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Chief Inspector OBrien came along a little ahead of me. Im in a great hurry and
merely dropped by tokeep my promise.
His eyes, hard and pale blue, were
narrowed, and his squareprognathous jaw was rigidly set.
Andhe carefully put
the cigarette and the stub in an envelope, which hemarked and pocketed.
Excellent, Markham commented; and then, with a nod, referred thematter to
Heath.
Ive assigned Sergeant Heath to the case, Mr. Ive known the majorfor
twenty years and I couldnt very well refuse. But get the body tothe mortuary as
soon as you can. It was here before twelve, and when Icome back at twelve
thirty or thereabouts, it was still here.
His right leg was crossed over his
left in a positionof comfortable relaxation. The handbag was of fine gold mesh
with a catch set with smallsapphires. The fact is, Alvin Benson has
beenmurdered. Ave, Caesar, te salutamus, whispered Vance, grinning.
In the rear
of the room, near the dining room door, stood two othermen talking earnestly
together.
The only window that wasntbarred was the rear one in the living room;
and that was shut andlocked. A highly colored oriental rugcovered nearly the
entire floor.
Markham nodded gloomily and looked past him into the living
room.
He rang for Currie and ordered his clothes brought to him. He saluted
Heath, but onrecognizing the district attorney, made Markham the recipient of
hisreport. Probably, he repeated to Markham with good-natured contempt.
A
couple of minutes wont make any difference. She had retired about half past ten
and, because of the heat, hadleft the door ajar. Its pretty clear the gunman
gotin the front door.
We ascended the stairs and entered Bensons bedroom, which
wasdirectly over the living room.
Its rather mild, y know, but delicately
blended.
It looks as though weare in for a bit of trouble before its
finished.
And I most certainly wont wait over fiveminutes for you to get
dressed.
The handbag was of fine gold mesh with a catch set with
smallsapphires. Platz told me she heard a report at that time, which I
thoughtmight have been the shot. Hagedorn raised his head slowly and gave Heath
a myopic frown. Then heglanced at the bullet hole in the forehead and at the
ragged woundin the back of the head. Those cigarette stubs mayquite possibly be
significant evidence.
After a brief handshaking ceremony, he went out
hurriedly. Thereare one or two things, he said soberly, that I think Id
betterwarn you about.
Well, well find allthat out later, I hope.
Doremus, the
chief medical examiner, accompanied by his assistant,bustled in.
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