Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1900-09-11
CHAPTER x1,
A RECONSTRUCTED DRAMA

A RECONSTRUCTED DRAMA
AS he spoke, sturgis handed Dunlap
the sheet Of paper upon which he hao
traced plan OF the Knickeroookef
bank.
"From this point on" he continued.
"I have indicated the various trails on
the diagram. The dotted lines repre-.
sent Arbogast's footprints; the CON
tinuous lines show Chatham's trail"
"How can you distinguish between
the two?" inquired Dunlap.
very marked. know now 1Arbogast's foot
because I have seen it; and know
that the other one is Chatham's be-
cause you recognized the. man from
the description / gave of him"
eyes, know. But how could you
describe him SO accurately when you
have never seen him?"
II shall come to that presently" said
sturgis, smiling; you must let me
tell my story in my own way, If am
to tell 1t connectedly"
Very well, said the banker, resign
edly. Hold on, though" he e1-
claimedl you speak Of two sets Of
trails, but what is this third set Of
lines, marked by alternate dots and
dashes?"
'SThey represent the traces of third
individual, who will appear upon the
scene later on. He has not yet re-
ceived his Que. But, since you mention
him, we may put him down in the cast
as * the unknown quantity of the
problem, for I do not yet know his
name. Now, then; let me see. Where
was II Your interruption has made
me lose the thread. Oh, yes; the men
were In this room. Arbogast, nervous
and excited, paced back and forth,
like Gagged animal. Chatham was
more collected. It was warm In the
bank, as compared with the intense
cold outside; he removed his overooat
and threw 1t over the back of that
chair in the corner. This fact is
shown by the direction of the footsteps
toward the chair, and by mark d.
rectly below the arm of the chair
where the garment trailed 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 approximation
uppermost. Here is the envelope 1t
self, which have pieced together.
You will see that tits 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 eye, 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, OF 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 1t together. It
makes interesting reading. I do not
wonder that Arbogast lost his head
when he saw 1t. 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
nameis typewriter, like the rest of the
letter. which, moreover. was not writ
ten here. as the superscription would
seem to indicute. have 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 imperfections of the
tyre. A