Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1900-09-07

Va III
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"Well," said the banker, "if you can
make anything out of that gibberish,
your imagination is more active than
NINE"
at is not question of imagination"
said Sturgis; "let us proceed systemat-
ically. Here is telegram blank de-
tached from pad I found on Arbo-
CASTS desk, Compare its size with the
outline of the marks on the blotter,
and you will see, in the first place, that
the message would just fit snugly on
this sheet. Next, you will probably
admit that the first line Of marks on the
blotter probably contain date; the
second, name; the third, an address;
the last, signature, and the interme-
date lines. o message"
II am quits willing to concede SO
much; for no business man would be
likely to write a telegram differently"
"Yery we'll Now, then, let me hold
this blank % that the reflection of Its
vertical rulings may appear just above
the image Of the message. These lines.
remember, separate the words of the
message. Extend them mentally, and
note how they divide the letters of the
blotter. Will you hold these sheets
while transcribe the result?"
In few minutes more the reporter
h{g ~
the reflection in the mirror.
II don't see that you are any better
off now than you We're BEFORE" re-
marked Dunlap, examining the result.
"Wait minute. These vertical lines.
we say, divide the words of the message.
There are five words to the line; only
two on the last line before the sig
nature; that is to say, IL words in
the message. Now, consider the first
word. Evidently the 'G' begins this
MHrd d f me Il s Is g. eRa h 9Hg
ly enough where the word ends. Note
the space between the e and the e.
Have you ever taken the trouble to as
certain how constant in any given
handwriting is the space occupied by
the different letters? Try 1t some time.
Count the characters which you have
written in number of different lines,
reckoning spaces and punctuation
marks each as one character, and OBJ
serve how closely the results will
tally. Basing my conclusions on this
fact, I may safely affirm that the
first word of the message is Came
Gave Give or some other word of
four letters beginning with 'G' and
ending with e. I shall proceed to fill
up the balance of the message as l
read 1t between the letters"
Sturgis wrote slowly and carefully
for few minutes.
There; behold the result"
The message had now assumed this
form:
Thomas chatham. Dec 81. 1896
s ss%s south up sss Va, i s;lss;,
]. w. Arbogast.
Compare this with the reflection of
the original and tell me If you do not
now detect various isolated marks and
incomplete letters, all of which tally
with the text have inserted here"
Dunlap made the comparison.
II am obliged to admit that your con-
illusions now appear plausible" he re-
luctantly admitted.
Sturgis shrugged his shoulders.
well, call them plausible, and let us
proceed. Chatham kept the appoint
ment yesterday; but for some reason
Arbogast was delayed in leaving tie
bank. Perhaps the necessary prepare.
lions for his flight took longer than he
expected"
"You think he intended to abscond?"
why should he have changed the
combination Of his safe, as he did, If not
to give himself as much time as possible
to reach place of comparative safety
before the books could be examined %
asked Sturgis. Chatham, becoming
impatient, forgot the dictates of pru-
dence and started for the bank to as.
certain the cause of his accomplice's
delay. He met Arbogast at the Wall
street door. The two men reentered,
Arbogast setting down his satchel in
the vestibule and leaving the outer
door ajar, as Quinlan found it few
minutes later, when he stole the satch-
el. ] have every reason to believe that
1t was at Chatham's request that the
men returned. He wished to use the
telephone, and he did So"
your story is connected. and it is
certainly not lacking in Details" said
Dunlap,jncredulouslyi "in fact, the de-
tails are far too abundant for the evil
dence thus far advanced"
Every one of the details is based up
on facts" replied Sturgis. what
have accomplished thus far has been
simple enough. because luck has IA
vored US. Yesterday being cleaning
day at the bank, the floors were
scrubbed some time during the after
noon, before Arbogast was ready to
leave and before Chatham had arrived.
1t thus happens that almost every
footstep of the two men has remained
family but distinctly outlined upon the
wet floors, which have since dried, pre-
serving the record. The detectives last
night obliterated a portion OF this rec
ord. but they have lett trsusS snourh
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