Radio and television mirror (May-Oct 1940)

Max Fisher hurried in. He had been summoned by telephone and he carried Arnold's strong-box, taken from the bank. But when they looked into it, expecting to find securities worth $1,625,000, they had a new surprise. There was nothing there but a $100,000 life insurance policy, naming Dr. Stephen Howell as beneficiary — and a note which read: "Dear Waldo, Cora and Anthony: Take my advice— -don't bet on sure things. Also, don't bet with a professional gambler. But if you have to bet, make the other fellow cover. The joke's on all of you, I'm afraid. To Mr. EUery Queen I bequeath an interesting case. Happy hunting. Queen!" THE double-crossing old humor' ist!" EUery growled. "Velie!" shouted Inspector Queen. "Get Doc Prouty to rush an autopsy report on Arnold's body! I'm going to crack this joke right now!" The next morning Ellery was with his father in the latter's office at headquarters, the medical report spread out on the desk before them. It stated that Arnold Arnold had been murdered, had died from a heavy blow on the skull with some hard, heavy object — and that — Dr. Howell came into the office. He looked as if he hadn't slept and his eyes were red-rimmed. "Dr. Howell," Inspector Queen said directly, "my son tells me you insisted Arnold was about to die from a heart ailment. Yet the autopsy report here says that his heart was as sound as a dollar! Not a sign of heart disease in any form!" There was a long silence. Howell seemed to wilt. At last he said in a low voice, "Yes. That is true. Except for his partial paralysis, he was perfectly healthy." "And not only that, but he left a brother, a niece and a nephew — yet his insurance policy, his entire estate, is made payable not to them, but to you — a stranger!" "I may as well tell you the whole truth," Howell said wearily. "Arnold Arnold was my — father. I can prove it, although it's been kept a secret from everyone, even Uncle Waldo. No one knew my father had ever been married. He kept it a secret because he was afraid his profession — gambling— would hurt my career. He always wanted me to be a physician. "Um. That explains why he made you his beneficiary — but not why you said he had a bad heart condition." "He made me. He was in trouble — owed a hundred thousand dollars to a gambler named Louie Mott." "Oh, so that's where Louie comes in," Inspector Queen remarked. "Yes. Mott was threatening to kill Father for welching on the debt, and he had to keep out of Mott's way, so he asked me to help him rig up a serious illness." "But why did he make those crazy bets?" "I think I can answer that, Dad," Ellery put in. "Arnold was afraid Louie would kill him. But how would Louie get the money if he did? Probably he knew of the insurance policy — remember, he was posing as an insurance agent — and he intended to force Arnold to change his beneficiary — to make the policy payable to Louie! Consider Arnold's position — flat broke, at the sorry end of a long life. All he had was his insurance, and it was worthless until he died. His only thought must have been to keep Louie Mott from getting that insurance, so his son could collect." "You mean he — wanted to die?" "Yes, Dad. And he was too healthy to die naturally for many years; suicide was out of the question because the policy was less than two years old and the company wouldn't honor it if he killed himself — so he planned his own murder." "Good Lord!" murmured Howell. "No wonder he was so tight-mouthed with me! I thought it was just a crazy whim!" "And," Ellery went on, "he called me in because if his plan didn't work — if none of the three people he tempted did murder him — he was ready to kill himself in some fashion that would make his death look like murder. And he wanted me on hand to substantiate the fact that he'd been done away with." "Well, his plan worked all right," Inspector Queen growled, "and it looks as if the murderer was getting away with it." WHEN Howell had gone, Ellery murmured, "I can't figure out that business of the glass ball! The one Arnold had was solid — yet after his death it was gone and all we found were the remains of a broken glass bubble. Somebody substituted that for the solid one — and if we only knew who, and why, we'd have the murderer." "Anybody could have done it," Inspector Queen reminded him. "Waldo, Ross, Cora Moore and Howell himself were all in Arnold's room a few hours AUGUST, 1940 65