The Murder Mystery Puzzles of Edgar Rice Burroughs Vol.1 Read online

  "You hope."

  "Want to make a little bet?"

  "I'm a gentleman; I never bet on the other fellow's sure things."

  One of the men from the homicide squad let us in through the ornate entrance and led us back to a large sun parlor overlooking the gardens and the tennis court at the rear of the house.

  In addition to the chief of the homicide squad and two of his men, there were five people in the room. A grey-haired man arose as we entered and came forward. "I am glad you are here, Inspector," he said, extending a hand to Muldoon; "I want to see this thing cleared up. It is terrible, terrible!" He broke down and sobbed.

  "Calm yourself, Mr. Atwater," said Muldoon; "and if I can have the co-operation of all those present, I am sure we can get to the solution quickly.

  "And now, Mr. Atwater, when did the murder occur:"

  "Some time between eleven o'clock last night and seven this morning."

  "How do you know?"

  "We had been playing bridge after dinner -- my daughter, Bernice (he indicated a tall, dark girl quietly weeping in a corner), Mr. Elwood, myself, and -- oh, it's terrible! Alive and well at eleven o'clock last night and now lying cold and dead up there -- murdered, foully, cruelly murdered."

  "Who discovered the body?" snapped Muldoon.

  "My secretary, Foley, over there, he replied, pointing.

  "Who was in the house between eleven o'clock last night and seven this morning?" asked Muldoon.

  "Just those who are in the room now," replied Atwater, "--and of course--" he nodded his head toward the upper floor where the corpse lay.

  "I understand," said Muldoon -- "you, your daughter, your secretary, Mr. Elwood, and who's that man there?"

  "That is Charles, my chauffeur and, ah, well, he is a sort of valet , too."

  "Where were the other servants," explained Atwater, "that is, beside Charles; a man and his wife. They had been with us only a few days, and they were most unsatisfactory. They left after dinner last night."

  "You paid them off, and they left and did not return - is that right?"

  "Yes."

  "Were the deceased and Mr. Elwood members of your household?"

  "Oh, no. They are guests. I sent Charles to the station to get them yesterday evening, and we had dinner about nine o'clock. It was the late dinner that caused the butler and his wife to leave; they were disagreeable about it."

  Muldoon turned to the chauffeur, a sullen appearing man with a deep scar across one cheek. "What time did you pick these guests up at the station, Charles?"

  "Their train got in a 7:45 last night, but I had a little trouble finding them -- I hadn't never seen them before -- and it was about eight o'clock before I picked 'em out of the crowd."

  Muldoon swung swiftly toward the secretary. "Why did you go to that room at seven o'clock this morning?"

  The suddenness of it made me jump, and I saw Foley gasp.

  "I -- I -- " stammered the secretary." Some one had to awaken the guests, and there were no servants in the house. I just went there to wake--"

  "Foley, you're lying to me -- you know who committed this crime. Come on -- out with it!"

  "Yes, I know," blurted the secretary; "but I'll never tell."

  "You were with the murderer last night?" demanded the inspector.

  "I was not. The last time I saw the murderer yesterday was while we were playing tennis together."

  "That is all for the present, Foley," said Muldoon, and then he looked over at the tall, dark girl. "You are Miss Atwater?" he asked.

  "I am."

  "Are you well acquainted with Mr. Elwood?"

  "We are engaged to be married -- we hoped to be married the tenth of next month, my birthday and his, too."

  "You are both the same age?"

  "I am a year younger than he."

  "What relation was he, if any, to the victim of this crime?"

  "He was a nephew."

  "Was there any reason why the deceased should object to this marriage?"

  At this question, Bernice Atwater broke down and commenced to cry. "I don't see why you should torture me with questions," she sobbed. "Haven't I been through enough already?"

  "Then there was a reason?" insisted Muldoon.

  "Yes -- oh, it was a matter of money. You see, Jerry -- Mr. Elwood -- was to come into his money when he married. It is in a trust, and the trustee -- well -- had speculated and lost a lot of it. If Jerry married, it would all come out."

  "Was the deceased the trustee?"

  "Yes."

  Jerry Elwood was a short , unprepossessing looking person with thick-lensed spectacles that give him an owlish cast of countenance. During the interview he had been smoking one cigarette after another almost as rapidly as he could light them, taking a few puffs at each before pressing the fire out in the bottom of an ash receiver; then nervously extracting another from a gold cigarette case.

  Now he interposed. "I think you've said quite enough, Bernice." He fumbled for another cigarette.

  Muldoon pointed a pudgy finger at him. "Elwood," he demanded, "are you free to marry Miss Atwater?"

  "I am now -- I mean -- I --"

  "You mean you are since the murder removed an obstacle," roared Muldoon.

  "I -- I -- didn't say that," stammered Elwood.

  "But it's the truth," snapped the inspector. "You couldn't marry without the consent of the trustee of your father's estate. Now, isn't that a fact?"

  Elwood assumed an air of bravado that comported illy with his personality. "Yes, it is!" he shouted almost as loud as Muldoon; "but that doesn't prove anything."

  "It proves that you and Miss Atwater had an incentive -- it establishes a motive -- you would both have profited by the death of this person. Now, you might as well come clean, Elwood -- it will make it easier for all."

  "You have no right to accuse Miss Atwater -- she had nothing to do with it -- neither did I."

  "Perhaps not, but was there any one else in your family who might have profited by this death?"

  "I have no relatives now that -- well, since what happened last night. Like my dead mother, I am an only child."

  "Was your father the Elwood of the Elwood Grain Company?"

  "Yes."

  "And he was very wealthy before his death, was he not?"

  "Why, yes, I suppose he was wealthy," replied Elwood. "I was only ten when he died, and so I didn't know much about his affairs."

  "Let's see," ruminated Muldoon; "he and his brother were business partners?"

  "He never had a brother."

  "And now, Foley," said Muldoon, "I'd like to ask you another question."

  "Well, I don't know that I'll answer it," snapped the secretary, with some acerbity. The nerves of the three men were holding better than those of the two women; yet, all were on the edge.

  "Oh, it's not a very pertinent question, perhaps," said Muldoon, smiling. "I was just wondering if the murderer and the deceased were well acquainted?"

  The secretary laid down a half-finished cigarette, and then said, "Yes; once they were engaged to be married."

  "Do you know anything about this trust we have been hearing about, Foley?"

  "Not much -- it was not my affair."

  "You don't happen to know when it was established?"

  "Immediately after my father's death," said Elwood, "fifteen years ago."

  "Charles," said Muldoon, turning to the chauffeur, "how old are you?"

  "I'm forty-eight," replied the man.

  "You look much younger," commented Muldoon. "How long have you been employed by Mr. Atwater?"

  "Two years."

  "Like your job?"

  "Sure! It's a swell job; they treat me great."

  "What were you doing just before you went to work for Mr. Atwater"

  The chauffeur scowled. "I -- well -- you ain't got nothin' on me. What difference does it make what I was doin' two years ago?"

  "Perhaps no difference," replied Muldoon easily. "I have been trying to
place you ever since I came into this room, Charles; and now I have succeeded. That scar on your cheek is as good as a set of fingerprints. You were in the pen two years ago for burglary!"

  "Well, what if I was? Growled the chauffeur. "This murder wasn't committed two years ago."

  "And you were paroled to Mr. Atwater?"

  "Yes."

  "And he's been pretty good to you, hasn't he?"

  "Sure, fine."

  "There isn't anything you wouldn't do for him, is there?"

  "No. I'd do anything for him -- he's been swell to me."

  "You'd even commit murder for him, wouldn't you?"

  The man's eyes narrowed and he glared at Muldoon as he exclaimed, "To hell with you! I never done it."

  "Do you play tennis, Charles? Inquired Muldoon, blandly.

  "Yes. Foley taught me to play."

  "Were you playing tennis with Foley yesterday?"

  "Yes."

  "Thank you, Charles; that's all."

  Muldoon turned to the chief of the homicide squad. "Mike," he said, softly, "you may make the arrest now, bring the prisoner to headquarters."

  "Which one, Inspector?"

  Muldoon pointed at one of the five. "That one," he said.

  At whom did Muldoon point?

  * * *

  WHO MURDERED MR. THOMAS?

  Mystery Puzzle from Tarzana

  Dear Rob:

  You have a right to boast of the high order of intelligence of your readers. Let's see how high it is. The enclosed murder mystery may be solved logically from the clues given in the story. There is no "catch" to it. Ask your readers to time themselves and then tell you how long it took them to reach the correct solution logically. Also ask them not to lie.

  POLICE INSPECTOR MULDOON and I are old cronies. I was sitting in his office when the report came in that Mr. Thomas had been murdered. Mr. Thomas was a prominent and wealthy citizen.

  "I'll look into this thing myself," said Muldoon; "Mr. Thomas was a good friend of mine."

  :May I come along?" I asked.

  "Sure," said Muldoon.

  When we reached the Thomas home, one of the show-places of the city, Muldoon immediately took full charge, placing men at all entrances with orders to permit no one to enter or depart.

  As we entered the library, a large room beautifully paneled in walnut, we found six nervous and distraught people awaiting us. Mr. Thomas' body lay on the floor in front of the fireplace, where it had fallen. There was a bullet hole between the eyes.

  The daughter of the murdered man was weeping. Her fiance, a guest in the house, was trying to comfort her. I recall that as I first looked at them I was struck by the remarkable similarity of the color of their hair. A man named Perry stood across the room from them watching Miss Terry closely.

  MULDOON'S FIRST QUESTIONS elicited the fact that there were no other people in the house and that no one had entered or left it since the murder. An examination of the corpse revealed no clue to the identity of the murderer, unless a strand of hair on the coat might have significance. At least, it called our attention to the hair of those present; there were two with blond hair, tow with black, and two red-heads.

  When the butler was questioned, he said that the other two men were guests and that their names were Mr. Wayne and Mr. Perry.

  Muldoon called my attention to the fact that the strand of hair found on Mr. Thomas' coat was the same color as the hair of one of the men, no two of whom had the same color hair; but I reminded him that it was also exactly the same color as that of one of the women.

  When Muldoon questioned Miss Mills, she said that she and Miss Terry were visiting Miss Thomas over the week-en, and when he urged her to make a clean breast of it and tell him who the murderer was she just shook her mass of bobbed black hair, and burying her face in her hands, burst into tears.

  IT WAS ABOUT THE SAME with the others; no one would name the murderer. One of the girls told Muldoon that she did not know where Miss Thomas was at the time the shot was fired that killed Mr. Thomas. Muldoon asked one of the male guests, the one with blond hair, how he accounted for the strand of hair on Mr. Thomas' coat.

  "I think it has no bearing on the case," the guest replied. "It is not fair to assume that it was a strand of the murderer's hair. As a matter of fact, the murderer has the same color hair as one of the guests who was in another part of the house when Mr. Thomas was shot."

  "So you know who the murderer is?" demanded Muldoon, but the man closed up like a clam and would say no more.

  Muldoon turned again to Miss Mills and snapped, "Where were you when this man was shot?"

  "I was with Miss Thomas."

  THE BUTLER WAS STANDING beside Miss Mills; the contrast between the colors of their hair was striking. He fidgeted as Muldoon questioned him. "Where was Miss Terry at the time of the murder?" the Inspector shot at him.

  "She -- she was here -- here, in this room, with Mr. Thomas," stammered the butler.

  "Who else was in the room at the time?"

  "There were two others, beside Mr. Thomas and Miss Terry."

  :Was the color of the murderer's hair the same as that of either of the other two present?"

  "No; but the other two had the same color hair."

  This was all the information we could gather, yet within ten minutes Muldoon arrested the murderer.

  Whom did Muldoon arrest?

  * * *

  THE SOLUTIONS

  SOLUTION: The Lightship Murder

  There were five people aboard the lightship the night of the murder: Andy MacTeevor, Bill MacTeevor, Carrie MacTeevor, Daniel MacTeevor, Esther MacTeevor All are related to one another.

  Andy's grandmother is on the ship.

  Andy being 18 and Carrie 39, Esther must be Andy's grandmother.

  Andy's mother is alive; he has only one blood relative ashore, a great aunt; there, Carrie and Esther being the only women on the ship and Esther being his grandmother, Carrie must be Andy's mother.

  Bill said his father was on watch the night of the murder. Andy being 18 and Bill almost 40, Andy could not be Bill's father; therefore Daniel was Bill's father.

  Neither Bill nor Andy has a brother; Bill had no uncle because his father, Daniel, had no brother, Andy had no relatives (except an unmarried great aunt) other than those on the lightship; therefore they cannot be cousins, and as each was an only child they cannot be brothers-in-law. But they are related; therefore they must be father and son -- Bill is Andy's father.

  So Bill and Carrie, being the father and mother of Andy, are husband and wife.

  Daniel being Bill's father must have been Andy's grandfather; therefore Daniel and Esther were husband and wife.

  Esther said the murderer had murder in his blood but that there was no such criminal strain in her blood nor in the MacTeevors'; therefore the blood stain must have come from Carrie, and as Andy is the only one with her blood in his veins and as Carrie was in her bunk when the murder was committed Andy must be the murderer.

  Readers David Cliff, Marie Fleming and Brita Holm solved the mystery correctly.

  SOLUTION: The Red Necktie

  This solution appeared in the June 4, 1932 issue of Rob Wagner's Script Weekly magazine

  EDDIE BURROUGHS, who is by way of being a colleague of ours in the side issue of writing mystery thrillers, had a story in last week's THE SCRIPT about a fellow by the name of Cooper, anno aetatis suae LX, who was found guilty of bribing a judge by the name of Racket by giving him a red necktie for nothing. Thus the correct answer would be that the guilty man was sixty years old and his name was Cooper.

  SOLUTION: The Terrace Drive Murder

  This solution appeared in Rob Wagner's Script of October 15, 1932

  So many people are writing and phoning in asking who was guilty in Ed Burroughs' "The Terrace Drive Murder," that we're printing the author's answer:

  We meet the following principals and the folllowing pertinent facts in the following order:

  Mr. Atwater
, host.

  Bernice, his daughter.

  Mr. Elwood.

  Foley, Atwater's secretary.

  Charles, Atwater's chauffeur.

  The Deceased.

  Elwood and the victim were guests that arrived about eight P.M. the previous evening.

  Charles had never seen either of these guests before.

  Foley played tennis with the murderer the previous day. This eliminated Elwood, who did not arrive until after dark.

  Elwood was the deceased's nephew.

  Elwood's mother was an only child; therefore Elwood had no uncle nor aunt on that side.

  Elwood's father had no brothers; therefore, his mother being an only child, he never had an uncle; therefore, the murdered person, whose nephew he was, must have been his aunt.

  There were three men and two women involved. The sex of all but Foley has previously been established -- Mr. Atwater, his daughter, Mr. Elwood, and 'that man there,' Charles; Foley must be the other woman.

  If the murderer and the victim were at one time engaged, the murderer must be a man, which leaves only Mr. Atwater and Charles suspect. But Charles never saw the deceased previous to last night; so Charles could never have been engaged to her.

  Therefore, Mr. Atwater is the murderer. Q.E.D.

  SOLUTION: Who Murdered Mr. Thomas?

  Muldoon finds six people in the library:

  Miss Thomas

  Her fiancé (a guest)

  These two have the same color hair (Wayne)

  Mr. Perry (a guest)

  Butler

  Mr. Wayne (a guest) (Miss Thomas' fiancé)

  Miss Mills (bobbed black hair)

  Miss Terry (in room with two men when Thomas murdered)

  Of the six people it has been shown that three were women and the other three men; the three women have been named and the butler stating that "the other two men" were guests.

  As Perry stood across the room from Miss Thomas and her fiancé, Wayne must be the other guest and therefore Miss Thomas' fiancé.