Argosy, Vol. 147, No. 1 — page 24: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

men: Be cis coruacs of te , but he made no re- # Heached the terrace doors tly WF potned within. 6 Fe ster was staring open-mouthed at 0 dy, ‘the doctor, after one swift ac a tumed to Geoff. ive ‘dey a couple of those boards there at pile you've been using for your ° work, ” he directed. “I’m going yr = ct the ‘loose sand on the floor from ark of another footstep. Stand aside, ately appointed police lieutenant od d with asurly air. Placing the boards = ful y in a line from the threshold to tly beside the dead man, Dr. Hood alk ‘ ed gingerly along them and then knelt the ghastly wound. When he : ‘turned, his fat face was very oo _ but his eyes snapped with excite- amm = anc “hy a More ‘boards, Geoff—short lengths, so J 2 i tacks sharp turns with them.” : Sate ,, what is it, doc? Murder, sure ” Zeke Foster demanded. “I’m ble—I mean, lieutenant—and I got a Soeecsttaate’ —” So has police headquarters, now that re part of the city,” the doctor interrupt- “Tt’s murder, all right, for there’s noth- ag lying around loose that could have fallen 1h im, and if it had it would have struck “a > top of his head and not the base of the re sin Tike that, unless he was already lying t on his face. oh 3etter call up the homicide bureau of ‘district attorney’s office at the county ; at, and notify them to send a detective yn here to work with you, Zeke. That 1 sa ve your face, for otherwise they'll have zn uanch of their own men down here to e case right out of your hands. This ily is s too rich and prominent, and espe- " y ir. Benkard himself, for the big ws ; to eave the investigation in our ids. Know where the phone is, Geoff?” | nt ne library there, where the door . Sh 3 wat or the gallery.” The mason point- where Mis’ Cayley went to : le I was g ettin’ Henry upstairs. ) r, and te was struck all of a Zeke Foster departed upon his errand, and the medical examiner proceeded to make a path about the bench with the pieces of board which Geoff handed him, laying each one painstakingly on a smooth space of sand unmarred by the slightest touch. When he had completed the semicircle to the other side of the terrace doors he worked his way back slowly upon his hands and knees, scrutinizing the space on either side of his improvised path. Then he rose and stood staring about the patio, while his companion watched him with a twinkle of somewhat grim amusement in his mild brown eyes. ‘“¢ Geoff, come here a minute.” Dr. Hood led him abruptly out on the terrace. “ Who have you seen around here besides Mrs. Cayley and her daughter and the hired help?” “Only the young lady that’s visitin’ them, a friend o’ Mr. Benkard’s who runs out now and again from the city—Lane, his mame is—and that young feller from Ashcroft, who comes to see little Miss Cayley.” He indicated a neighboring es- tate, the tall, ornate chimneys of which showed above the trees to the west. “ There is Mr. Benkard’s sec’tary, too, but I ain’t seen him lately.” “ And the only servants are the cook and the housemaid and that doddering old but- ler?” the doctor persisted. “That’s all. The garage ain’t finished yet, and Mr. Benkard drove his own car and kept it at Jake’s service station down to the Cove. Mr. Benkard used to tele- phone when he got here, and Jake would send one o’ his helpers up for it. There ain’t even been anybody else workin’ round the place but me since the city contractor’s men quit their job last week “JT heard something about that. They walked out because of a row with Mr. Benkard, didn’t they?” Geoff rubbed his chin reflectively. “ -Twasn’t none o’? my business,” he af- firmed at last. “I’d been doin’ odd jobs round—concrete and stucco and a special mixture o’ my own that Mr. Benkard liked the looks of—and he asked me if I could finish their work on the garage and the ter- comi cboo