaneto
lspeak toMr. Spangerandasc er-
uarterscanbeimprovised.
corridor,heturnedtoask, Do
omewhatbatteredportable That
chinecanbeprocured.
YvonneGantcalledafterhim,
e c t to a t h in g .
rfrombeingascomplaisant.
oritemintheWestboroughWork
hertypinginyourroom, andthat s
reoldenoughtobehergrand-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
makeanickel sworthofdif fer-
avetorent anoffice.
boroughmurmured. I reallywould
telthismorning.A reyouable
ydictationtoMissGantwould
ic morals "
reyou "
tention.
onouncedatlength, ifyouwant
don tseeanyob ec tion. Sales-
tenoin emtogetouttheirletters,
othesameifyou llf i itupw iththe
etweenasampleroomandan
ughdiscovered,wasthata sam-
asmuch.H ewaslearningthe
menthadalreadydiscovered:to
siderablymoree pensivethan
wever,hired,W estborough s
sportedtoit,andMiss Gantin-
,behindanarrayoffreshly
enographer snotebook.
Tra an " Westboroughin-
otingfromsomehalf-forgotten
heRoman mpirereac heditsgreat-
mperorTra an. Westborough
rec hapterofmymanusc riptupon
ewritten. don tbelievethepub-
oldmetheyweresettingthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
l ai m ed . I t i s n t w h at w a n t ed t o s ay ,
ut daresay c anwork itover
ption. Youwon tmindc opy ing
sabouttosaywhenWestborough
orridorc arryac ane "
edone.
sgiventomebymybrother
now, mydear. wasinParisatthetime,
ac tlyonmybirthday—J amesdid
ethat. B utthatwasn twhat
hinkofanyoneelse.
wardthew indow. typical
t Mistanddrizzlesagaintoday.
hegirl. Wasitrainingthenight
"
s h e an s we r ed c h ee r fu l ly , I t s r a in e d
oroughponderedandwasontheverge
henthedoorto thesampleroom
u M a ck c al l ed o v ia l ly . C a n
forafewminutes powwow "
hegirl, Westboroughesc ortedthe
wnroom. Westborough, Mac k
ssoonasthe doorhadclosed
brainstormlast nightabout
mebodyelse sroom "
hadthesamehunc h. Cageyold
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
n twanttosayanythinguntilhe
Docwasdownatthemorgue
nng, and guesshedidagood
dmeupathead uarterstosaythere
ungs.
u ng s "
hngtoyou tdidn ttome
gottothink ing. Wasthereor
hisroomwhenweopenedthedoor "
ingtheemptyashtray,said,
ikethatslipsyourmind, Mac k
smybusinesstonotic ethings, too.
thaveanycigarettesand
nny.No,it sarealbreak at
on snec kas ueezeinanother
whosmoked.
boroughreturnedpromptly .
conically . Sodoes arson. So
dsmokescigars. asperusesciga-
t i t "
e s t bo r ou g h in u i re d , t h at t h e
nthisc orridor "
yc ouldc artac orpseanydistance
spotted. B utit dbeac inc hto
edoor untilthecoastwas
otherroomwithoutanyone
arettelighterof fersaninsuperable
Westboroughpointedout.
m e an i t d oe s "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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TU MB L E R
thathefounditinthesouthc or-
wwhatdoyoumakeof that "
A nob ec tlikeac igarettelighter
ocketof abodybeingtrans-
other.B utitspositionin the
butif itdidn tfalloutthat
" H ec hewedathisc igarfora
tnow. Thelighter saplant. Some
onawayfromthis corridor.
heliveshere. Thatsoundreasonable "
tuallydoeslivein thesouth
otmanystay ingtherenow, and
hatwere.Noneofthem werein
how gotitdopedout: theguy
he sameonewhodidforSwink.
was—see Devongoestohis
grandtokeephismouthshut
ornothing.Thatmakesense "
ss.
s e ns e "
a t it i s n t t h e tr u e e p l an a ti o n. N ev e r-
ouw illagree, wasapersonof limited
tyouthatheprobablypossessed
esmoreor lessmechanical,but
oningwereundeveloped.
o sa y h e wa s d um b , ' l l c he c k.
c ew iththeChic agoPolic eDepart-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
wenton, I c oncludethattheindi-
ossessareasonablyhighintel-
e t "
posesthatDevonhaddiscov-
edresourcesofthe C hicago
ofarfailedtodo— theidentity
notherwords, thatDevonwas, to
erthanyourwholedepartment
aughed. Well, thisdumbpolicede-
ngortwo.Devondidn tfigure
t h at p u nk c ou l dn t H e s t u m bl e d
oingit.
ble, Westboroughreminded.
w ink sroomatnine-thirty , and
otelatthattime. H epaused.
hathewasly ing "
bi, anditwasO . . , Mac kad-
thavereac hedthehotelbeforeten.
oughc on ec tured, Hammondwas
e murder.
kp on de re d. I f h ad n t l et H a m mo nd
ethismorningandputupasong
dlosehis obifhedidn tgetout
entamanoutw ithHammondtosee
eHammondtalkedaboutit. f
manc hecksHammond salibi,
s a id . H e l l ' m t o o so f t fo r m y ow n
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E H
nthatH ammondkilledDevon,
traveledout oftownasfastas
atthegarageinto believing
n-thirty Say, thatisn tsuc ha
ton. Hammondc ould vestuck
d hepickeditup ontheroad
ouldc heck that "
estboroughprotested, that
eshortlyaftereight.
withabang. Rightyouare.
H ecouldn thaveleftthe hotel
est timeDocH ildrethwillgive
owestofO akPark,haveatire
erebyeight-fifteen.O rcould
oc onsiderthis uestion. Youknow,
ystotry it. Withtherightbreakon
orinterruptedfurtherspecula-
edittorevealV ic torSwann. n
ectwhichresembledathinpiece
-grip handle.
rforyou, Swannbeganinhis
. H ousemanfoundthisthingu-
ingwastepaper.
M a ck e a cu l at e d.
topic k locks " Westborough
here wasthisfound " he
manbaling
utwheredoeshegetthepaper
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
eoneveryfloor. Maidemptieswaste
bag hangingondoorof
ouwhichbag thisthingcame
T h e on e o n th i s fl o or .
"
ck-pickinginstrumentina
ctedfromW estborough sdesk.
plainedlac onic ally , puttingitintohis
s t ni g ht , ' l l b et .
nnburstoutangrily . L oc ks
einthis corridor.Musthavenew
etmaster-keysystem.C an t
protec ted—I ' lllet emknow
omtheroom,andMack
enbec auseonec hic k sgotaway
ed.Slowlythegrinfadedfromhis
atthismeans Devonhadtoleave
atroomlastnight. Scratches
tumblers. Thisc aseis ustas
wedois openupthelocksand
ooughcon ec tured, themurder
om "
Y o u do n t t h in k
ead. Notparticularly.The
me.
h t, w e r e o ut o f l uc k " M a c k e -
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
deduponthetak ingof inf inite
aldetails, Westboroughbe-
mple, learnedtheotherdayfrom
est spincushionmustbe
hreewhitebuttonsofvarious
y-fourstraightpins,onelarge
ypins,twenty-fourinchesof
fourinchesofblackthread.
pposedtotakeinventoryof
hany whicharemissing.The
eathshefoundoneof theob ec ts
gf romDevon spinc ushion. Canyou
M a ck g r in n ed . Y o u te l l me .
tononhispants, Mac k
aidnothing,and Mackwenton,
h a t d id h e d o wi t h it "
rfymyc onc lusionbye periment,
. I suggestthatwead ournto
maidonthepointofgoing
ecorridorand madeheropen
er protest,vociferouslymain-
therules.W estboroughwent
ndpointedto anopeningin
latingshaftandcoveredbya
plate.
ntial-lookingpocketknife
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
Damn " hee c laimedasthe
empt.
river, Westboroughvolunteered.
hecleanertools.
ownatthestation. A nyhow, this
dW estboroughtriumphantly
ackthreadattachedto one
ommented. A llhehadtodowas
,wrapthe threadaroundthe
plate. The iggergunandnip-
downtheshaft,andthe face
ad.NowonderPhelanandMc-
etoit. wouldn tmyself.
mstheseshaftseverysooften,
soit shardlysatisfac toryasa
utforaday ortwoitserves
oing, Mackurged, c losingthedoor
erprintsonthepipe " W est-
enthethingthatslugged erry .
. fyou resuc hasmartdetec tive,
at.
" Westboroughhazarded.
theclass.Thismugprobably
en tanyprintsonDevon sthroat
astakingnochances.O urbest
vonhadtoleave hiscallingcard
g e t C l a rk o n e m r ig h t aw ay .
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
him totheelevatorshaft,
raryofficein thesampleroom.
ckingof atypewriterfromthe
er workasheenteredthe
, andhow iteverythinggoing "
ed.
se, havetogoratherslow ly .
atitoncewas.
estboroughsmiled. A samatterof
ydear. Nohurryatall. f ind
meawayfromthe hotel.
he roomwhileYvonneGant
erewasa greatdealabout
us,andYvonnebegantocon-
s eonardodaV inc iof thef irst
ebegantoforminher mind.H e
blond—witha startshereal-
c turingChris arson. She
eysuntilshe heardaknockat
oadmit errySpanger.
roughgo " thehoteldetec tivede-
morekeyson themachine.
efor errySpanger. H edidn t
ascomingbac k "
tartedtoc losethedoor, thenf lung
fyouaskme, Westborough s
machineanddeliveredwhat
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
eringlook. I don tbelieve re-
ourhighhorse, Spangersaid
thesec ondf loorwhen heardsome-
efire escape. peepedoutof
uld seebutyourboss, West-
esteelstairslikea kidoften.
theconnectingdoorwhichled
oom. Yvonne, hec alledsof tly.
redf romtheothersideof thedoor.
ndpleasant. A tseven-thirty
ouldhopeso.
i n . W a it u n ti l o p en t h is d o or .
kandthedoorswungopen.
p l ai n ed . b o rr o we d i t fr o m th e d es k
ardhim. I t sallrightwith
ak ingaruleorsomething "
h r i s l au g he d . I n f a ct , ' l l p ro b -
alogueofhouserulesthis eve-
a m.
arette, andtellmeaboutit, she
n i n a fe w a ms m y se l f.
C h r is e c l ai m ed . I k n e w yo u w ou l d
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
if toldyou e pec tedtobe
e wa s cr a zy "
isreplied. A samatterof fac t,
lentc aseagainstme. Youknowhow
atsomeonewhoknowssome-
accesstopotassiumcyanide.
thcounts. B esides, wase peri-
einthelab onlyabouttwo
at "
enantMac kwasonthevergeof
when hewasshuntedoffthe
oDevon.
hee c laimedc ompassionately . B ut
haveanythingtodo withwhat
y , youwerew ithme "
erofeight. A f terthat wasalone
n tknowwhattimeDevonwas
ustasthedoc torgotthere.
ysuspectyouofk illingDevon "
pec tmeofk illingSw ink " he
r seasy . Somebodydidit. They
einthishotel.A ndtheywant
amotiveforamurder, doesn t
A sfarasSw ink isc oncerned,
tive,or thinktheyhave,which
ng. wasaloneinmyroomthat
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
hostofan alibi.A ndthen,on
tprovethatyoutookanyof it
hey "
t . B u t c an t p ro ve d id n t ,
reatdealaboutlaw, sheasserted,
adanideathatapersonwassup-
e wasprovedguilty.
it, C hrisanswered, buttomake
ereasonablegroundsofsus-
ewiththemurder. honestly
t t ed , b ut , g ui l ty o r i nn o ce n t, ' d b e
ebusinessis ablackeyefor
keepanightc lerkwho, asfarasthe
urderer,eventhoughhewasn t
shandgrippedthearmofhisc hair
ouldprobablygoforeveryother
.
ym p at h iz e d. I t i s b ad , i sn t i t "
pp e ne d y et , C h r i s r e o i ne d . B u t
esurethatitdoesn tistof indthe
e o r de r , is n t i t T h e po l ic e do n t
essfulatit.
maybeahundred-to-oneshot, but
otry it. Willyouhelpme "
estontopofhis. Youknow
new c ouldc ountonyou. You re
aythrough, and "
n, sheinterruptedhastily .
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
killedsomebodyhasbeeninhis
emuchbrainwork toguessthatitwas
waslookingforsomething
teveritwas,itmust bewellhid-
shadthree chancestolookfor
esttubeoverSw ink sdoorand
t "
f h e d id , ' m o u t of l u ck . B u t i f h e
uretoc omebac k. A ndhe llhaveto
tall.
nd t h at .
ttingnewlocksoneverydoor
urdererhasapasskey itwon tdo
oodaftertomorrowmorning.
ntMac k talkingtoMr. West-
nkthat thelockwaspicked.
tillholdsgood. Swannisall
ss,and,if thereissucha thing
sgoingtogetthemforthese
i d ag a in . B u t w h a t s y o ur p l an "
C h r i s a ns w er e d gr i ml y . A l l h a ve
roomuntilthemurderershows
s a l l B u t i f h e h as a g u n
He hasn t. Hammondwasthe
e policefoundtheothernight,
otel thismorning.
oorisky . Whydon tyoutellthepo-
ttoldmeandletthemkeepwatc h "
owedup ' dbeworseof f than
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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s .
w it h yo u. a lw ay s u
veg-tnerve.
andnobrains.
ngtowaitintherewn
u-
t
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
betopayyourbill, shereplied,
pperagainstthecarpet, you
sA t l e a s t, d o n t .
y s om e th i ng t o m e "
' mac onventionallittlestic k, sup-
tc ouldn t.
. B utf romnowon
htnow. Mr. Westboroughgavemean
ngforthe walkingencyclo-
n d d o n t m a ke t h e mi s ta k e of
lwrappedupin hisRomanhis-
ain. musttellyouwhathap-
C h r i s i n u i re d .
sted.
deuc ehewas Tellmeaboutit.
tthebeginning. Shelitac iga-
vepuf f . H ewasoutmostof the
mebackuntilfour-thirty.Then
e manuscript hadtyped.
ermimic ryofWestborough snervoushesi-
arsonc huc kled. ' A n e c ellent
verypoor material.Mydear,
eatwhichthechildrenof srael
kingofbricks withoutstraw.
frearrangingsome ofhissen-
rdhereandthere,and was
nblowupifyoualter asingle
eydic tate Well, ustthenin
k,veryangry.Notopenly,of
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
tinhiseyes—thepupilswere
estoodthereforsomeseconds,
thingbutglare. inallyhe
don tlikebeingplayedforasuc ker.
he ssomildandapologetic—
ookedupfromhismanuscriptand
ce, Whateverhave done
ieutenantMac k , andhee -
omic al, though c onfess didn t
en. Done Youknowwhat
gotintoyourroom, youdirty little
r. Westboroughintheslightest.
m, patientvoic e, Thenitwasmy
ereon '
ashedhisf istsohardagainstthe
ughthe dbrokenit. Youknow
ttryplayinginnoc entwithme.
dn tevenhearhim. He ustsat
ewhereintospace. Dearme
idthe
ustwhathewasgoingtosaybe-
tenantMac k interrupted. He was
utitwasadif ferentk indofanger.
aa r ti c le a s ' v e e ve r m et , b ut c a n
ow.Thosenotesofyours,for
dmewithuntil readthem.
non everyoneinthecorridor.
,but thatsectiononpoisons
giveaway—if hadn tknown im
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
alotmoreaboutthatsub ec t
ny businessknowing.A nd
regoingtoe aminetheloc ks—
that C utesttric k eversaw
eonthe ideathatDevonwas
B uthewasn t. twasyourroom,
ad uarters. Tellmenowwhyyou
douthishands—youknowwhat
raman—andsaid, With
tMac kwasf labbergasted. Helookedat
ndsasifhecouldn tbelievehis
s face.H eopenedhismouth
agetogetoutmorethanasortof
oughaskedhim, H aveyou
' ieutenantMac ksaid, Yeh,
' Mr. Westboroughdidn teven
nhadfoundout. Youknowmy
Mac ksaid, Yeh, andMr.
ThenyouknowthatMrs. ames
ythewomantoserveasaccom-
eciallyifheshouldbea brother-
tparticularlycare.
dn ttakehiseyesof fMr. West-
. Westboroughdidn ttakehiseyes
sfac e. Neitheronewouldstopstar-
r. Westboroughwasn treally
tuallytwinklingbehindthose
ally theothergaveup. Was
twasplaintomethathethought
h sopinion.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
glystupidone, Mr. W estborough
e ut e na n t Ma c ka s ke d , O r w h a t '
mpedbackintohischair,and
athathewase hausted. He sso
eredifhe mighthavehearttrouble.
airandcameovertohim. A nything
estborough ' asked. No, thank
uiteallright. Then ieutenant
what ' andMr. Westborough
ea l ly d o n t k n o w . "
isfeetasthegirlc onc ludedher
v isualizeMr. Westboroughasamur-
onintheworld
w en t o n, I c an t s e e an y on e e ls e
reallnice,ordinaryeveryday
ntiallydif ferentf romotherpeo-
toknow.
t fo r y ou " C h r i s e c l ai m ed , cr o ss i ng
tohercigarette. Yvonne,when
idew ithpotassiumc hlorate know
er y t im e. B u t y o u ca n t p u t hu m an
dbesureof alwaysgettingthe
r,smiledat himthroughher
ttakepeopletopiec esandsee
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
aybeamurdererhasgotasort
calmake-up.Maybehecanstay
Mr. Westborough. don tknow.
thispartic ularonec omesintothe
sgoingtobenabbed. Two uic k
connectingdoor,andhein-
ock.SuddenlyYvonne stall,
im.
orearm. You—you lltake
mthedoor. Doesitmeanany-
mply , buthereyesadmitted
over willyoumar
s, shelaughed, evadinghis
uhavetofinishcollege.
istry
so n , an d ' l l s ho o t yo u .
nc h. Thistimeshefailedto
hapshalfaminutetheyc lungto-
arsonanswered,asthoughshe
s, enavant. Youdidn tknow
ou "
a h n , n o t t o r hy me w i th h e n , a nd
aidthelittlec arpingdemonwhic hlies
oulto YvonneGant.B uttothe
e. A loudsheanswered, E n
dtheknob.Thedoor openednoise-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ges. ThenChris sheadbent
edoor closedbetweenthem.She
t madeasitslid intoplace.
rfrom hisside—for herprotec-
toyedw ithanailf ile. ustto
erebeanythingworsethanwait-
an—themanyoulove, shetold
m Theroomwhichhadtaken
Thatghastly, sardonic mock ing
ythinghappentohim, she
iledatthe absurdityofthat.
rld.Youwerealoneoutsideof
dgive.C hrishadonlyhis own
eyondthat—nothing.
ookafewpuffs,and then
ck,nervousfashion.Shelooked
ntto thedressingtableand
put adabofpowderon her
eonhercheeks.B utshedidthis
ingtheeffectproduced.Then
the connectingdoor.Wasit
ctuallyhearC hrisbreathing
ton, shetoldherself , andwent
ereno morecigarettesinthe
detheashtray. There sa
sheremembered.Shewasabout
she heardanoisefromthe
r o om . No t S wi n k s . C h r i s s p h on e wa s
tently.C lamorously,intheim-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
phonesorderyouto dropevery-
once.
wthat, shethoughtandwentto
appedsoftly,andshewaitedfor
erewasonlysilence.Yvonne
s, ohChris.
us,predatorysilence
sdarling " Shehuggedthedoorand
dtocatcheverysoundemanat-
. B uttherewerenosounds. No,
Shecouldhear somethingnow.
nthene troomceased,andshe
rverydistinctlyindeed. twas
beingdrawninaloc k . twasthe
pen.
gintothecorridor.
thedoorwhichledtoYvonne s
to hispocket.Nomatterwhat
hetold himself,she,atleast,
ttleduponthecity,and the
byafaint glimmerfromthe
argewingchairtofacethe door
utwaitingthereinthe semi-
edidn tknowwhat,turnedout
ntheworld.The troublewas
ervesweree c ellent. B utC hris
eepy.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
entandhotelman arson
done,notoverfivehours sleep
son, hehadneverbeenableto
ewasalwaysfightingsleep—
oa lectureoratthedesktry-
m Smithhadreallymanaged
ayinghis billorif thatimpres-
smistake. Withplentytodo—
bmergedinworkas heusuallywas
eepatanytimeandwin. B utto-
sofblackcoffeehe haddowned
waslosingthe battle.H iseye-
heavy.H eblinkedand erked
chearnedonlyafewminutes
moredrowsythanever.Perhaps
om No, thatwouldn tdoatall.
ightenawaytheintruder he
dtobe fought—andwhipped—
methingtofeedupon that
nto lethargy.
minc alculus thengaveitup
dtoc hemistry . He triedtorec all
mbersoftheninety-threeele-
keepingawake,thatproved
-fashionedcountingofsheep.
ell,but itmustbesome-
ovinghislipshe begantorecite
mmittedtomemoryyearsago
gofit hadimpressedthemselves
. L askausedtorideonamouse-
yside, rec alledChris arson.
ngorotherandabright-belled
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
elseagain. ittlesheknewof
asbeginningtocomebackto him
asuf f ic edherneed. A ndlittleshe
swereleadweightspressing
ittleshecared. . . c ared. . .
p, hisheadlollingagainstthe
ghtarmdanglinghelplessly
dn tknow. A f terwardshereal-
ebeenforsoverylong.H ewas
yaninsistentrapping.
tsleepilyandwasabouttoc allto
truckhis senseswiththeshock
angtohis feet,hisbodytense
yslowly,thedoorto thecor-
.
estborough stransomand
shandiwork.
ay i t , h e co m me n te d . W e c a n s ee
hall, andnobodywilltumble
em.
enter " Westborough ues-
yesdownbytheemployees entranc e.
upthebackstairsandwaitedtill
fanybodyknows ' mhere, he s
all. H etiltedac hairbackward
thefloorandpuffed comfort-
inuteSwannsaidtheloc ksonthis
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ed gotmybigidea. thought,
winkwants somethinginthat
s lastchance. unnythat
amehunc h, isn tit "
tboroughrepeated.
y o u C o l l i ns d i dn t l i ke t o r un t o
arsonhadalreadytoldSwann
y,buthe figuredsomebody
me aring.
ntoldC ollinshewasgoingtowait
m.
oughanswered. Thatactionre uires
r so n i sn t y e ll o w, M a ck a d mi t te d .
c hangedmymindaboutthatfellow . He
evon,anyhow.TheGantgirl
nmostoftheday yesterday,and
thehoteluntila uarterofeight.
girlwasly ing.
boroughdeliberated, issupposed,
willingto sweartopractically
oveshim. speakwithout
edtheashesofhisc igartothe
t a ke o a th a n y ti m e th a t th e G an t g ir l s
roughsuggested, aglassofbrandy
"
c allaswellidea, Mac kgrunted.
bottle andbroughtouttheglass
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ouredagoodstiff drink,and
Thatthesamestuffyougave
believethereisasay ingrelative
manstandingupononeleg "
tion. c oulddrink thatall
mits. won tbemuc hgoodif
ec tingtoc ometonight " West-
outit, butwhat stheuse Hell,
ha t s f i at M a ck t i lt e d up t h e gl a ss
preciousdropsofthe brandy.
c hec ked, hesaid.
, then "
d, theli uorlooseninghistongue
ndtheguyremembersc hang-
aboutseven-thirtyor so.
tyouweregoingto besus-
boroughreminded.
ec k , there snotmuc hyouc ando
ond s, and arson sseemtobe
ou s y an d s o is C o l m a r s .
of thosegentlemen " West-
M a ck s a id s l ow l y. I f y o u wa n t th e
aseyetagainstanybody, andunless
ht probablywon thave. He
host. Westborough, you rea
c an thelpgettingtheideathat
tthisthanyou relettingon.
th i s "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
estionandc allsforaf rankanswer,
I onlyw ish c ouldgiveittoyou,
norder, havetoadmitthat
atseaasyouare. Uptothisaf ter-
ac k repeated uic kly .
ndsplayedwitha pen,pressing
edeskblotter. L etmeelucidate
hesituationis notunlikethe
erlock.
kstopiec esinmysleep, Mac kde-
There sf ivepintumblers, andthe
oraise emallinlinebeforethe
youmean "
heparableastepfarther, might
ershavereachedtheproper
thpreventsthe lockfromopen-
tthatobstacle
M a ck d e ma n de d .
ghter, Westboroughreturned
dsettledthismorningthatit dbeen
or "
movedina negativegesture.
asperfec tlyvalid—thismorning.
ence
r ok e i n e c i t e dl y . Y o u me a n th a t
or—thek iller—wouldn tplant
outhcorridorandthen putthe
ointright backatthewestcor-
ctlycontradictoryfalseclues
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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TU MB L E R
, Westboroughconfirmed.
i s , H a s o u r m ur d er e r a lo g ic al
omtheskillw ithwhic hheplottedthe
nothelpbutanswerthat uestion
neofthe contradictoryclues
emarksuponmylockare afalse
ut that. Noprobable,pos-
astheGrand n uisitorsaidin
thecigarettelightermustbethe
wsinevitablythatDevonwas not
dor. H eshookhiswhitehead
haveheardyouobservesomany
m a ke s e ns e . "
inthisc ase, Mac kdec lared
owardthetelephone. K eepyour
ou ' mgoingtocall arson
eandgetshurt.
s t il l i n hi s r oo m "
m if h e d c om e o ut , w ou l dn t w e "
ownthereceiverandaskingfor
uzzingindicatedthattheoperator
petetheconnec tion. F unny it
gan. H ewasinterruptedbyWest-
slyathissleeve.
u st g on e in .
kasked, replacingthereceiver.
waitingfor.
ackdashedacrosstheroom
none uic kmotion. I f arson
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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TU MB L E R
entoriantonesat thelockeddoor,
" Therewasnoanswer. L ookslike
eloc k , hedec lared, butYvonne
erevolver.
h r i s B r e ak t h e do o r do wn "
s holsterwhileGraham
atthedoor. O nemoreoughtto
kgraspedhisshoulderroughly
ootforthesec ondef fort. Stayout
vegrow led.
hec orridor, aspersug-
c e ' l l a sk f o r it , M a ck s n ar l ed .
dagainstthe doorwithhisentire
fle undertheonset,itcon-
ird,andlouder,crashfrominside
nominoussilence.
untthattime, asperchuckled.
instthe wallinobviousrelishof
asecond,ande uallyunsuc-
u ff l ed v o ic e dr a wl e d fr o m wi t hi n . I ' m
hedooropenedto reveal
ermanfirmlybytheshoulder.
airwas tumblingdownoverhis
edaskew,andhisforeheadwas
one eye.B utYvonneflungher
ssedhim unashamedly.
s h e ga s pe d . Y o u ha v e be e n in a
erguy " arsongrinned. or
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R267
edthepudgyindividualwhom
kenincustody.
, Mac kconf irmed, surveyingthe
andimpersonally. Swellsight,
ngaveyouabeautyonthebeak "
romwhichacrimsontrickle
egotmebysurprise. ' lltake
me.
htof ry, Mac k toldhim. He ad-
thehousedetective swrists.
uforthemurderof lmoSwink
rtbewildermentatthehand-
he r e, a o k e s a o ke , b ut y o u r e g o -
r so n y ou w a nt "
ck r e to r te d .
ingformethesameashedid
hernight, Spangerwentonv in-
ough, hedidn thavesuchapush-
a g u n on m e, o r ' d h a ve b r ou g ht h i m
Yvonnebeganindignantly . Mac kmotioned
ngmeonebit. ustwhydidyou
hedemandedsternlyofSpanger.
tory, thehousedetectivegulped.
W e l l , yo u r e g oi n g to h a ve p l en t y of
thead uarters.
ywithhisgrizzledmustache.
de d , I ' l l t el l y ou u s t wh a t ha p pe n ed
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ntotheroomandc losethe
Mac kdemanded.
es s . t l o ck ed w h en c l os e d it .
romthene troom, andthenthis
feltitc omingand erkedmy
stedhimoneinthepuss. A c hairor
we refumblingaroundinthe
nseeverywell. pastehiman-
rhisbelly . Somehow don t
hisclouton thebeak.Thene t
owdesc ription, Mac kadv ised
u, andthat senough. Whatthehell
om "
, Spangeransweredsullenly.
Whatmadeyouturntheroom
imes "
bleathismustachebutsaid
pentheother morning,
tpeevedwhen saiditwasalousy
penandtoldmethesame mat-
mforyears. checkedupwith
wereright,but canseenow
eopen. O nly c ouldn trealize
beenontheforcecouldturn into
hec onc ludedangrily .
a c r oo k "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ofnowhere,Theocritus
ac ulated, Dear, dear SoMr.
iddle "
d, hewasinadealw ithSw ink
sehewantedtocop allthe
athingabout Spanger
Mackseizedtheopeningand
uardwithsentenceslikesledge-
ms. Don tlie. Doyoutalknow
l t al k , S p an g er s a id r e lu ct a nt l y. I ' l l
thebeginning
e. wouldsuggestthatMr.
thecomparativeprivacyof
on c ur r ed . C o m e o n , e r ry . T h ey
wnthecorridor.
essofapersonalinterestinthis
ed. I tgotmeanightinthehoose-
olingmyheels,sinceSaturday.
natthefinish.
oroughsuggested, isc ertainlyen-
MissGantisane tremelyc om-
hapsshewouldtakedownMr.
shorthand.
unted, Gethersomepaperand
othersinside. I fyouwant
' myourman. twasmyroom
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
yentitledtoknow Mrs.
ma n de d . I ' m n o t re a dy t o g iv e t hi s
fyou reinonit, it llbeallover
utside.
dsuchinsolenc e " SarahB lakely
thecorridor,andherdoor
edoortohisroom. There
rlyenoughc hairs, hef retted,
gueststo makethemselvescom-
, Mac kdec lared. MissGant,
heconfession A nd,Spanger,
othatanythingyousay
n te r ru p te d . I ' m g oi n g to c ut t h is
shootingfracas gotinto
en aketheGentgotk illed "
avepulledadamnfoolstuntlike
endrunk . Hisplaywastoc ome
uarters. fhisbrainshadbeen
wnwedidn thaveanythingthat d
entoverthewholehousefrom
wasn tasmellof thebiggreen
estboroughbegan.
reluc idated. F ive-caratemerald
ookeditfromanold duckcalled
knowsomethingabout ewelry , and
emeraldwasasslic kapiec easyou ll
olombia, wheremostof thegood
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
dn thaveaf law. fyouknow
youknowthatalmostnever
h a t s t h e V a n l m an
wink sroom "
lmanhaditstepc utandsetina
wifefortheir twenty-fifthwed-
akegotit. O neof theslic kest
obberywasontheeleventhof
ec ted. A ndonthetwelf thwewere
or akebutcouldn tstirup
ethirteenth getatipf roma
ustrentedaroomonNorthC lark
ppenedthere.
ahundredbucksfor hero-
edwithasarcasticemphasisthrown
, S p an g er g r in n ed . I t w a sn t
tditc heditinthehouse. Youknew
nehandandneverranaroundwith
dopeditoutthat akemust vegot
eduringthe twelfth.B ut
ssediton. akedidn ttrustanyone.
hiditsomeplac e, but c ouldn t
Mac ksaidshortly .
sn tsoundlike akeeither. He
eshaveawayof beingfoundand
echeckedthatanglepretty
ofindthatemeraldbadlybecause
edarewardof f iveperc ent—two
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
c ouldsureusethatdough. B ut
yof thefenc es. didn tthink it
' ddopeditout akewasplan-
himselfafterthefusshaddied
ofgoodconnections
H e s g o t ab o ut a s m uc h t o do w i th
ketherapforasmyauntH ar-
rriet " Spangerc huc k led.
togiveitupasabad ob. Then
mnotsoyoungas was, andmyfeet
e
e r ry Y o u do n t n e ed t o g o in t o th a t
Spangerc ontinued, Swann
firmoflawyersthatwerehan-
weretryingto digupevidence
andhadspenta nightwithanother
eSo taketheambulanc echaserinto
ogooverlastyear sregister. He
t do . ' m n o e p e rt , b ut ' d s e en
, andthename, Cec ilM. Deering,
gister, was ustthesortof fancy
infor. Thedatewasrighttoo—
you vegotahunc h, there snoth-
wentdowntohead uartersand
ake swritingf romthef iles.
deby side:youcantella lot
ng,howthestemsarecrossed,
ndsoon. ' mnoe pert, as said
tC ec ilM. Deering wasready
htthenand there.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
takentheroomwhic hSw ink
wantedtoknow.
tthef irsttime I tallf its,
doutherefortheday. Hedidn tdare
ecausewe dhavebeensureto
gavehimthechancehewanted
editchedthethingsomewhere
ythereyet. Twoandahalfgrand
havetodois togoandpick
g ot t h at f a r, d i dn t k n ow h ow t o g o
ed,anditwouldbe riskytogive
' mthehouseof f icer, andSwann d
anymonkeybusinessgoingon
s u a re t h in g , yo u d h a ve g o ne t o
y, Mackobserved.
ebeenabrightidea Swann
holetwenty-fivehundred—asan
wasmerelydoingmydutyand so
No, sir, thiswasmybaby, and
ng. B utthebestthing c ould
heroomhappenedtobe va-
gyoudec idedtoempty ityour-
B y G o d , d i dn t B u t w h e n
seeanyreasonwhy shouldn ttake
f theroomwasfoundalltorn
heacc ountof theguythatdidfor
hadleftthe othernight,
k theplac eapart. gotasfaras
rupholstery, but wasn table
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
asgettingtoo latetobesafe,
me.Nearlyeveryonewasaway
day—evennosyO ld ady
nothertry. thoughtthat ake
eholeinbac kof thedresserand
vedonethesamethingtothe
oset. B uthehadn tdoneeither.
emiddleof the obwhen heard
hecorridor.Nothingtogete -
tdidn tsoundrighttome. t
nd heardaguybreathing
alwork . f igured oughttoin-
side.Therewasn tasoul in
fmynerveshadgone ittery . Then
er
estboroughbrokein, hiseyesglit-
awthelighter. nwhic hcor-
or " W estboroughe c laimed.
mbarrassedly. I stretched
havetoadmit. didn twanttolet
beeninthewestc orridor. Notw ith
sedup.
s t bo r ou g h al m os t s hr i ek e d. T h at s
e hadn tbeenabletogetinto
yreasonwhySpangershouldlie
oundthe cigarettelighter,and
ehaddoneso. ieutenantMac k ,
Spanger shandcuffs.
? " Mac kdemandedbelliger-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
esoaredtriumphantly. B ec ause
enameofthetruemurderer "
who " Mac kc lamored.
patientsmile. I fyoudon t
willyoupermitanelderlyhis-
wnblunderingmanner You
erentand seeminglycontradic-
e r ea l ly s o lv e d th i s ca s e, y ou r e e nt i tl e d
ess. He turnedtoYvonne, seated
reyougettingallthis, Miss
declaredwithenthusiasm.
ainstthedoor, directlyfac-
eginw ith, thereisthetime ues-
ortedthathehadheardsomeone
beingthatwec allhimMr. Z —in
rty.Mr.Spanger,if hisstoryis
because,byhisownadmission,
hoftheroomuntil earlymorn-
en, theMr. Z whomHammond
sassin.
hatbothHammondandSpanger
k ualified.
notbeenly ing, Westboroughc on-
esideshimself, onlysi peoplewho
opportunityofcommittingthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
rson, Mrs. B lakely , MissColmar,
risk rowsk i, thenighthouse-
mentprovedto mepuzzling.
oproducewitnessesto testify
e-thirty,haduncertainalibis
gonefromthebarforabout
ttime.Mr.Swannreturnedto
dtohis uartersonthetopf loor,
vonenteredthe lobbyatthe
edto herroombetweennine-
mmondwasmistakeninthetimeat
fourcouldbeincludedwith other
,therefore,thatthelogicalstarting
totestMr. Hammond ssenseof
ridayevening c onduc tedsome
which,however,hewasnotpre-
ad noopportunitytodelude
methatH ammondwasgifted
ftime.Therefore,ifhesaid
atnine-thirty , Mr. Z musthave
osetothathour. C ertainlynot
otofwordstotelluswhatwe
ec ted.
d, Westboroughretorted, is
onlyupona baseofverifiedand
notright, Mr. arson "
nc hemistry , arsonconf irmed.
aseofDevon, Westborough
niversityprofessorlecturing
tionappearspointlessunlesswe
becauseheknewthe identityof
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
openetratetoMr. Z ' sidentity .
foundationforourbeliefthat
oassuming, Mac kprotested.
hdenied, I ammak ingbutoneas-
strangledbecausehedis-
ithoutthatassumption,no
tsforDevon sdeath.
w ink seither, Mac kgrumbled.
deathisanacc omplishedfac t.
ausedoesnotalterits es-
marycondition,weare usti-
thintherigidboundariesim-
,inthecorrelationofa second
haven ttheleastideawhat
oroughc ontinued, w ithoutheedingthe
welofmanyfacets. etusc onsider
sviolentdeathwasknowntohave
andseven-thirtyonSundayeve-
uestionedby ieutenantMac k
n: threeof theseproduc edalibis
gandappeared,superficiallyat
alibiswhichwereworthless.
Thesituationwase ac tlywhat
peoplec hosenatrandomand
aboutsata definitehour.
ef ivealibis—boththegoodandthe
shallsaynothing. Mr. arsonis
rterofeightbyMissGant. B ut
elyeliminatehim,althoughthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
eednotbe uestioned. Thereis
or. f thedoc tor sestimate
ss Ganterredbysobrief a
twouldbe necessarytoinclude
gthelistof activesuspects.
salibi, establishedbyagarage
oad,aflawalso appears.Mr.
eleft lginatf ive-thirtyanddid
leight-fifteen.Why twoand
fastdrivertotraverseadis-
Mr. Hammonde plainsthe
ayingthathepickedupa nail
onhisspare,and thenstopped
he hadthetubevulcanized.
mmondhavepuncturedhisspare
oitw ithhishand Mightnot
atseveno clock,havebeen
eonthe lginroadbyseven-
zed,andreturnoncemore to
ieutenantMack,youwere
perimentswithregardtothe
cedure haveoutlinedphysically
re t ty f i ne , M a ck r e pl i ed , b u t
possible—givenallthebreakson
oroughresumed, wemustrestore
activesuspects.Nowforthetwo
mittedlyworthless:Mr. asper
womenhavedeniedac uaint-
bothwereattendingthe same
natedtime,and— acoincidence
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
are employedbythesamein-
tingtonofNewYork . Coinc i-
curindailyli fe,andyetthe mind
m,seekstoestablisharelation
enapparentlyseparateevents
.Doessucharelatione istbe-
r. Colmar Yes, toac ertaine -
ouldnothavebeenin C hicago
Mr. asper sinc arc erationon
stionofafurtherrelationship
saytheleast,aninteresting
atthesterndic tatesof logic brandit
hetruthisthat noneofthe
ede ec utedDevon.
hatout " Mac kwantedtoknow.
fDevonwasnota premeditated
mtwofacts,thevalidityof which
. Devonwasnotk illedinhisown
ntwasfound—I believeitis
—whic hhadbeenc oncealedthe
. Theinferenc eise tremelysimple.
gedtoDevon,whohadused it
heroom ofanotherguest.B ut,
couldnothaveknownin ad-
ffectsuchanentrance.There-
eastin themannerinwhichit
beenpremeditated.
tuf f infanc y language, Mac kc utin.
sy ingthatnoneof theguysc ould
roughmurmured, itappearsto
simple. A largehotel—partic u-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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TU MB L E R
utyourfirstmistakewasnot
hemurderofSwinkwas as
sthatofDevonwasnot.
M a ck f l ou n de r ed .
von s ourneyonThursdayeve-
uggested. Duringtheforty - f ive
eenandteno clockDevonun-
tohis death.Where didhe
dlywhileridingonthe L , nor
ractivepossibilities.Therere-
ardonRandolphStreetat a
etweennine-fortyandnine-
sonRandolphStreetthathas
"
ple,hisfaceblank. Damned
here sabeer oint
heater, Westboroughreturned
onsawwasaguestof thishotel
shier.A guestwho,ifhehad
,shouldhavebeeninsidethe
rahamshoutedandleapedtohisfeet, his
df romitsholster. Sitdown,
m sh r ie ke d . P r ov e i t Y o u v e ca l le d
witnesses.Thatlaysyou wide
mgoing
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
bawledagain.
hematterinthehandsofmyat-
deddefiantly.
ownandshutup " Mac k in-
etwo menclashedforperhaps
m,makingavisibleefforttore-
hischair.Mackrestoredthe
is handremainedcon-
etthecyanidewithoutleavinga
anded.
months—perhapsyears—
c t, w illhazardaguessthatthe
ggestedthemodusoperandi.
ah a m sn e er e d. I ' m g o in g t o ca l l my
etelephone.
st e yo u on e "
ossibility inmyf irstnotes, West-
amsullenlyreturnedtohis
hat evenwentsofarasto
ofpotentialsuspects.
eardofanartistthatmadedraw-
hanc ethat stumbleduponthe
estboroughe pounded. I
en-and-inksketchupona
edthatthephotostatwouldlater
is inklines.Doesthatsuggest
Thelightsensitivesaltwould
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
lieve, Westboroughinterrupted,
wouldhavetobe asubstancecap-
mical. B ut, asMr. arson
fSwink sdeath,potassium
solventofallsilverhalides.
Mac ksaiddoubtfully.
so. Mr. Grahamadmittedtomethat
ofworkuponphotostatsatone
thanthatthemeansof bleach-
nhisof f ice "
k there " Mac kdemandedirately .
eavethepoisonfor youto
e ac ulated, obv iously farf rombeing
ntestifiedthatGrahamwasinthe
veliedtoshieldhim, butyouc an t
ondwasinonit too.
so.
e "
h at s h e di d .
Mr.andMrs.Grahamalleve-
that.A teight-thirtythereare
tseatsin oopcinemas,anda
e toe periencedifficultyin
rs. Wouldn titbenaturalfor
htotake—' singles is believe
ers—in orderthatMrs.Graham
htsittogether "
anneversaidthathappened.
ehadbeentoac ertaine tent
dmanherself,shewould
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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UMBL E R
ellentalibibyavoluntaryadmis-
arlysinceshedid notknow
ereac uaintancesandhadno
hamhadleft thetheater.
enthepicturebeforeandwas
of it.
Gotoit, k id You retalk-
witheverybreath youdraw.
elpthegoodworkalong:Mrs.
alked ofnothingbutthepic-
edidthat ustforthe
enefit.
hc onfirmed. Underthec ircum-
difficultmattertodeludeMrs.
fthathehad actuallyremained
eriod. nfac t, itwouldbeodd
wse. tisstrange, heref lec ted,
lues— thetesttube,theacid,the
ueonesandyet shouldpersist
ceivethissimplefact.
yone, Spangerc himedin.
y inhav ingthenervetousethe
andnottry ingtogetanother. t
ndatallguy likeGraham sfairly
wastedagreatdealof thoughtin
reaboutsofanone istentsecond
oroughadmittedw ithc hagrin. My
cc eptatfac evalueCedric sas-
eenremovedfromthebottle.
enallowedtoseethechemical
onse uentlyhisestimateofthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
y. B utGrahamwouldn thavebeen
ond sbeingthere, oronhearing
slogic, isn tit "
stboroughc oncurred, butthean-
Grahamcouldnot havefore-
uldhearhimatnine-thirty,and
theless,forthat purposehe
event,occurringdailywiththe
refer,ofcourse,tothe
achroominthiscorridornear
chambermaid, Mac kadmitted.
b ec tion, Westboroughc on-
asiertobelievethatGrahamwasable
hathe possessedthenecessary
cks.
tc hes " Mac kc ross-e amined.
wSwink sloc kwaspic kedtheeve-
PerhapsGrahamhadconducted
sinlockpickingonhisown in
bilityofthat modeofingress.
M a ck g r un t ed . B u t y o u s ti l l ha v en t
es.
y, Yourefer,ofcourse,to
progresstothewestc orridor "
d o "
tMack,waseasilyaccomplished.
.
M ac k e ch o ed . I t s r a is e d to t h e
onobodyc ansneak inby it "
I thangstoolow . toldSwann
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
edupacoupleoffeet,but he
tallguywithac anecould ump
hookitdown.
neinmylife, Grahamsnapped.
o b e c te d , y o u r e f or g et t in g t ha t a ll
ebolted.
e, Mac kdec laredemphatically .
eenabletogetinthatway—he
forehelef t—buthec ouldn t
doorboltedfromtheinside.
onthef ire-esc apedoor, Westbor-
thehandleof theboltishori-
handleis turnedverticallyup-
eisbelowthedoorknob.
stboroughe plainedw ith
loopedapiec eofstringabout
etchedthestringoverthedoor-
aryleverage,closedthedoor,
arply,holdingit,of course,by
iatelymovedupward—into the
wasontheoutside. B y holding
twasa simplemattertopull
enthedoorand the amb.
todetective-storywriters,
t. I t salla lie—adamned
uickness.H isfistsmashed
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
theartistwasintheac tofspring-
throat.
a ve t o p ok e y ou i f y ou d i dn t s t ay
row led.
leedingmouth,Grahamstag-
iseyesgloweredvindictivelyat
inglyundisturbedbythecon-
romhispositionagainstthe
olishand futile,Mr.
anadmonishedgently . P leasenote
is pointhavebeenentirely
was insteinwhoobservedthatin
ouldbean elementcorrespond-
ty.
Youmeanyou vebeenwast-
tofhotair "
Westboroughsmiled. I have
rmationofmyhypotheticalcon-
encewhichgivesmytheoryits
ewithreality.B ut amafraid,
hattoobtainit havebeenguilty
M a ck e p l od e d.
Youw illrec allthatatthe
rbetweenMr.Spangerand
gatedtoproc ureapasskeyf rom
redthisarticle,butuponmyreturn
ssed.Seeing,however,thatMr.
rand hisattentionfullyoc-
portunitytoslipunobservedinto
dtoldmethata certainob ect
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
hec oncludedelatedly , I found
Mac kdemanded, hiseyesregarding
" W estboroughsmilinglyc hal-
redperemptorily . I don tlike
lvethissimple problemin
Westboroughinv ited. Therewasan
amsurprised, heaverred, thatno
onevitalmatter:thereason
nGraham sapartment.
n sw er , a s pe r b ro k e in . I f y o u
e,he probablydidtoo.
t. sanyoneabletodeduc ethe
The uestionwasfollowedbya
Dear, dear " Westboroughre-
atwehavesadlyunderratedMr.
S p an g er s u dd e nl y s ho u te d . G r ah a m s
ould velef tscratc hesonits
estboroughadmitted, butMr.
hotel atleast,hasnotpos-
ausedbrief ly , buttherewereno
ainingthenightofMr. Swink s
etly .
M a ck y e ll e d. A n u m b r el l a wi t h a
whatheusedtopulldownthef ire
Graham sc loset, W estborough
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
le amineit, youw illf indalongand
derpartof thecrook.A
unlikelytohavebeenmade
hishandcuffsandtrans-
aham swrists. Willyoutalk
hedemanded.
enc edoesitmake Now, Graham
s, k illedSw ink. Mylawyerw ill
f oo l t o ad mi t i t ,b u t ' m s i ck o f t hi s
therightslantonthe photostat
anideoverthreeyearsago.
eaddedbitterly , isalsousedfor
andthatincludesSwink "
g ai n st S w in k "
ogetherf irmly. I ' mnotsay-
hatattitude, Mac k threatened.
ntinuedobstinatelysilent,the
fthistactics. Was yourwife
h e a sk e d.
laredemphatically .
" Mac kpersisted.
ayforsure, butit sdif f iculttoc on-
apersonwhoknowsyouas
eseenthe uestiontremblingonher
ay,butshewasalwaysafraidto
altedmomentarily. O h,the
dlookasif weresomethingun-
dgrimly,hismoodplainlyone of
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
thene tinstantshe dthrowher-
obbingherheartout. triedto
sn tmuc h c ouldsay. Some-
w ustwhattoc allit—hadsmashed
ouldknow wassi tymurderers
meaway, hec oncludedproudly .
ouslyelsewhere. WhatifH am-
othemoview ithyou hec on-
dea, saidGraham. H am-
for killingSwinkofanyonein
ewouldbeabletotell.H ecer-
to weakenanairtightalibibe-
enedac tually tositw ithhim. n
thewholeideaupwhenH ammond
ealizedthatNorahwouldserve
husband—or nearly.
oSw ink sroom "
asrightaboutthee perimentson
ldn tgetthehangof it. So had
twaseasierthanitsounds. ' d
maidonthisfloorwasoften
keyinthe outsideofthelock
m. madealittlewoodbo ,
dfilledbothtopand bottom
ngwa . twasamatterofonly
mpressionofthekey—both sides
ntintoaloc ksmithshoponthe
theproprietoruntil ' dgot
mtodig upsomemorepad-
of theroom, stoleablankof
tofit mymold.O fcourse,
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
earestsewer onmywayback
o "
tly . H ehadtheumbrellain
himherelastnight. hadn t
apestepsscratchingthehandle,
f th e t hi n g to d ay . d o n t k n ow
edthatorwhetherhemerely
ay , hetriedtosockme. duc ked
outofhishand thenhetold
etheaterand demandedhush
madehis bigmistake,for
ere. twaseasy, butthehard
ohisownroom. ortunately,
.
p an g er i n t he c l os e t M a ck
evon spic k , ofcourse. wanted
ayoutof thewaytill hada
reditwouldbesafein thewaste-
ut slippedthere.Thehouse-
before c ouldgettoit. ven
rlyworried, as hadasec ondstring
hemarks ' dmadeonWest-
vetheponceplentyto think
k.W estboroughhadbeenalto-
sn tsorrytodohimabadturn.
storianblushedto avivid
osed uic kly , H ewastoomuc h
htoheaven ' dhadsenseenough
e tumblersonyourlockwhen
twas,there wasnowaywecould
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
ain.Well, thiscaseisabout
hing, Graham. Why dyoudoit "
a n sw er i ng t h at u e st i on , G r ah a m
slipssettingina thinline.
ers Mac k threatened.
ourrubber hosefromnow
llkeepmymouthc losed, Graham
yatleast,accepteddefeat.
writeoutac onfessionf romthe
thinkGraham l1signit.
e d. I ' m r e ad y t o ta k em y
estborough stypewriter,
om,and arsonaccompanied
somethingabout c atchingatrain
nymore, lef talso, andSpanger
I ' mgoingtohuntSwannupand
O nlyMac kandWestborough
r.
nemaybeyou lltellwhatyouhad
ksuggestedconfidentially.
mphatic ally . I ' mnottalking
oseveraltimes. A nyob ec tions
ardlywithhismanacled
dtoassist himinsecuringa
astpocket.
ockonthedoorandwent
eady, MissGant " A woman s
e—answered.
e re "
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
uiringlyatthedetective.
ousofthevoicefromthecor-
etteagainstthe case.
e " t h e wo m an w e nt o n i ns i st e nt l y. I
vegottoletmein " Herf ists
oor.
him " Mac kdemanded.
Graham, Westboroughbegan,
edartedsuddenlyacrossthe
ecouldmuster.Grahamwas
rette.
cigarettetothefloor— atiny
carpet.Mackhadopenedthe
uellaGraham,herface
,brushedthedetectiveaside
d.
ead. H ello, u They
hisseat. uellaGraham
ees,botharmsgrasping the
usband.
"
betriedinc ourt, West-
velytothedetective.
h in g
movedslowlysideward. I ' m
beentime—but didn tsuspect,
H estoopedtopic k thec igarettef rom
c apsuleofpotassiumc yanidein
sonwaspracticallyinstan-
shoulderofthesobbing
Graham, amsincerelysorry .
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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UMBL E R
d,andW estboroughrecalled
stseenher— ababy-dollblonde
dn tlookaday overtwenty-
mhereyelasheswascoursing
heekswhileher voicewastight
nwhoeverlived Didhetellyou
wink "
mannerperceptiblyaltered,
handkerchiefandblewhis nose—
ethinghewouldn ttalkabout, he
hereishardly thenecessity
protestedWestborough,offering
hair.
h e r vo i ce s h ri l le d . I w an t y ou t o
ny sdoneforme "
armabouttheshouldersof
, mydear, hesaidinhisgrave,
, do.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e
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reakfastedupongrapefruit,
sausages,peeredaboutthelobby
eredchairinwhichshecould
ssestotaketheirdue course.
andangularwoman,e claim-
s t he r "
edupfromhercopyofMurder
alrepresentativeof thetypeof
dicted.Shehadread asfaras
inclinedtostopfor achatwith
recalmlyandreadaboutamur-
thetimemoree c itingthings
shotel thanwereeverput
ook ismorethan c ansee "
tedallinonebreath.
atterasshowedmorethana
don tmeantotellmethey ve
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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UMBL E R
p ag e o f al l t he n e ws p ap e rs M r s.
hast. Youdon tmeanyouhaven t
arah, that neverreadmorn-
u a rt e rs o f a n ho u r Mr s . B l a ke l y s
c lapper. A ndso, shec on-
ywordofwhatwasgoingoneven
Mac kwouldn tletmestay inthe
wastoputmyearagainstthedoor,
o ul d n t , ' v e g oo d h ea r in g .
trainedinthetec hni ueofmys-
entedaseriousflawin the
utthemotive, Sarah Youhaven t
story initself , Mrs. B lakelyre-
dthepoliceeverything.She
o ustifyherhusband,although
everbe ustifiedismorethan
says, Thoushaltnotk ill, and
e c eptunderc ertainc irc um-
awHegaveMoses, andthat s
.
obedrawnintoa theological
emoreforthemotive.
welveyearsagoona ourthof
began, and stherHatterassettled
eepsighofrelief. Mrs.
arriedthenandhad cometo
wninsouthern llinoistogeta
ooneof thetrac kstogotothe
gotmuc hcharacter, as saidthe
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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UMBL E R
ather,andher storycertainly
earethings thatbecomea
othehorseraces iscertainlynot
nshestruc kupanac uaintanc e
mewasMaryW intersandwho
recharacterthanshe did.Those
elvesbepickedup bytwo
ythingthat sc heaperthanthat
f themen " askedMrs.
don tknowtheotherone s
atter. B uthere swhatyoushould
dbeendrinking,andtheygot the
p. Mr. Sw inkpairedoffw ithMrs.
gherMary Winters.The girls
oke, andneitherof them
en.Thefourof themdroveback
n sc arandspentthenight
nthemorning,whenMrs.
y dcarousedallnightlong,
withher—shamelesshussy
houghyouc an ttellmeitwasher
.Swinkwokeupandpromisedto
went downandgotamar-
vegottorememberhethoughtshe
hfactshe dforgotteninthe
mebackfromtheclerkwiththe
meshe nearlyfainted.H ow-
rriedin theworstkindofway
andshewasafraidMr. Swink
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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UMBL E R
him halfachance,sowhatdid
riedunderherf riend sname "
aryWinterssaytothat " Mrs.
eagerly.
dn thaveac hanc eto, bec ause
sfriendwerekilledthat veryday
again, suppose, andhetriedto
nnels undertheC hicago
anuse.H owever,thegirlwas
rs,andthenoutpoppedthe fact
nters hadbeenmarriedon
an imaginehowmadhewas
oundoutwhatshe dlethim
eherforayearorso, andhe
meC edricwasborn.Sheposed
met Mr.Graham,fiveorsi
rries himwithoutbotheringto
lmarriedtoMr. Swink . n
.Grahama thingaboutherfirst
eeksagoaftershe dseenMr.
her, ofc ourse, Mrs. Hatteras
nbadwith thelaw.Toim-
forthepurposeofmarrying
entenceinthe penitentiary,
ghthavegotstill anothersen-
hamsaidthematterwasin
onlyafirst-ratelawyercould
hadalwaysbeenscaredtogo
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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UMBL E R
stof ittoMr.Graham,andshe
edidn treproac hheronce, ust
talkwithMr. Swink . Heof fered
din thebank,butMr.Swink
eandsaidhec ouldn tbotherwith
ndthere, guess,Mr.Graham
eonlywaytosaveMrs. Graham
tok illMr. Sw ink . Hedidn ttake
denceeither.Thatmanwasa
stakeaboutthat Well, the
astheB ibleputsit, anditwas
DevonandMr.Graham,
owasthecauseofallof it.A nd,
athussy isn toutof thishotelin
mgoingstraighttoMr. Swannand
o heeverhadinhis life.
edtoliveon thesamefloorallthis
eightsaf ifthofagram, West-
ve-caratemeraldwouldweigh
errySpanger, whowastry ingto
nwhich lmoSwinkhadlived
"
monetaryproposition " W est-
atis, ifweareabletodeducethe
merald.
s p l it f i ft y -f i ft y , ' m w i th y o u ' v e
elf . ordknows c ouldusethe
asonSwanndidn tf iremewas
r thedamagestothisroom.
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
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UMBL E R
wthatmatterissettled, letus
ns.Theemerald,as have
egram,andthespecificgravity
nedthismorning, is2. 74. rom
ofsimplearithmetictocal-
lhavea volumeof0.0225
er e a c ul a te d .
tdimensionof theemerald "
d
thoughtfully. A boutahalf
dimensionsappro imatelye ual "
y s a w it o n ce , r em e mb e r "
t h at e v en t h e b eg a n to m a ke c a l-
c ratc hpaper. Dearme, c an
owonegoesabouttoe trac ts uare
ntsto " Spangerdemanded.
hiscalculating. A rithmetic
mallerdimensionsof the
matelye ualto0. 2inc hes. Yes, it
e place haveinmind,the
ualtoafull uarterofaninc h.
Spangershouted.
stboroughobserved, asc rewdriver.
er, believethebladeofthis
tly .
stoopeddown.
" Spangere c laimed.
tremelysmallthatitwouldbe
ouldberec laimed. H eun-
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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UMBL E R
okit,but therewasnosound.
t thehollowinteriorofthe
eoftissue protruded. Stuffed
ecluderattling, West-
probedagain,andtheemerald
fvelvetygreenbeauty.
d " breathedSpangerinanawed
ofouragreement, amtore-
profferedrewardforthisstone.
Thelittlemanheldtheemeraldupto
uble. believeitwasPlinywho
eitherdimnorshade, noryetthe
emto losetheirluster. "
said. B utwhat ' vegottosay
ein yourhandismoreto the
uck led. Thathunkofc oloredglass
dredandfiftybucksapieceto
n u s e it O n c e g e t my h a nd s o n
eadamnif thestoneturnswhiteand
werefaraway, andhedidn tseem
to thee citedSpanger.
b, A hmedbenA bdalaziz, whomen-
nthata serpentwhichfi es
ecomesblind O h,Mr.Spanger,
shouldlikemyshareof the
myamanuensis,MissGant,
er.
I t syourdough, andyouc an
butifyouaskme, you re
P u b l i c D o m a i n , G o o g l e - d i g i t i z e d
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a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
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/ h t t p : / / w w w . h
a t h i t r u s t . o r g / a c c e s s_
u s e # p d - g o o g l e