Waterbury Democrat., 1900-11-20

"AH! THIS WILL DOL
 tentively enough now. Behind the calT1
 mask of the firancier there was the evil
 dent anxiety of the bank president.
 For the stability of a bank, like the
 honor of a woman, is at the mercy of every passing rumor.
 'IIc carried in his hand . small satchel, which he dropped as soon as he saw that he was pursued. After exciting chase
 Hymn 0VefIoOk his han, whom IIc rcc0E-
 nized Michael Quinlan, alias Shorty DUff a wel-knOwn sneak thief. On the way back to the bank the policeman Ques-
 toned his prisoner about the pistol shots. l Quinlan vehemently denied having fired
 them; but admitted that he had stolen the satchel. His story is that, as he was passing the bank, the outer door was ajar.
 Seeing the satchel in the vestibule, he en- tered, crouching low in order to avoid be- ing seen through the inner door, the upper
 portion of which is of plate glass. Scarce
 ly had he laid his hands upon the satchel when he was startled by the report of a pistol. For a moment he was dazed and undecided how to act. Then, one seemed to take any notice of his presence,
 he was quietly slipping off, when a second. shot fired. Panic-stricken, he took to his heels, only to be captured by Flynn.
 "On reaching the bank Flynn found the
 outer door closed, but not fastened. The heavy iron gate between it and the inner door was securely locked, however, so
 that it was impossible to entcr The Kniclk- crbocker bank has a second entrance on Exchange place. But this, too, is protect ad by a massive iron gate, which also was found locked. Flynn rapped for assistance, | and the call having been answered by Po- Iicemen Fitzpatrick and O'Donnell, he left
 the former to watch the Exchange place door, and the latter to guard the entrance on Wall street. while he took his prisoner to the police station
 Messengers were at once dispa tched to the house of Richard Dunlap. the presi- dent of the bank, and to that of MT. George s. Rutherford, the cashier. The former was not at home, and the family being out Of , town, there was one who knew where he was spending the evening""
 Every eye turned toward Richard
 Dunlap as this paragraph was read.
 His features remained impassive, under
 the full control of the veteran finan-
 cier; but to an observant eye like Stur-
 gis', the mans real anxiety was be- trayed by the unconscious action of his
 right hand, which lay upon the table and played nervously with a fork. "Yes," said the banker, carelessly, feeling the curious gaze of the other
 guests upon him, and answering their
 unspoken questions, ives, that is true;
 I did not tell my houselleeper that
 was invited to dine by our friend Sprague this evening. There was, of,
 course, no reason Shy should. We'll,
 pr. Murdock, did they find Ruther-
 ford?"
 Murdocl had looked up while the
 banker was speaking. He now leisure
 ly found his place and continued the
 reading of the article in the Tempest:
 ''The cashier fortunately was at home and he hurried down town at once with his set of bank keys. Two detectives from the central office accompanied h1I1, and the three men carefully searched the premises. They found nothing out of the way there except that three gas jets were lighted and turned on full blaze. At first the detectives
 were inclined to think that bank robbers had gained an entrance to the building: and
 that one of them, having caught sight of Shorty Duff as ne reached in to steal the satchel from the vestibule, had fired upon him. This would explain the pistol shots heard by Flynn. A careful examination of the bank, however, failed to reveal any trace of a bullet.
 'The valise, when opened, proved to con- tain only change Of linen for a man and a few toilet articles of but slight intrinsic value. The satchel itself is an ordinary cheap leather handbag, staEnped in ir1lita- ton of alliga tor skin. 'The police are now locking for it's owner
 In the hope that he will be able to throw some light cn the mystery of the pistol shots.'' When Dr. Muraocll had finished read ing, everybody, except Dunlap and Sturgis, looked disappointed The
 former settled back in his chair, the
 muscles ot his face relaxed, and the
 anx1ous banl1 president once more be-
 came tRe genial and polished man of
 the World. The reporter sat gazing
 thoqghtfully at his wineglass. "Well, MT. Sturgis,' said Murdocll, Twhat do you think of my little prob
 lem?"
 q have already been assigned to work up this case for the Tempest" an- l swered the reporter quietly.
 Indeed? Perhaps you age the au- thor of this very article? No? Then | are you willing to make the solution of this little mystery the subject of our wager and tho test of your theo- | ries?"
 Hold on, doctor,'' exclaimed Sprague; ''you are doing Sturgis an | injustice. Why pick out, as a test of
 his ability, a problem which, to all in- | tents and purposes, has already been | solved by the police? Give him some ] truly knotty question and he will be in l his element; and then, at least, some ] interest will attach to your wager"