Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1900-08-14

proper hands, can be brought before
the least competent of observers as
irretutable evidence. Here, the actinio
rays Of the sunlight are the authors
Of the evidence; but every natural
force, in one way or another, con-
spires with the detective to run the
criminal to earth"
"Unless," suggested Murdoch, 1.-The
ability happens to be on the side of the
quarry; in which case, the conspiracy
Of natures forces turns against the
hunter"
"Ah!" retorted the reporter, 1.-THE
game is not an equal one. The dice are
| loaded. For while on the one hand
the detective, If lie falls into an error,
has lifetime in which to correct 1t,
any misstep on the part of the criminal
Is fatal. And who is infullible?"
mot the detective, at any rate" an
swered Murdoch, with suavc irony. at
has always seemed to me that the halo
which has been conferred upon him,
chiefly through the efforts Of imagin-
ativc writer's of sensational fiction, is
entirely updeserved. In the first place,
most Of the crimea of which we hear
are committed either by men of low
order Of intelligence or else by madmen,
in which latter category | include all
criminals acting under the impulse of
any of the passions-hatred, love, jeal.
ousy, anger. And then, Willie the de-
tective takes good care that his sue
| cesses shall be proclaimed from the
housetops, he ia equally careful to
smother all accounts, or to suppress
every detail, of his failures, whenever
there is any possibility of 80 1olng.
You can cite, know, plenty Of cases
in which, even after the lapse Of years,
the crime has been discovered aud the
criminal has been confronted with bis
guilt, but"
"1n my opinion" piped the shrill voice
of an elderly man of clerical aspect,
conscience is the surest detective,
after all"
"Conscience!" retorted Murdoch,
calmly; "the word Is q euphemism.
Man gives the name of conscience to
his fear of discovery and punishment.
the criminal who has absolute conf
dence in his power to escape deteo-
ton"
"But where is the man who can have
that superb confidence in himself?"
| asked Sprague.
His name is probably legion" an
swered Murdoch, quickly. He is the
author of every crime whose history
remains forever unwritten."
"And are these really SO numerous?
"Let us see how the case stands in
one single class of crime-say, for in.
stance, murder. Whenever the solu-
ton of sensa tional murder mystery
is effected by the detectives, or by their
allies, the gentlemen Of the press, like
our friend Mr.. Sturgis, we, the gullible
public, vociferously applaud the
achievements of these guardians OF
the public safety, and forthwith pro-
coed to award them niche in the TEN,
Pile of Fame. So far, SO good. But
what of the dark mysteries which re,
main forever unsolyed? What of the
numerous crimes of which no one ever
even knows?"
"Oh! come now, DOCTOR" laughed
Sprague, isn't it rather paradoXical to
base your argument on the assumption
of crimes of whose very existence you
admit you have no knowledge"
Murdoch smiled grimly us he replied:
go to the morgue Of any large city
where the unrecognized dead are ex'
posed for identification. Aside from the
morbid crowd which is drawn to such d
place by uncanny curiosity, you will
find that each corpse is anxiously
scanned by numbers Of people, each o,
whom is seeking missing friend o,
relative. At the most each body car
furnish the key to only one mystery
Then what Of the scores, ay, the hun
dreds Of others?"
After short pause, he continued:
mo; murder will not out-at least
not when the criminal is what l might
call d professional, man of genius II
his vocation, educated, intelligent, dis
passionate, scientific. Fortunately fol
the reputation of the detective, anna
teur and professional, the genius in Thu
criminal line is necessarily of modes,
and retiring disposition. He canno,
call the public attention to his ingenu
ity and skill; he cannot puff his achieve
ments in the daily press. Not only are
bis masterpieces unsigned, but they re
main forever unheard of. The detec
tive is known only by his successes
the criminals reputation Is based sole
ly upon his failures"
DR.. Murdoch delivered this parting
shot with the cool deliberateness which
was characteristic of the man. The in
solent irony of his words was empha
,sized by the calmness of his bearing.
II say. DOCTOR laughed sprague
"yor have missed your vocation. Yo,
shouhl have adopted the profession o
scientific criminal yourself. You seen
to posseAs the theory of the science a
! it is, and \, little experience would nj
I doubt have made you an adept in tn
| practice as w>'ll."
A look OF mild amusement passed
over Observation-Disclosures.
tPerhaps you,&re right, Mr.. sprague
At My rate, tMnk l may affirm. with
out o>efwecning conoeit, that if hat
followed the COURSE you suggest
could ha e prepared for your frien'
Mr.. sturgIsNaame pretty little problem
on which to- sharpen his wits. ! fee
that could l. Ave been an aytist as wei
US scientist In that line
you might vnsole yourself by writ
ing an INTEREST,". Nc and valuable book
under some such title as Hints to tn