What Do YOU Deduce?

Exposing a New and Fascinating Parlour Game That Is Sweeping the Nation Like New Brooms

COREY FORD

TWO years ago it was Character Analysis and Twenty Questions, last year it was What'll We Do Noiv?, and now we have Baffle Parties; and that, my little tots, is why Grandpa Corey is rapidly getting known as a sour old recluse who never sticks his nose out of doors, and wouldn't come to a week-end except over the hostess's dead body.

The rules of this latest one are simple. From a book entitled The Baffle Book or Murder, containing some twenty or thirty unsolved mysteries, your hostess picks a particularly juicy one, reads aloud to the assembled guests all the gory details, displays a ground-plan of the library where the crime took place, and then hands you a pencil and paper. All you have to do is to put two and two together and find out who murdered the Duchess. The correct answers are sealed in an envelope, or printed upside down in the back of the book (as if that would stop anybody who really wanted to find out!) ; and after you have written down your theories, you can compare your solution with the correct one, and rate your detective ability according to an elaborate system of credits. And if this game is any real test of detective ability, it's a cinch I ought not to be allowed out alone after dark. So far I haven't guessed a problem yet.

WHICH is really why, in self defense, have prepared the following Baffle Book of my own, containing several knotty problems for someone else to solve. Read the text of each mystery carefully and consider the questions you are asked at the end of it. Observe the clues, deduce, reason—don't guess or jump to conclusions. When you admit yourself completely baffled, then turn to the Answer Section. The correct solutions are all printed upsidedown at the end of this article.

Anti there, gentle reader, is where I get the breaks for once. 1 know them already.

No. i.

THE CURIOUS DEATH OF DR. McVEEDIE ARNTZ

The murder of McVeedie Arntz, M.D., a prominent dental physician residing on West End Avenue in New York City, must always rank among the most bizarre mysteries in the annals of American crime. W ho committed the dastardly deed and why it was committed will present the reader, as it did Detective Reasonably, with several knotty problems in the intricate art of crime detection.

It is seldom that a toothbrush has been an important factor in the solution of a vexing murder mystery; but it is probable that no toothbrush ever had less to do with a murder than the toothbrush found hanging in the bathroom of Dr. McVeedie Arntz, who was later discovered lying in his library, his body punctured by a quaint Oriental dagger, three bullets buried in his heart, and his head completely severed from his shoulders—dead.

The unfortunate physician was discovered at 5:4i a.m. on Tuesday by his housekeeper, Mrs. Tillie, lying on his stomach in the center of the carpet; but in her subsequent report to the police Mrs. Tillie explained that she had assumed he was merely looking for fourleaf clovers, of which he was very fond, and that she had had no idea that he was dead. Her belief that he was not dead wras further strengthened by the fact that the Doctor had risen on one elbow as she entered the room and said distinctly: "You may go now, Mrs. Tillie." Three days later, at precisely 7:20 p.m., the butler, Meadow's, happened to glance into the library and noted that the rest of the body was as Mrs. Tillie had described, but that the head was missing. His suspicions were aroused, and he summoned the police at once.

The fact that the head of Dr. Arntz was nowhere to be found pointed emphatically to the theory of suicide, and local police were ready to dismiss the case when Detective Reasonably of Scotland Yard arrived on the scene. Detective Reasonably disposed of the suicide theory at once by discovering, clutched in Dr. Arntz's left hand, a torn half of a woman's lace handkerchief with the initial "F'. which proved that it was a case of downright murder. His conclusion was subsequently strengthened by the discovery of a note in Dr. Arntz's pocket stating: "This is not suicide, but a case of downright murder. McV. Arntz, M.D."

The detective then proceeded to investigate more thoroughly the library in which the tragedy—if tragedy it he—occurred; and he discovered several important items which bade fair to throw some light on the case. In the first place, the large grandfather's clock on the mantel had stopped precisely at 11:48 on Wednesday, the day after Mrs. Tillie first noticed the body lying on the carpet. Moreover, among the charred ashes in the fireplace, Detective Reasonably came upon three scraps of paper which, when fitted together, proved to be a section of a torn circular for the Book-ofthe-Month Club, containing on one side a partial list of the advantages of membership in this organization, and on the other side the upper half of a portrait of Heyw'ood Broun. Mr. Broun, it may be said, was later fully exonerated by the police.

FINALLY the detective discovered on the highly waxed floor of the library the unmistakable tracks of a pair of roller-skates, which led from the low French windows to the fireplace, thence to the body of the slain dentist, and thence twice around the library table in the form of a figure "8*' and straight to a clothes closet, where they abruptly ceased.

With the help of another detective, Reasonably forced open this clothes closet, and discovered inside it a woman who gave her name as Frieda, and who could offer no reasonable explanation of how she happened to be in there, except that she was waiting for a trolley car. In her left hand she clutched the torn half of a lace handkerchief, similar to the lace handkerchief clutched by Dr. Arntz, and in her right hand a revolver from which exactly three bullets had been emptied. In addition, she wore roller skates.

With these facts at his disposal, Detective Reasonably was able to identify the murderer of Dr. Arntz. Had you been Detective Reasonably, what would you have done? The questions to be answered are:

1. Who was the murderer of Dr. Arntz? (Credit 3.)

2. How did Detective Reasonably reacli this conclusion? (Credit y.)

(See Answer Section, page 98)

No. 9.

THE THEFT OF THE EAST TWITCHERLY FIRST NATIONAL BANK

Probably no mystery case in recent years has proven more spectacular than the daring theft, in broad daylight, of the First National Bank of East Twitcherly. Although bank robberies have featured police records for some time, the East Twitcherly crime is unique in that it is the first case on record in which the robbers stole not only the contents of the bank, but the bank itself. How would you explain the baffling mystery?

FIND THE MYSTERY!

A New and Even More Fascinating Game for Adults Interested in Such Things Solution to Case No. 64

THE ATROCIOUS MURDER OF EBENEZER FROBISHER, BART.

1. Isabelle La Rue murdered Ebenezer Frobisher in his library with a small blunt instrument, like a pencil sharpener. (Credit 3.) She escaped up Fifth Avenue on a bicycle, throwing the police off her trail by putting the tires on backwards, thus giving the effect of going in tlve opposite direction. In order to confuse them even further, she also wore snow-shoes (Spalding's (Credit 2)).

2. The body of Frobisher was strapped to the handle-bars, and passersby on the Avenue thought nothing of it at the time, except perhaps to wonder why Forbisher was not wearing his bicycle-clips. His body was passed through an open window of the Union Club and deposited in a chair, where it was not discovered till three months later and then by a non-resident member. (Credit 5.)

3. The murder was committed by Isabelle in defense of her virtue. (Credit Isabelle)

You Now Have All the Solutions to Case Number 64.

WHAT WAS THE MYSTERY?

Continued on page 94

Continued from page 73

On the morning of January third, the citizens of Tuppence, Vermont, were aroused by the sight of a stranger passing through town with a suspicious limp. They did nothing about it, however, and the stranger disappeared. lie was never heard from again.

In tlie meantime, however, the police of East Twitcherly, Nebraska, received an excited telephone call one morning three weeks later that the First National Bank on Main Street was missing. Upon investigation it was found that the bank had been stolen and that the President, a Mr. Peters, had likewise disappeared.

The First National Bank of Twitcherly was a handsome two-story building in the Grecian style, composed of red brick and flanked with four marble columns made of cement and weighing four tons each. It faced directly on Main Street, two doors from the corner of Juniper Street. On one side of the Bank Building was an Atlantic and Pacific Tea Store, and on the other side was a small Pet Shop owned by a man named Harry Geebs and containing, in addition to the owner, a number of dogs, cats, marmosets and goldfish. lie also repaired Irish Mails.

The robber, or robbers, had done his, or her, job well. In place of the missing Bank they had sought to avert suspicion by substituting an uncanny imitation of the original building, which was likewise in the Grecian style, two stories high, composed of red brick and flanked by four marble columns made of cement and weighing four tons each; but instead of the familiar sign over the door "First National Bank," this clever reproduction bore the legend "Whale Blubber Bought and Sold." Inasmuch as there was little call for whale blubber in Fast Twitcherly, either to buy or to sell, the robbers were in no danger of being disturbed by inquisitive customers. Of the original bank building there was not a trace.

At the time of its mysterious disappearance the First National Bank had contained over four thousand dollars in nickels, in addition to a number of blank checks which could of course he filled out by the criminals at their leisure. After considering the matter thoroughly Sergeant Runkle, who was called in on the case, came to the conclusion that the motive of the robbery was theft. The clerk in the Atlantic and Pacific Tea Store was instantly freed of all suspicion when it was learned that he had been employed formerly as an usher in Roxy's Theatre; and consequently the finger of the law pointed to the proprietor of the Pet Shop, Ilarry Geebs. Geebs was a short, stocky man of middle age, with a red beard, who had once been a singing waiter at Tony Pastor's before be was demob ished. lie vigorously denied all know], edge of the crime, claiming that he had been busy in the back of his shop all night, polishing goldfish. Sergeant Runkle, however, pointed out that instead of polishing goldfish Geebs might just as easily have been digging a tunnel under his store into the vaults of the First National Bank next door. Geebs explained triumphantly that this was impossible since there was no tunnel; but Sergeant Runkle, not to be outdone, promptly countered by digging one. On the strength of this proof, Geebs was searched, and in his pocket was found a nickel. lie was arrested.

A second baffling feature of the case was the prolonged disappearance of President Peters. This mystery was finally cleared up by Mr. Peters himself, who walked out of the blubber stoic unassisted four days later. He could not explain how lie had come to be in there. The few known facts are summarized in his naive account of the strange affair, which he submitted to the police:

''On the morning of January 21th, T was seated in the vaults of the First National Bank, counting nickels, when three masked men entered, introduced themselves as representatives of the Old Gold Gigarette Company, and asked me if I would consent to a blindfold test. I was rather flattered by tliis tribute to my prominent position—not to mention the remuneration—and consented to he blindfolded, after which they put a cigarette into my mouth and lit it for me. At the end of four days I began to grow suspicious, so 1 removed my blindfold and discovered that the rascals had disappeared, taking my keys and, apparently, the Bank."

Acting upon the information contained in this story, Sergeant Runkle was able to arrive at several important conclusions. How would you have reasoned and acted in this emergency.'' 1 he questions to he answered are:

1. Who was the "Master Mind" of the gang that stole the Bank? (Credit 5.)

2. Vi hat was the connection between the stranger in Tuppence, Vermont, and the robbery in Fast Twitcherly? (Credit 5.)

(See Answer Section, Page 98)

No. 14

THE WEEK-END MURDER MYSTERY

'I he cold-blooded murder of Lady IVcskit in her palatial home on Long Island evoked considerable consternation among other hostesses, and caused at least two or three similar week-end parties that season to be indefinitely postponed. What would you have done if you had been a guest that Friday at Liberty Hall?

Lady Gertrude Weskit was one of the most charming dowagers of the Southampton set, and her week-ends were noted for their lavish entertainments and for the solicitude with which she saw that her guests had a good time. Lady Weskit spared no effort to keep her visitors amused; and riding, swimming, hunting, tennis, golf and indoor sports were only a few of the activities in which the members of the party indulged.

Continued on page 98

Continued from page 94

On the night of Friday, March 3rd, Lady Weskit had invited a dozen friends to Liberty Hall for "just a quiet little week-end", as she put it. The guests, who looked forward with pleasure to several blissful days idling on the sand, arrived eagerly that evening, and were met at the train by Lady Weskit, who promptly organized a game of charades driving home in the motor. This was followed after dinner by Twenty Questionsr. which lasted until dawn. On Saturday the day was spent in successive rounds of Laddergrams, Guggenheim, What'll We Do Now?, Anagrams, and Handwriting Tests. Early Sunday morning, after three hours' sleep, the guests were roused, fed. and then herded around a large circular table. At the subsequent coroner's inquest the butler, Jenkins, observed that the guests appeared drawn and haggard, and that each of them carried a small, heavy object in his right-hand coat pocket. Furthermore one of them was heard to point out to Lady Weskit in an ominous voice that there were just thirteen of them at the table.

According to the testimony of the butler Lady Weskit ignored this hint, and produced a book called The Baffle Book of Crimes to Solve, from which she began to explain the rules of this newest game. This is the last that is known of Lady Weskit. A moment later, in the servants' quarters, the butler heard twelve distinct shots fired in quick succession; and upon rushing back to the scene he found Lady Weskit reclining upon the table in a grotesque position, her hand still clutching the Baffle Book. On the floor beside her were twelve assorted revolvers, each with a single chamber exploded.

The guests all left for town quietly by the afternoon train.

The question to be answered is: 1. What was the crime? (Credit 10.)

ANSWER SECTION

The only crime was the fact. that they didn’t shoot sooner. (Credit 10.)

THE WEEK-END MURDER MYSTERY

Solution to Case Number 14.

After diligent search of Geebs’ pet hop had failed to reveal the missing bank, he was reluctantly released. President Peters resumed his business in the Whale Blubber Store, which subsequently became known as the Second National Bank. The First Na- tional Bank was never recovered.

2. In both the case of the myste- rious stranger in Tuppence, Vermont, and the robbery in East Twitcherly, the name of the town begins with a “T”. (Credit 5.)

1. The “Master Mind” was, of course, Mr. Wu. (Credit 5.)

TWITCH ERLY FIRST NATIONAL BANK

Solution to Case Number 9.

2. Detective Reasonably reached this conclusion by looking uj> the solution in the back of the book. (Credit 7.) Frieda subsequently confessed to the murder of the dentist. It seems she had come to get her tooth fixed, and he had said to her: “This isn’t going to hurt!” She was completely exonerated later by the jury. The head of Dr. Arntz was never found.

1. The murderer of Dr. Arnlz was the woman in the clothes closet. (Credit 3.)

THE CURIOUS DEATH OF DR. McVEEDIE ARNTZ

Solution to Case Number 1.