Willmar tribune., 1900-07-25

81 the bank another shot rang out, ana &C
the same instant q man darted down the
steps and ran toward Broadway"
Richard Dunlap, president Of the
Knickerbocker bank, was listening at
tentively enough now. Behind the calm
mask of the fnancier there was the Ell
dent anxiety of the bank president.
For the stability of a, bank, like the
honor of woman, is at the mercy Of
every passing rumor. ~
"IIe carried in his hand a small satchel,
which he dropped as soon as he saw that
he was pursued. After an exciting chase
Flynn overlook his man, whom he recog-
nized as Michael Quinlan, alias Shorty
Duff, well-knoWn- sneak thief. On the
way back to the bank the policeman ques-
toned his prisoner about the pistol shots.
Quinlan vehemently denied having fired
them: but admitted that he had stolen the
satchel. His story Is that, as he was
passing the bank, the outer door was ajar.
Seeing the satchel in the Vestibule, he en-
tered, crouching low in order to avoid be-
ing seen through the inner door, the upper
portion of which is of plate glass. Scarce
ly had he laid his hands upon the satchel
when he was startled by the report of a
pistol. For q moment he was dazed and
undecided how to act. Then, as no one
seemed to take any notice Of his presence,
he was quietly slipping off, when a second
shot was fired. ,Panic-stricken, he took to
his heels, only to be captured by Flynn.
ION reaching the bank Flynn found the
outer door closed, but not fastened. The
heavy iron gate between it and the inner
door was securely locked, however, so
that it was impossible to enter. The Knick-
erbocker bank has a second entrance on
Exchange place. But this, too, is protect
ed by massive iron gate, which also was
found locked. Flynn raped for assistance,
and the call having been answered by Po-
licemen Fitzpatrick and O'Donnell, he left
the former to watch the Exchange place
door, and the latter to guard the entrance
on Wall street, while he took his prisoner
to the police s station.
messengers were at once dispatched to
the house of Richard Dunlap. the presi-
dent of the bank, and to that of Mr.. George
not at home, and the family being out OF
town, there was no one who knew where he
was spending the evening""
Every eye turned toward Richard
Dunlap as this paragraph was read.
His features remained impassive, under
the full control of the veteran finan-
cier; but to an observant eye like Stur-
gis', the mans real anxiety was be-
trayed by the unconscious action of his
right hand, which lay upon the table
and played nervously with fork.
eyes," said the banker, carelessly,
feeling the curious gaze of the other
guests upon him, and answering their
unspoken questions, Eyes, that is true;
I did not tell my housekeeper that
was invited to dine by our friend
Sprague this evening. There was, of
course, no reason why I should. Well,
DR.. Murdock, did they find Ruther-
ford?"
Murdock had looked up while the
banker was speaking. he now leisure
ly found his place and continued the
reading of the article in the Tempest:
1.-THE cashier fortunately was at home,
and he hurried down town at once with his
set of bank keys. Two detectives from the
central office accompanied him. and the
three men carefully searched the premises.
They found nothing out of the way there,
except that three gas jets were lighted and
turned on full blaze. At first the detectives
were inclined to think that bank robbers
had gained an entrance to the building: and
that one of them, having caught sight of
Shorty Duff as he reached in to steal the
satchel from the vestibule, had fired upon
him. This would explain the pistol shots
heard by Flynn. A careful examination Of
the bank, however, failed to reveal any
trace of bullet.
"Thc valise, when opened, proved to con-
tain only change of linen for a man and a
few toilet articles of but slight intrinsic
no oho1 ir
cheap leather handbag, stamped in inita-
tion of alligator skin.
1.-THE police are now looking for it's owner
in the hope that he will be able to throw
some light on the mystery of the pistol
shots.''
When DIR. Murdock had finished read
ing, everybody, except Dunlap and
sturgis, looked disappointed. The
former settled back in his chair, the
muscles of his face relaxed, and the
anxious bank president once more be.
came the genial and polished man OF
the world. The reporter sat gazing
thoughtfully at his wineglass.
"Well, Mr.. Sturgis,'. said Murdock,
what do you think of my little prob.
lem?'
II have already been assigned to
work up this case for the Tempest" an.
swered the reporter, quietly.
Indeed? Perhaps you are the au.
thor of this very article? No? Then
are you willing to make the solution
of this little mystery the subject Of
our wager and the test of your theo.
ries?"
''Hold on, doctor,'' exclaimed
Sprague; "you are doing Sturgis an
injustice. Why pick out, as test o1
his ability, problem which, to all in
tents and purposes, has already been
solved by the police? Give him some
truly knotty question and he will be in
his element; and then, at least, some
interest will attach to your wager"
"Ah! you think the problem has al
ready been solved?"
ITO be sure. The article you have
read us started out as if it were going
to prove inte resting; but, instead o1
that, it ends in an anti-climax. What
is the crime here? The confessed theft
by a petty sneak thief, of a satche]
worth, with its contents, perhaps eight
or ten dollars. And where is the mys.
terry? The ownership Of few pieces OF
unmarked linen of SO little value that
the owner does not care to take the
trouble to claim them"
II cannot agree with you, Mr.
Sprague. While the crime in this case
may be a petty theft, it contains, to my
mind, interesting features, which you
appear to lose sight of in your disdain'
full summary. The problem, it seems
to me, involves a suitable explanation