The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1901-01-17
(Continued.)


"Wen. Mr.. Sturgis," said Murdoch,
what do you think Of my little prob
lem?"
Il have already been assigned to
work up this case for the Tempest" an
awered the reporter, quietly.
Indeed? Perhaps you are 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 the test of your theo-
ries?"
Hold on, DOCTOR" exclaimed
Sprague; you are doing Sturgis an
injustice. Why pick out, as test of
his ability, problem which, to all in
tents and purposes, has already been
solved by tho police7 Give him some
truly knotty question and he will be in
his element; and then, at least, some
interest will attach to your wager"
"Ah! you think the problem has al
ready been solved?"
ITO be sure. The article you have
read us started out as if it were going
to- prove interesting; but. instead Of
that, it ends In an anti-climax. What
is the crime here? The confessed theft,
by q petty sneak thief, Of q satchel
worth. with its contents, perhaps eight
or ten dollars. And where is the mys-
terry? The ownership of few pieces of
unmarked linen Of SO little value that
the owner does not care to take the
trouble to claim them
Il cannot agree with you, Mr..
8prague. While the crime in this case
may be petty theft, it contains. % my
mind, interesting features, which you
appear to lose sight of in your disdain-
full summary. The problem, it seems
to me, involves suitable explanation
of two rather mysterious pistol shots,
to say nothing of such minor details as
lighted gas jets behind securely locked
gates. AS Mr.. Sturgis has Informed us,
in his earnest and lucid way, every eff
feet has cause. l should like to know
the cause that lighted the gas in the
Knickerbocker bank"
II shall probably find out that cause
the day after Tomorrow" said Mr..
Dunlap, smiling, land 1 shall give the
fellow talking to for his carelessness
in forgetting to turn out the gas when
he locked up"
"Mr. Dunlap's suggestion" eontin-
ued Murdoch, sis plausible in itself,
and we might even assume that the
same careless employe, after locking
up the bank. forgot to close the outer
door on the Wall street side. But even
then, we have not disposed of the own
5 ership of the satchel nor of the two pis-
tol shots. The police theory that these
shots were fred by bank robbers seems,
I admit, very far-fetched. Profession
al cracksmen would hardly be likely to
fire unless cornered; and then they
would fire to kill or at least to disa BILE.
If their bullets failed to hit the mark,
they would at any rate leave some
trace"
II beg to suggest" remarked Dunlap,
that the shots heard by the policeman
spd his prisoner were not fred from
the inside of the bank"
THAT appears quite likely" admitted
Murdoch; but they must at any rate
have been fred in close proximity to
the bank, since the witnesses agree
that they appeared to come from in
side. In that case, whence were they
fired? BY whom? And why? On the
whole, my little puzzle does not seem
to me so i'll chosen. What is your own
opinion, Mr.. Sturgis?"
Il. quite agree with you that the
problem is probably not SO simple as it
seemed at first blush to Sprague.
"Very we'll. Then doubtless you are
willing to undertaken the task of supply
ing whatever data may be required to
complete the chain Of evidence against
Quinlan?"
"By no means" replied Sturgis, de-
cidedly.
Indeed? All! we'll, of course, II Mr..
Sturgis wishes to withdraw his bet"
II do not wish to withdraw my bet"
said Sturgis; Il will agree to solve your
problem within 30 days or to forfeit
my stakes; but / cannot undertake to
prove the truth or fslsity of any a
priori theory. I have no personal
knowledge of the matter as yet, and
therefore no theory"
"Quite So" observed Murdoch, iron
ically. Il had forgotten your scientific
methods. OF course, it may turn out
that it was the policeman who stole the
satchel from Shorty Duff
Perhaps" answered Sturgis, imper-
turbably.
Murdoch smiled.
"Well, gentlemen" said he, II &C
cept Mr.. Sturgis' conditions. If you
are willing" he continued, turning to
the reporter, ''our host will hold the
stakes and decide the wager"
81, for one, agree with Sprague," said
DR.. Thurston. II am disappointed in
the problem. 1 have seen Sturgis un-
ravel some extremely puzzling tangles
in my day; and each case would not
be hard to find. Why, no longer ago
than this evening, on our way here.
we stumbled upon most peculiar case
-eh-oh!-er-please pass the cognac,
Sprague. 1 wish had some like it in
my cellar; 1t is worth it's weight in
gold"
DR.. Thurston had met Sturgis' steady
gaze and had understood that, for some
reason or other, the reporter did not
wish him to relate their adventure Of
the afternoon.
Only one person appeared to notice
the abrupt termination of his story.
This was Murdoch, who had looked up
At the speaker with mild curiosity, and
who had also intercepted the reporters
warning glance at his friend. He OBJ
served DIR. Thurston narrowly for q
full minute. appeared to enjoy his
clumsy effort to cover his retreat, and
then quietly slipped his coffee.