Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-12-20
CHAPTER Xxx.
THE LEAD.LINED VAT.

Sprague seated himself upon the
long pine box; and Sturgis, dropping
into the only chair, began his narrative
AS he talked, he carelessly whitfield
the cover of the wooden box with the
knife which he still held in his Land.
He began with an account Of his in
vestigation at the Knickerbocker bank,
and explained the result of his observa-
tiotts and differences down to the time
Of his visit to Murdoek's house, omit
ting, however, to mention any of tho
names Of the actors in the reconstruct
ed drama. 49,.
$50 you see" he concluded, 1--WE have
established the identity of the body
in the cab. and of the young man who
disappeared after the cab was upset.
But one of the most salient features
of the case, from the start, was the
fact that neither of these two men
had derived much, If any, pecuniary
profit from his crime. The bookkeep-
er, as we have seen, was mere CATS
paw in the control of the accountant,
and his posthumous confession has
given us the explanation of the power
exerted over him by his accomplice.
It was not so easy to establish the
motive which controlled the actions of
the accountant, who was himself only
tool in the hands of a higher intelli-
gence. The deus ex machina of this
crime is a man of genius who has hardly
appeared upon the scene at all, but
whose traces I have found at every
turn. He was the brains of the whole
scheme; the other men in his hands
were mere puppets. Through the ac-
countant, this master spirit managed
the bookkeeper; and the accountant,
himself was controlled by him more
directly, but no less surely. If he held
the. former through his fear Of expo
sure and consequent ruin, he influenced
the latter through even more potent
motives. He is the father of beauti-
full girl, whom he did not scruple to
use as deeoy. The price agreed upon
for the accountants assistance was the
hand Of this daughter, for whom the
young man had doubtless conceived u
passionate love-. Whether or not the
leader would have had. the power to
carry out his part Of the contract mat
tiers little; for II ID highly probable that
he never had the slightest intention of
60 doing. 81 He evidently realized very
early in the game that the bookkssper
could not long escape the clutches Of
the law. But as he had taken every
precaution to prevent him from know
ing anything Of his very existence, the
fate of the unfortunate bookkeeper
would have mattered little to: this
heartless villain, had not the probable
ity remained that, when brought to
bay, the bookkeeper would denounce5
the accountants connection with the
crime. This would have been extreme
ly awkward, since the accoun tant was
very likely in possession OF. some dam
gerous secrets. The safest way out of
the difficulty was to quietly suppress
the now useless bookkeeper. This plan
was decided upon, and would doubtless
have been carried into execution, had
not fate otherwise decreed. sAfter-the.
bookkeeper's death, ndersthe circum-s
stances which have related, II became
quite probable that tie accountants
colnsetisn with the ease would Sc dir,
covered FOR luck Had been3 ) ainst
hin q issnt y, 81 s. - - slbstnle}
aeYe 49, - - - r. -
81 fIllIllIs "a u
J. 8 Il