SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE RIDDLE OF THE MARBLE BLADE

"The Riddle of the Marble Blade" by Stuart Palmer  (first published in Mystery, November 1934; reprinted in The Saint Mystery Magazine [UK], November 1962; in The Saint Mystery Magazine, March 1963; in Uncollected Crimes, edited by Bill Pronzini & Martin H. Greenberg, 1987; in Hildegarde Withers:  Uncollected Cases by Palmer, 2002; available separately as an eBook from Wildside Press, 1922)

When George Kelley reviewed Hildegarde Withers:  Uncollected Cases three years ago (@GeorgeKelley.org, September 22, 2021), he called the stories in the collection "puzzle stories with a flare."  That they are.  Since George's review did not go into every story in the collection, I thought it fair to take a closer look at one of them.

Anyone who is unfamiliar with Palmer's spinster schoolteacher/detective, pay heed to the story's first sentence:

"In order to love her fellow man as she felt duty-bound to do, Miss Hildegarde Withers found it advisable to avoid humanity en masse whenever possible."

I defy anyone to not read further after that sentence.

New York City has shelled out ten thousand dollars in commission for a statue of George Washington by sculptor Manuel Dravid.  The sculpture, twice life-size, is to overlook the city's George Washington Uptown Swimming Pool Number Two (at the moment still an uncompleted hole) in Central Park.  But the statue has been completed and put into its place, and an official unveiling is to take place.  The mayor is making a long speech, and, off to the side, Dee Bryan,  the pretty eighteen-year-old daughter of the Park Commissioner has a firm hold on the release ropes that will lower the drapes over the statue on cue.  Dravid, the sculptor, was expected to be there for the ceremony, but he has not appeared.  Off to the rear of the crowd is Dravid's wife.  Also off to the rear is a strange thin, bearded man who seems to looking more at the draped statue than at the ceremony itself; this momentarily captures Dee's attention and she almost misses her cue to pull the rope.  Dee pulls the rope and it sticks.  Another person comes to help her jerk the rope and it finally releases and the drapes over the statue drop...the reveal the bloody body of the sculptor draped over the statue's arm.

Inspector Oscar Piper is flummoxed, and whenever Piper is flummoxed over a murder, he calls on Hildegarde Withers for assistance.  Dravid had been stabbed with some sort of  marble sword, part of which was still imbedded in the body.  When Hildegarde inspects the scene she finds some mysterious marble ships at the bottom of the statue.  Then, while inspecting the sculptor's studio, she cannot help but notice some of the bizarre works the Dravid had created, including an Earth Mother figure with a grotesque expression and a statue of the Three Fates which included four Fates.

Then word comes that Dee Bryan, the Park Commissioner's daughter is missing and presumed kidnapped.

Time is of the essence for Hildegarde to solve the murder if the girl is to be saved...

Stuart Palmer (1905-1968) began his fiction career in 1928 writing stories and one serialized novel for Ghost Stories magazine.  In 1931 he tied his hand at a mystery novel, producing the first Hildegarde Withers novel, The Penguin Pool Murders.  One of the inspirations in creating the character was the actress Edna May Oliver, who impressed Palmer when he saw her in the Broadway production of Showboat while writing the book; in a case of serendipity, Oliver went on to play Hildegarde Withers in three films.  In that first novel, Palmer described Hildegarde as one "whom the census enumerator had recently listed as 'spinster, born Boston, age thirty-nine, occupation school teacher'."  A further description reads, "A lean, angular spinster lady, her unusual hat and the black cotton umbrella she carries are her trademark...Hildegarde collects tropical fish, abhors alcohol and tobacco, and appears to have an irritable disposition.  However she is a romantic at heart and will extend herself to help young lovers."  To  my mind, Hildegarde Withers is one of the most formidable and readable amateur female detectives ever created, and perhaps the equal of Christie's Jane Marple.

There were fourteen novels about Hildegarde Withers published between 1931 and 1969; the last being completed by Fletcher Flora after Palmer's death.  In addition, Palmer wrote 44 short stories anbout the character which were published in six collections; several of the short stories were crossovers featuring Craig Rice's definitely un-Hildegarde character John J. Malone.  There were seven films made featuring Hildegarde Withers, including three with Edna May Oliver, one with Helen Broderick, two with Zazu Pitts, and a television movie starring Eve Arden.   There should have been another movie on this list.  a movie based on one of the Palmer-Rice collaborations, ended up eliminating the Wither character and replacing her with Marjorie Main as "Mrs.O'Malley" in Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone -- what were they thinking?  Supposedly, Agnes Moorhead also played Hildegarde at some point in her career, but I am unable to verify this -- can anyone help?

Palmer also wrote two novels about Howie Rook, a former newspaperman turned PI, and three other novels, one under the pseudonym "Jay Stewart."  Palmer also had a successful screenwriting career with 34 IDMb credits, including three films in the Bulldog Drummond series, one in the Lone Wolf series, and two in the Falcon series.