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BMA SE Be eo § BER? gC ¢ Murder of | The (By Agatha Christie) Roger Ackroyd CHAPTER XXV The Whole Truth A slight gesture from Poirot en- doined me to stay behind the rest. obeyed, going over to the fire and "thoughtfully stirring the big logs on said frankly, | Why not go straight | | Poirot sat down and drew out his PO | lare sure that he is ta be . . with the toe of my { ~ I.was puzzled. For the first time I was absolutely at sea as to Poirot's meaning. For a moment I was in- elined to think that the scene 1 had just witnessed was a gigantic piece of bombast--that he had been what he called "playing the comedy" with la view to making himself interesting and important. But, in spite bf my- self, I was forced to believe in an underlying reality, There had been real menace in his words--a certain undisputable sincerity. But I still believed him to be on entirely the , wrong tack, { When the door shut behind the last of the party he came over to the fire, "Well, my friend," he said quietly, ' #and what do you think of it all?" | "I don't know what to think," I What was the point? to Inspector Raglan with the truth instead of giv- ing the guilty persons this elaborate | warning?" case of tiny Russian cigarettes, He smoked for a minute or two in sil- ence, Then:-- 1 "Use your little gray cells," he said. +#There is always a reason behind my actions," i © I hesitated for a moment, and then | I said slowly :-- | | "The first one that occurs to me 1s that you yourself do not know who the guilty person is, but that you found t amongst the people here tonight. of: Chi 8, sts pre ow! pm w. ath 8., rec re, | The rtni| hing hder| mbl ol | st] ing t's" ont Fis 1 adl¢ nd to force a confession from the un- known murderer?" ¥ Poirot approvingly. "A clever idea, but not the truth." "I thought, perhaps, that by mak- ing him believe you knew, you might force him out into the -not necessarily by confession. He might try to si y you as he formerly silenced Mr. Ackroyd--before you could act tomorrow morning." "A trap with myself as the bait! Merci, mon ami, but I am not suffi- ciently heroic for that." "Then I fail to understand you. Surely you are running the risk of letting the murderer escape by thus putting him on his guard?" Poirot shook his head. "He cannot escape," he said grave- ly. "There is only one way out-- and that way does not lead to free- om. "You really believe that one of those people here tonigh itted the murder?" I asked incredulously. "Yes, my friend." "Which one?" There was a silence for some minutes. Then Poirot tossed the stump of his cigarette into the grate and began to speak in a quiet, re- flective tone. "I will take you the way that I have travelled myself. Step by step you shall accompany me, and see for yourself that all the facts point in- disputably to one person. Now, to begin with, there were two "facts and one little discrepancy in time which especially attracted my attention. The first fact was the telephone call. If Ralph Paton were indeed the mur- derer, the telephone call became meaningless and absurd. Therefore, 1 said to myself, Ralph Paton is not the murderer, -- --_-- "I satisfied myself that the call could not have been sent by anyone Special! Get your Rub- bers, Boots and Shoes at the-- Dominion Clothing Co. 68 King St. W, Phone 2141 in the house, yet I was convinced that it was"amongst those present on the fatal evening that I had to look for. my criminal. Therefore I con- cluded that the telephone call must have been sent by an accomplice, I was not quite pleased with that de- duction, but I let it stand for the minute, Oshawa Luggage YOUR INITIAL FRER On Suit Oase or Club Bag Saywell & Son BOND ST. WEST "I next examined the motive for the call. That was difficult. I could only get at it by judging its result, Which was--that the murder was discovered that night instead of--in all probability--the following morn- ing. You agree with that?" "Ye-es," I admitted. "Yes. As you say, Mr. Ackroyd, having given or- ders that he was not to be disturbed, ---- COAL - COKE - WOOD +3 ll Nut and Egg sizes, per ton, ............ $15.00 Stove size, per ton, 15.50 Pea size, per ton, 12.50 12.50 Coke, per ton, Best Anthracite Coal W. J. TRICK COMPANY, LIMITED 25 Albert Street Phone 230 =~ More Heat -- No $15.50 671 Albert Street MALLETT'S Anthracite STOVE COAL MALLETT BROS. "SERVICE THAT SATISFIES" Domestic Cinders -- No Slate -- per ton Phone 2560 oe THE OSHAWA DAILY TIMES, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1927 -- nobody would have been likely to go to the study that night." "Tres bien. The affair marches, does it not? But matters were still obscure. What was the advantage of having the crime discovered that night in preference to the following morning? The only idea I could get hold of was that the murderer, know- ing the crime was to be discovered at a certain time, could make sure of being present when the door was broken in--or at anyrate immediate- ly afterwards. And now we come to the second fact--the chair pulled out from the wall. Inspector Raglan dis- missed that as of no importance. \ I, on the contrary, have always regard- ed it as of supreme importance. "In your manuscript you have drawn a neat little plan of the study. If you had it with you this minme you would see that--the chair beg drawn out in the 'position indicated by Parker--it would stand in a dircet line between the door and the win- dow." . "The window!" I said quickly. "You, too, have my first idea. I imagined that the chair was drawn out so that something connected with the window should not be seen by anyone entering through the door, But I soon abandoned that supposi- tion, for though the chair was a grandfather with a high back, it ob- the ground. No, mon ami--but r member that just in front of the win- dow there stood a table with b and magazines upon it. Now that the truth. "Supposing that there had Dee something on that table not intended to be seen? Something placed ther by the murderer? inkling of what that something 1 be. But I knew certain very in esting facts about it. For instm it was something that the mur« had not been able to take away v him at the time that he the crime. At the same time it vital that it should be removed soon as possible after the ¢rime | been discovered, And so--the phone message, and the opportu for the murderer to be on th when the body was discovered, "Now four people were scene hefore the police arr Yourself, Parker, Major Blunt, Mr. Raymond, Parker I climina Mt once, since at whatever tin crime wag discovered, he was the person certain to be on the Also it was he who told me of pulled-out chair. Parker, thea, cleared (of the murder, that i still thought it possible tha: he been blackmailing Mrs, Fer Raymond and Blunt, however mained under suspicion since if crime had been discover-d in early hours of the morning quite possible that they might ha arrived on the scene too late (0 vent the object on the rouna Leing discovered, "Now what was that object? Y heard my arguments to-night in re ference to the scrap oi conversation overheard? As soon as I learn that a representative of a dicta; company had called, the idea « dictaphone took root in my mind You heard what I said in this rc not half an hour ago? They agreed with my theory--hut one vit fact seems to have escaped then Granted that a dictaphone was being used by Mr, Ackroyd that night-- con why was no dictaphone found?" "I never thought of that," I said "We know that a dictaphone was supplied to. Mr. Ackroyd. But dictaphone has been found amo his effects, So, if something For Better Values DIAMONDS Burns' Jewelry Store 28 SIMCOE 8. PHONE 889 Cash or Terms 4 METAL BUMPING AND ALL KINDS OF BODY WORK MERRITT AUTO AND REPAIR King St. W. Oshawa Solva We bre Telephone~-- 262 Four direct lines to Central y, Soke Jeddo Premium Coal The Best Produced in America General Motors Wood .-- All Fuel Orders weighed on City Scales if desired. "=a scured very little of the window | only the part between the sash and | table was completely hidden by the drawn out chair--and immediately | had my first shadowy suspicion of | As yet 1 had no | one a NUT-KRUST BAKERY Phone 2500--0Oshawa m that table--why should something be the dicta- But there were certain dif- 3 in the way. The attention ie was, ol course, focused lered man, I think any sone to the table un- + other people in the a dictaphone has a certain it be slipped casually ket There must have ele of some kind cap- \ ful in- You dic- And at a typist speaks ler this u le minute. lo you not? retary or the voice "1 ga Ided, an that, At nine-thirty wa dy dead. It aking--not the ped 1 alre: phot r switched it on ve been in the room But we must not ex- lihood of some mech- » having been .applied-- ter the nature of a time even of a simple alarm t in that case we must add itions to our imaginary 1 It must y of Mr. Ack- e of th dictaphone with the necessary tof tl me one who lercr. hie On lene , t thus far in my own e came to the footprints ledze, Here there > conclusions open to me. ht really have been He had been , and might haye to the study and found his 1 ther That was one (2) There was the pos- wat the "fool might ide 1 | : | royd's and 2 1 BF narks hody ame kind But the i > had s soled d I declined to > of some 1g the same Paton wore. ; from the Whistle, ts 'clean drop- e prints were » deliberately try- ion on Ralph Pa- t conclusion, it ratin certain 1e pair Raiph's shoes had ned from the Three Boars lice. Neither Ralph nor uld have worn them y > they were down- r cleaned. According to 'e theory, Ralph was wear- | ing another pair of the same kind, and I found that it was true that he bad two pairs. Now for my theory | to be proved correct it was necessary for the murderer to have worn | Ralpli's shoes that evening--in which | case Ralph must have been wearing ! yet a third pair of footwear of some | kind. I could hardly suppose that he | would bring three pairs of shoes all | the third pair of footwear i nh cf Sit 1 | alike | were more likely to be boots. I got | your sister to make inquiries on this point--laying some stress on the co- lour, in order--I admit it frankly-- | to obscure the real rcason for my f asking. { 'ou know the result of her in- | vestigations. Ralph Paton had had a { pair of boots with him. The first question I asked him when he came to my house yesterday morning was { what he was wearing on his feet on | the fatal night. He replied at once that he had worn boots--he was still | wearing them, in fact--having noth- | ing else to put on. ! y we get a step further in our cription of the murderer--a person o had the opportunity to take t hoes of Ralph Paton's from ie Three Boars that day." | He paused, and then said, with slightly raised yoice w= here is one further point. The murderer must have becn a person ho had the opportunity to purloin t dz r from the silver table. You that y one in the might have done sc, but I will 11 to you that Flora ve that the da i Arn GARAGE MAN DIES is clear. A person who was at the Three Boars carlier that day, a per- son who knew Ackroyd well enough) to know that he had purchased a dic- taphone, a person who was of a mech- i anical turn of mind, who had the op- portumty to take the dagger from | the silver table before Miss Flora ar- | rived, vwho had with him a receptacle | svitable for hiding the dictaphone--| such as a black bag, and who had the | study to himself for a few minutes} aiter the crime was discovered while Parlier was telephoning for the police. In fact--Dr. Sheppard!" (To Be Continued) AFTER TORTURE Stabbed and Beaten to Death in North Daketa Town Minot, N.D. Dee. 1-----Police con tinued their investigation of three | scores of suspects who were round- | ed up 'in connection with the fa- tal stabbing of Rudolph Tehelka, 20-year-old employe of a local gar- age, in an effort to find the Tob- | bers who stabbed Tehelka with a pair of and robbed him of $60. Police admitted they had prac-| tically no clues to the robbers who tortured Tehelka, stabbed him and beat him to death, They advanced the theory that the assualt of the| garage man was made In an effost| to get him to divulge the combina- tiqn to the garage safe, which he d¥ not know. One of the suspects held had a bloody scab on his nose and blood | stains on his clothing He offered the alibi that he received the] bruised nose in a fight on Satur-| Yday night, : ALLEGED MAIL BAG THIEVES ARRESTED Three Ontario Men Charged with Tampering with Mail on Wreck i scissors Ottawa, Dec. 1.--A special dis- patch to the Citizen from King- ston states that three Tichbourne, Ont., residents have been arrested charged with tampering with mail bags, scattered over the right of way in the wreck at Dockrill, Sun. day when the Chicago express col- lided with a freight train. Those under arrest are Fred Dermott, Gordon Dermott and Floyd Ken- nedy. Other arrests are pending. - The arrests were made by Provineial police working with members of the Criminal Investigation Depart- ment of the Canadian Pacific Rail- way. Every effort was made by rail- way and provincial police to guard the mail, but these men did not arrive at the scene of the wreck until several hours had elapsed, and the mail was strewn for hun- dreds of yards on both sides of the tracks. There was a full car of mail on No. 19 express train, which was wrecked, and of this 300 bags were salvaged, about a third of the total. The mail was practically all from overseas. Post Office officials from both Napanee and Ottawa hurried to the scene to take charge of the mail. The cail clerk who was in the accident, although badly injured, stayed at work until late Sunday evening trying to get the mail loaded in cars. Other trainmen who were in the accident also stayed on the scene all might. EE ---------------- SENTENCE PASSED AT COCHRANE, ONT. High-Grading Trials Are Brought to Close at Cochrane 1 i Cochrane, Ont, Dec. 1.--The! high-grading trials here closed | with suddenness on Saturday when a jury in less than 10 minutes found Tony Matichuk guilty of pos- sessing ore to the value of $635. Judge Caron then called for | Mike Klimkovich, who had been | found guilty on Friday of selling contraband ore, and A. year old daughter, The three men stood in the dock together. Lefebvre's sentence came first. Asked by the judge whether he had anything to say, he replied: "I have a lot to say, but I have no witnesses," "I did not find you guilty myself. It 'was a jury," said the judge, Be- cause his defence had soiled the reputation of his older daughter, one of the witnesses, the judze said he would impose the limit for con- viction of four years in the peni- tentiary. "You have been found guilty of one of the worst: crimes that could be." Mike Klimkovieh, convicted of high grading to the extent of sell- ing ore to the value of over §2.- 000 was sentenced to four months in jail. 'Because you have been found guilty largely on the stren=t! of a convicteq man, without moch evidence to corroborate your guilt, | and bceause you are a sick man, | I am going to impose a light sen-| tence," Judge Caron said, hut he warned the man that hecause he was sick did not give him license to steal ore, FARMERS GET HYDRO FREE FOR 60 DAYS Brantford, Ont., Nov. 30--The year- ly report of the Brantford Township Hydro Commission presented today shows that during the power to the value of given to the customers, domestic users leading with $1981. The t ship users had a {ree supply for ) months to wipe out accumulated surplus, vear fre $2750 was |B Lefebvre | § farmer, of Hearst, found guilty of a serious offence against his 1188 5 Furnace 1his Week Only TR ------" Cleaned $5 By Vacuum Process, Latest Modern Method To our knowledge we have the only Vacuum Furnace Cleaning Machine in Canada, having been specially built for us by the Hoover Co. of Cleveland. Do not risk Fuel Gas= a deadly poison. k No Dirt--Not necessary to have fire out. Eave Troughing--15c per ft., 28 gauge iron, heavy SECURE OUR ESTIMATES Furnaces Rebuilt and Installed Roofing -- General Tinsmithing Randall & 191 College Avenue Gallagher "le 1820. BANDITS SECURE 520,000 JEWELS Young Girl Aids Robbers to Loot Cleveland Jewelry Store 1.--Three enterea a building and es. caped with $200,000 in merchan- dice from the Swirsky Brothers Jewelry. Company after locking up a clerk and two members of the firm. The } heavily armed, threatened to kill everyone in the store as they poured the contents of the jewelry trays into their pockets. Alex and John Swirsky, mem- bers of the firm and Miss Eleanor (reenberg, a elerk, who were in the store when the bandits enter- ed, were bound and locked in a rear room, After gathering up all access ible jewelry, the two leisurely left Ohio, Dee. a girl, Cleveland, bandit one downtown « ndite, the store on the sixth floor of t building, descended in a crowd elevator and escaped among PN sers-hy on the street. Police we notified of 'the robbery sever minutes later. The girl, pretty and red-haired watched the door while her eon panions collected tha loot. Th men were young and well-dressed Police believe the trio may ae heen the same that robbed a Ne York firm of $30,002 in unset di monds late .on Sunday, For Yow PHONE 22 no: veeer Thompson's Drug Store 10 Simcoe St. 8, We Deliver Wright Funerals J. A. WRIGHT FUNERAL DIRECTOR AND EMBALMER Successors to DISNEY FUNERAL SERVICE 82 Simcoe St, S, Phone 1 Unsurpassed Ambulance Service wanted colors. Colors, peach, coral, flesh, mais, orchid and white, Friday, ...... OSHAWA, SUCCESSORS TO THOS. MILI ER & SONS Silk Rayon Vests An Important 59c LIMITED LK LINGERIE EVENT On Friday we will sell Rayon Silk Vests for - 59¢ Rayon Silk Bloomers for 89¢ Women's and Misses' Silk Rayon Vests and Bloomers. They're dainty and slim fitting and practical for everyday. Well made and so easily tubbed. They come in all the Silk Rayon Bloomers " Colors, coral, flesh, or- chid, mais. Friday, .. 89¢c Men's Smart Knitted Scarves Handsome, Comfortable Scarves, wide full lengths, fring- ed end style, of lustrous knitted silk in many different color combinations. Price exceptionally low at ....... 89¢ Linen Dish Toweling * Children's WOOL MITS Children's Wool Mitts, ) ang gins to 8 years. Fide Eur, SOE Mail Salvaged Toronto, Dee. 1.--At least half of the mail on the Canadian Pa- cific Railway train which was wrecked at Dockrill Sunday has been salvaged according to Cana. dian Pacific Railway officials here, who stated that approximately 200 haces have been semt to this eity 'rom an original consignment of 700 back. Christmas mail from the Old Country formed a large vlk of the shipment. It was stat- ed that very litte damasze had teen done to express baggage car- ried on the train. Bring the Littie Tots to See Santa Claus FRIDAY ~He will be in Toyland from 9.30 to 11 in the morning and 2 to 3.30 in the afternoon - It Pays To Shop At The Arcade - "The Busy Store" Simcoe St. N. SAR Tn | A---- -- A