Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-11-22

more collected. 1t was warm in the
bank, as compared with the intense
cold outside; he removed his overcoat
and threw it over the back of that
chair in the corner. This fact is
shown by the direction of the footsteps
toward the chair, and by a mark di-
rectly below the arm of the chair
where the garment trafled upon the
wet floor. Chatham's carelessness was
fraught with serious consequences;
for, as luck would have it, there was,
in one of the pockets of his coat, an
important letter, which slipped out
and fell upon the floor superscriptio
uppermost. Here is the envelope it
self, which have pieced together.
You will see that it is soiled only upon
the back, and here near the chair is
the faint oblong, mark which is left
upon the floor. Chatham went to the
telephone in the cashiers office. He
probably did not see the letter fall.
1t caught Arbogast's seye, however;
and you can imagine his surprise when
he saw that it was addressed to his
wife. What had his accomplice to
write to his wife?, Arbogast evidently
was not restrained by any feelings of
delicacy in the matter, or else he was
already suspicious Of Chatham; for
he picked up the envelope, tore it open,
and read the letter which lies before
you, as have pieced it together. It
makes interesting reading. do not
wonder that Arhogast lost his head
when he saw it. Read it for yourself"
"Why," exclaimed Dunlap, after read
ing the letter, this announces his in.
tention of committing suicide"
Precisely; and yet Arbogast did not
commit suicide; probably never had
any intention of doing so; and, at any.
rate, did not write that letter. You
will observe that it is not signed: the
name is typewri1ten, ikeyt rest ofthe
letter, which, moreover; was not writ
| ten here, as the superscription- would
seem to indicate. Ihaye tried your
typewriter, and although it is of the
same make as the one upon which this
| letter was written, there are several
characteristic differences in; the align
| ment and in the imperfectiens of the
| type.
"Besides," continued Sturgis,
thoughtfully, ''the letter itself bears
evidence, on it's face; that ifscould not
have been written by Arbogast. Your
bookkeeper was of weak, nervous, ex-
citable tcmperament,t asall his actions
| plainly show. Before such q man is
brought to the point of-takings his own
life, he, must have passed through a
more or less protracted period of ago
nizing nervous tension, of which you
and / can hardly form any. adequate
conception. Under the circumstances,
if he loved his wife, conscious that by
his guilt he was about to plunge her
into the depths of grief and shame, he
might have written her an incoherent
and hysterical letter, or tender and
repentant letter, but never this frigid,
matter-of-fact statement of supreme
decision: This letter is the work of q
Geld and calculating nature, incapable
of ordinary human feeling. The man
who wrote-it would not have written
| to his wife at all, or would have written
| only to serve some selfish purpose.
From what 1 know of Arbogast, I do
not believe he was capable of compos-
ing these lines"
You think, then, that the letter was
written by Chatham" said Dunlap.
"But what object could Chatham have
for writing such a letter."
! "No," answered Sturgis. ST do not
think that Chatham wrote this letter.
That is the curious part of it. Icannot
believe that if Chatham had been
aware of the important nature of its
contents, hescouldshave been willing to
leave it for an instant within Arbo-
CASTS reach"
But who, then, could have been its
author, and why should he have in
trusted the letter to Chatham?"
"Toyour second question, my answcr
is, probably because he wanted it
mailed from the main post Office at
about the time that Arbogast would
leave the bank. To the first, cannot
yet give any positive answer, although,
as you will presently see, there are
sone cieWs pointing TO our unknown
quantity X as the author of this let
ter. But let us notanticipate. Suppose
we return to our drama. When Arbo-
| CAST read this letter, he evidently
thought, as l do, that somebody was
/ playing him false; that he was to be
gotten rid, of in some safer way than
exile; in short, that, as somebody said
/ of one of the Turkish sultans, he was to
be 'suicided.' He must have had strong
reasons to suspect Chatham of treach-
cry; for he at once impulsively jumped
/ to the conclusion that his only chance
of safety lay in striking before he
i could be struck, AT any rate, while the
accountant was busy at the telephone,
Arbogast stood near this desk, mechan-
ically tearing to pieces this letter,
while he planned the accountants
death. He had taken with him your re-
volver. AS the thought of it flashed
upon his mind, his resolution was in
stantly taken. He stealthily crept to
the paying teller's wicket. Through it
he could see the telephone closet, the