Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-30

hunter"
/, "Ah!" retorted the reporter, "the
game is not an equal one. The dice are
loaded. For while on the one hand
the detective, il he falls into an error,
has lifetime in which to correct it,
any misstep on the part of the criminal
is fatal. And who is infallihle?"
mot the detective, at any rate" an
swered Murdoch, with suavc irony. cit
has always seemed to me that the halo
which has been conferred upon him.
chiefly through the efforts of imagin-
ative writers of sensational fiction, is
entirely undeserved. In the first place,
most of the crimes of which we hear
are committed either by men of low
order OF intelligence or else by madmen,
in which latter category include all
criminals acting under the impulse of
any of the passions-hatred, love. ieal-
ousy, anger. And then, willie the de-
tective takes good care that his sue
cesses shall be proclaimed from the
housetops, he is equally careful to
smother all accounts, or TO suppress
every detail, of his failures, whenever
there is any possibility of so doing.
You can cite, know, plenty of cases
in which, even after the lapse of years,
the crime has been discovered and the
criminal has been confronted with his
guilt, but"
"In my opinion" piped the shrill voice
of an elderly man of clerical aspect,
| coso &c
after ALL"
"Conscience!" retorted Murdoch,
calmly; "the word is a euphemism.
Man gives the name of conscience to
his fear of discovery and punishment.
There is no such thing as conscience in
the criminal who has absolute conf
dence in his power to escape detec-
ton"
"But where is the man who can have
that superb confidence In HIMSELF"
asked Sprague.
| Ellis name is probably legion" an
swered Murdoch, quickly. He is the
author of every crime whose history
remains forever unwritten."
"And are these really so numerous"
"Let us see how the case stands in
one single class of crime-say, for in
stance, murder. Whenever the solu-
ton of sensational murder mystery
is effected by the detectives, or by their
allies, the gentlemen of the press, like
our friend Mr.. Sturgis, we, the gullible
public, vociferously applaud the
achievements of these guardians of
the public safety, and forthwith pro-
coed to award them niche in the tenn
| pie Of Fame. So far, SO good. But
what of the dark mysteries which re-
main forever unsolved? What of the
numerous crimes of which no one ever
even knows?"
"Oh! come now, DOCTOR" laughed
Sprague, isn't it rather paradoxical to
base your argument on the assumption
of crimes of whose very existence you
admit you have no knowledge"
| Murdoch smiled grimly as he replied:
go to the morgue of any large city,
where the unrecognized dead are ex-
posed for Identification Aside from the
morbid crowd which is drawn to such a
place by uncanny curiosity, you will
find that each corpse is anxiously
scanned by numbers of people, each of
whom is seeking missing friend or
relative. At the most each body can
furnish the key to only one mystery.
Then what of the scores, ay, the hun
dreds of others?"
After short pause. he continued:
"No; murder will not out-at least
not when the criminal is what might
call professional, a man of genius in
his vocation, educated, intelligent, dis
passionate, scientific. Fortunately for
the reputation of the detective, anna
teur and professional, the genius in the
criminal line is necessarily of modest
and retiring disposition. He cannot
call the public attention to his ingenu-
lty and skill; he cannot puff his achieve
ments in the daily press. Not only are
his masterpieces unsigned, but they re-
main forever unheard of. The detec-
tive is known only by his successes;
| the criminals reputation is based sole
ly upon his failures"
DR.. Murdoch delivered this parting
shot with the cool deliberateness which
was characteristic of the man. The in
solent irony of his words was empha-
sized by the calmness of his bearing.
Il say, DOCTOR" laughed Sprague,
you have missed your vocation. You
should have adopted the profession of
scientific criminal yourself. You seem
to possess the theory of the science as
it is, and little experience would no
doubt have made You an adept in the
practice as we'll"
A look Of mild amusement passed
over Murdock's countenance.
Perhaps you are right, Mr.. Sprague.
AT any rate, think may affirm. with
out overweening conceit, that if had
followed the course you suggest. |
could have prepared for your friend
Mr.. Sturgis some pretty little problems
on which to sharpen his wits. 1 feel
that l could have been an artist as well
as scientist in that line"
"4ou might console yourself by writ
ing an interesting and valuable book,
under some such title as Hints to the
| Young Criminal or Crime nc n E;po