The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-27


"A capital point, Mr.. Barnes" said
Mr.. Mitchell .You were certainly shrewd
TO suspect fraud so early"
We'll, cannot say that / suspected
fraud SO soon, but the story was SO I'M
likely that / could not believe it imme-
diately. 1 therefore was what might
call analytically attentive during the
rest of the interview. The next point
worth noting which came out was that
although he had forgotten himself he
had not forgotten New York, for he adj
mitted having come to me without
special guidance
Il remember that interrupted Mr..
Goldie, land think / even said to you
at the time that it was significant"
And / told you that it at least showed
that you had been familiar with New
York. This was better proven when you
said that you would spend the day at
Central Park, and when, after leaving
here, you had no difficulty to find your
way thither''
DO you mean to say that you had me
followed? l made sure that no one was
after me-
Well, yes, you We're followed" said
Mr.. Barnes, with a smile. II had a
spy after you. and L followed you as far
as the park myself. But let me come to
the other points in your interview and
my deductions. You told me that you
had registered as M. J. G.. Remington
This helped me considerably, as we shall
see presently. A few minutes later you
took out your watch, and In that little
mirror over my desk, which l use occa-
Sionally when l. turn my back upon a
visitor, / noted that there was an in
scription on the outside of the case. l
turned and asked you something about
the watch, when you hastily returned
1T to your pocket, with the remark that
it was an old family relic Now, can
that, supposing that you had forgotten
who you were?"
Neatly caught, Goldie," laughed Mr..
Mitchell. you certainly made mess Of
1T there"
TT was an asinine Slip" said Mr.
Goldie, laughing also
Nov Them continued Mr.. Barnes,
you readily see that / had good reason
for believing that you had not forgotten
your name. On the contrary, 1 was
positive that your name was part of
the inscription on the watch. What,
then, could be your purpose in pretend
ing otherwise? / did not discover that
for some time. However, l decided to
go ahead and find YOU out if l could.
Next 1 noted two things. Your coat
opened once so that T. saw. pinned to
your vest, a bicycle badge, which /
recognized as the emblem of the League
of American Wheelmen.''
"Oh! Ohr' cried Mr.. Mitchell. Shame
on you, Goldie, for a blunderer."
Il had entirely forgotteH the badge"
said Mr.. Goldie.
II also Observed the detective went
on, little indentations on the sole of
your shoe, as you had your legs crossed,
which satisfied me that you were
rider even before observed the badge.
Now, then, we come to the name and
the significance thereof. Had you really
lost your memory the choosing of a
name when you registered at the hotel
would have been a haphazard matter
of no Importance to me. But as soon
as I decided that you were imposing
upon me knew that your choice of a
name had been deliberate act Of the
mind; one from which deductions could
be drawn
"Ah! Now we come to the interesting
part" said Mr.. Mitchell II love to fol-
low detective when he uses his
brains.''
''The name as registered, and I ex-
amined the registry myself to make
sure, was odd. Three initials are I'M
usual. A man without memory, and
would hardly have chosen so many
Then why had it been done in this in
stance? What more natural than that
these initials represented the true name?
In assuming an alias it is the most
common method to transpose the real
name in some way. At least it was
working hypothesis.
Then the last name might be very
significant. Remington The Reming-
tons make guns. sewing machines, type
was bicycle rider I was sure. If he
chose his own initials as a part of the
alias, it was possible that he selected
Remington because it was familiar to
him. l even imagined that he might be
an agent for Remington bicycles and
had arrived at that point during our
interview when / advised him not to
buy anything until his identity was re-
stored. But was sure of my quarry
when I stole a handkerchief from him
nd mi ia1c
j. g.. upon the same
Marked linen on your person!" ex-
claimed Mr.. Mitchell.
Worse and worse. Well never make
a successful criminal of you. Goldie"
Perhaps not. l shant cry over it,"
II felt sure of my success by this
time" continued Mr.. Barnes, yet at the
very next step 1 was baked. looked
over list of l.. A. w. members and
could not find name to fit my initials
which shows, as you will see presently,
that, as / may say, too many clews
spoil the broth Without the handker-
chief I would have done better. Next
I secured a catalogue of the Remingtons.
which gave a list of their authorized
agents, and again I failed. Returning
to my office l received information from
my spy, sent in by messenger, which
promised to open way for me. He mad
you about, Mr.. Goldie and l
must say you played your part very
well, so far as avoiding acquaintance
is concerned. But at last you went to a
public telephone and called up some one
MY man saw the Importance of dis
covering to whom you had spoken and
bribed thaftelephone attendant to give
him the information. All that he
learned, however. was that you had
spoken to the public station at the Fifth
avenue Hotel. My spy thought that
this was inconsequent, but it proved
to me at once that there was collision,
and that your man must have been at
the other station by previous appoint
ment. AS that was at noon, few min
utes before the same hour on the fol-
lowing day. that is to say, yesterday, I
went to the Fifth-avenue Hotel tele-
phone and secreted myself in the mid
die compartment, hoping to hear what
your partner might say to you. i failed
in this, as the boxes are too well made
to permit sound to pass from ono to the
other. but imagine my qualification to
see Mr.. Mitchell himself go into the
sox.' -sIs
And why?" asked Mr.. Mitchell
why, as soon as I saw you I COM
the whole scheme. 1t was
you who had concocted the little diver
sion to test my ability. Thus, at last,
understood the reason for the pre-
ended loss of identity. With the knowI-
edge that you were in it / was more
han ever determined to get at the facts
knowing that you We're nut. I FASTENED
"a vOI1r house hopiuer for a chat with