The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1900-08-24
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. TIE STURGTS WAGER !
A DETECTIVE STORY.
BY EDGAR NOR ETTE 4
Copyright 1902 by Frederick A. stoAesCo \
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Blood" exclaimed Dunlap; "whv.
with the carnage that you have i'm
ngined here, there should be oceans of
blood. Here is a man. running ar 1und
with wounded hand. who leaves a
few drops of blood on the telephone
receiver, and nowhere else. And here
is another man. shot through the
lungs-eNcuse me. through the upper
lobe of the left lung-who does not
bleed at all And where is he now?
Such a wound as you have given him
must, | take it. be fatal o.. at any
rate, serious Yet here is a dead or.
at least. dying man. calmly walking
off as if-as if 1.-The curtain had fallen
at the end of your drama. and the
corpse had hurried Off to his dress
ing-room,"
you have forgotten something
else" suggested the reporter, smiling.
Dunlap looked at him questioningly.
"Hes; you have forgotten the pistol
replaced in the drawer after Arbogast
was shot, and the doors of the bank
carefully locked"
True. No, my dear sir; your elab-
crate theory will not bear an instant's
calm examination"
"And yet reioined Sturgis. my con-
illusions, as far as they go. are abso-
lutely correct. Every objection which
you raise is plausible enough when
considered by itself; but we have not
TO deal with lot Of isolated facts.
but with "A series of connected events.
each of which depends upon and sup
ports all the others. Let me finish my
story, and | think you will then he
prepared to admit that what seems
TO you now flight of fancy on my
part. is nothing but a sober exposition
of plain. unvarnished facts
Dunlap. with a deprccating gesture,
settled back into his chair once more.
I'VE left Arbogast shot through the
left lung-fatally wounded. as you
have just remarked. lie probably fell
like a log; while Chatham. weak from
shock, leaned against the door iamb
yonder. lie had probably stanched his
wound with his free hand as he ran;
l have been unable to find any trace
of blood between the telephone and
this spot. On the door jamb, however
been completely wiped out and which
enabled me to judge of Chatham's
height. X was the only one of the
trio who knew what he was about at
this time. ! have genuine admira-
ton for 'N;' he must be man of mar
velous nerve. Instead of flying panic
stricken from the scene, as any or
binary criminal would have done, he
calmly proceeded to protect his retreat
and to Systematically cover his trail.
His first step was to lock the Wall
street gate and the inside door Quin-
Ian had doubtless pulled the outer
door to as he ran away, so that *
probably thought this also locked. He
then. with Chatham's assistance,
helped Arbogast. who was not vet
dead, and who perhaps by this time.
had regained consciousness. into tbs
cab which was waiting near 10y in Ex~
change place, where found the blood.
stains on the curb, as you will remem.
Der. After starting of his two ac-
completes in the cab. he returned to
the bank, put away the pistol in its
proper place, which, by the way, he
seems to have known, and washed up
all or nearly all the blood stains. There
is sponge and bucket under the sink
in the clerks room, which were used
in this operation. After, as he thought,
completely obiterating all traces of
the tragedy, he quietly walked OF by
. the Exchange place entrance, locked
the door and threw away the key.
All this, while Policeman Flynn was
chasing Quinlan. You will note thut'X,'
knowing nothing of the Quinlan cpl
sode, was quite justified in believing
that the shots had failed to attract
any attention outside of the bank.
Very likely he was disturbed by the
return of the policeman and Quinlan;
j cannot otherwise account Tor his hav-
ing left the gas burning. Had he had
the time, l feel confident that, with
his customary thoroughness, he would
have turned it out. AS TO my minute
description of Arbogast's wounds, there
is nothing remarkable in that. know
that the weapon used by * was yon-
der chair, because ] found par ticles of |
the bookkeeper's epidermis upon one |
of the legs, which was considerably les |
sened by the blow. But know exact
ly what the wounds were, because l
have examined them. l told you that
had seen Arbogast yesterday"
what" exclaimed Dunlap; you
mean after he was wounded?"
"Yes," replied Sturgis; mis- body is
at the morgue now. You might call
there this afternoon to identify II, If
you choose; but, everything consid-
cred 1t might be as well rot TO make
the Identification public until we are
well on the track of Chatham and our
friend *"
CHAPTER MI.
THE BooKKEEPER's CONFESSION.
Late that same evening Sturgis re-
turned to his lodgings, after busy day
spent in working upon the Knicker-