The Benson Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine Page B

usually came in contact, was an enigma to him.
    At length he relinquished his scrutiny, and drew up his chair to the table with a spirited air.
    â€œAnd now, Mr. Markham,” he said crisply, “we’d better outline our activities so as not to duplicate our efforts. The sooner I get my men started, the better.”
    Markham assented readily.
    â€œThe investigation is entirely up to you, Sergean I’m here to help wherever I’m needed.”
    â€œThat’s very kind of you, sir,” Heath returned. “But it looks to me as though there’d be enough work for all parties…. Suppose I get to work on running down the owner of the handbag, and send some men out scouting among Benson’s night-life cronies—I can pick up some names from the housekeeper, and they’ll be a good starting point. And I’ll get after that Cadillac, too…. Then we ought to look into his lady friends—I guess he had enough of ’em.”
    â€œI may get something out of the Major along that line,” supplied Markham. “He’ll tell me anything I want to know. And I can also look into Benson’s business associates through the same channel.”
    â€œI was going to suggest that you could do that better than I could,” Heath rejoined. “We ought to run into something pretty quick that’ll give us a line to go on. And I’ve got an idea that when we locate the lady he took to dinner last night and brought back here, we’ll know a lot more than we do now.”
    â€œOr a lot less,” murmured Vance.
    Heath looked up quickly, and grunted with an air of massive petulance.
    â€œLet me tell you something, Mr. Vance,” he said, “since I understand you want to learn something about these affairs: when anything goes seriously wrong in this world, it’s pretty safe to look for a woman in the case.”
    â€œAh, yes,” smiled Vance. “
Cherchez la femme
—an aged notion. Even the Romans laboured under the superstition—they expressed it with
Dux femina facti
.”
    â€œHowever they expressed it,” retorted Heath, “they had the right idea. And don’t let ’em tell you different.”
    Again Markham diplomatically intervened.
    â€œThat point will be settled very soon, I hope…. And now, Sergeant, if you’ve nothing else to suggest, I’ll be getting along. I told Major Benson I’d see him at lunch-time; and I may have some news for you by to-night.”
    â€œRight,” assented Heath. “I’m going to stick around here for a while and see if there’s anything I overlooked. I’ll arrange for a guard outside and also for a man inside to keep an eye on the Platz woman. Then I’ll see the reporters and let them in on the disappearing Cadillac and Mr. Vance’s mysterious revolver in the secret drawer. I guess that ought to hold ’em. If I find out anything, I’ll ’phone you.”
    When he had shaken hands with the District Attorney, he turned to Vance.
    â€œGood-bye, sir,” he said pleasantly, much to my surprise, and to Markham’s, too, I imagine. “I hope you learned something this morning.”
    â€œYou’d be positively dumbfounded, Sergeant, at all I did learn,” Vance answered carelessly.
    Again I noted the look of shrewd scrutiny in Heath’s eyes; but in a second it was gone.
    â€œWell, I’m glad of that,” was his perfurctory reply.
    Markham, Vance and I went out, and the patrolman on duty hailed a taxicab for us.
    â€œSo that’s the way our lofty
gendarmerie
approaches the mysterious wherefores of criminal enterprise—eh?” mused Vance, as we started on our way across town. “Markham, old dear, how do these robust lads ever succeed in running down a culprit?”
    â€œYou have witnessed only the barest preliminaries,” Markham explained. “There are certain things that must be done as a