The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-08-25
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: THE STURGlS WAGER :
J A DETECTIVE STORY. +
e y
y BY EDGAR MORETTE. E
& Copyright, 1899, by Frederick A. Stokes Co. y
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CHAPTER V.-CoNr1NuED.

CHAPTER V.-CoNT1NuED.
''Point FIVE" resumed Sturgis, 1.-THE
right arm was broken just above the
wrist"
eyes, said the physician, 81 thought
at first that the arm might have been
broken in the collision with the cable
car; but the discoloration of the flesh
proves conclusively that the fracture
occurred before DEATH"
Precisely. Now, it is possible that
the man broke his arm when he fell,
after being shot; but the confused
wound looks to me us if it had been
made by severe blow with some blunt
instrument"
POSSIBLY" admitted Thurston.
"This broken arm, if we can place
it in its proper chronological position,
may prove to be of some Importance in
the chain of evidence" unused Stur-
gis. eff the fracture occurred before
the man was shot, that, of course, ex-
cludes the possibility of suicide; but,
on the other hand, it also brings in an
obstacle to the hypothesis of muir
der"
GLOW SOP"
because we have settled, you will
remember, that the shotwas fired from
the right of the victim, and close to him.
Now, if he did not fire the shot himself
the person who did must have reached
over his right arm to do so In that
case, unless the victim was asleep or
stupefed, would he not instinctively
have raised his arm III self-defcnse, and
thus detected the weapon upward ?"
"Evidcntly."
'Well. it is idle to speculate on this
line for the present. Let us come to
point six. You remember I called
your particular attention to the cab
man. DO you still think he was only
drunk?"
''No," replied Thurston; "while he
had unquestionably been drinking
heavily, he also showed symptoms of
narcotic poisoning"
"Then the presumption is that he
had been drugged by those who wished
to place the wounded man in his cab.
/ observed him closely and am salts
fled that he knows as little about his
dead passenger as we do. He prob
ably knows less about him, at all
events, than the young man in the
sealslzin cap who gave the police the
slip during the excitement which fol-
lowed the overturning of the cab"
Sturgis paused moment.
"This, think" he continued, "cov-
oil tho oxyi1nvoo EOr fov
collected in the Cab Mystery. It. is
quite satisfactory, as far as it goes,
for it is circumstantial evidence, and,
therefore absolutely truthful. In the
Kniclerbocker bank mystery we have
as yet no satisfactory data whatever;
for everything we have heard concern
ing it has it's origin in the fallible evil
dence of witnesses, and has, more
over, reached us third or fourth hand.
There is, however. one fact that may,
or may not, prove to be important. Have
you noticed that these two mysteries
are contemporancous, and, therefore,
that they may be relatcd?"
"Do you think there is any connec-
ton between the two?'' inquired Thurs
ton, interested.
81 do rot allow myself to think about
it at all as yet" replied Sturgis; II
simply note the fact, that, so far as time
is concerned, the Cab Mystery could be
the sequel to the Knickcrbocker Bank
Mystery-that is all. Facts, my dear
boy, arc like words. a word is only
an assemblage of meaningless letters
until If hprn,nnc NJ with
by context. SO, a fact, which, stand
ing by itself, has no meaning, may,
when correlated with other facts, be-
come fraught with deep significance.
"And now" he continued, after
pause, ST thinl, our work is concluded
for the present. shall be able to lay
it aside for the night. Let me offer
you glass of sherry. Pleasant evening
we spent at Sprague's tonight. Ihave
a great admiration for him as an artist,
and great fondness for him as man.
Most of his friends are strangers to
me, though. You know / have very
little time to indulge in social dissipa-
ton. by the way, who is that DR..
Murdoch with whom l have made this
bet"
ooh! he is q physician. though now
retired from practice. lie devotes him.
self entirely to scientific research, es-
pecially in the domain of chemistry.
He has made some important discov-
cries in organic chemistry, and they
say he has succeeded in proving some
of the supposed elementary metals to
be compounds. He has quite an envi-
able reputation in the scientific world.
I understand he is Il remarkable man."
''That is evident at II glance. He
showed himself this evening to be
clear thinker and Il brilliant speaker.
] should say lie was something of
genius, and I should judge. moreover,
that he was a 1uan of magnificent nerve,
capable of the most heroic actions,
or"
Sturgis hesitated.
''Or-?" asked Thurston.
Cor of the most infamous cruelty
and crime. 1t all depends upon whcth-
er or not his great mental attributes
are under the control Of heart;
point upon which 1 am somewhat in
doubt"