Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1901-10-10
nem. but admitted that he had STOLEN the

them; but admitted that he had stolen the
satchel. His story Is that. as he was
passing the bank. the outer door was q lar.
Seeing the satchc 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
Is had he laid his hands upon the satchcl
when he was startled by the report of q
pistol. For a moment he was dazed and
undecided how to act Then, as no one
seemed to take any notice of bis presence,
he was quietly slipping off. when second
shot was fired. Panic-strickcn, 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 1t ard the inner
door was securely locked, however. so
that 1t was impossible to enter. The Knick
erbocker bank has n second entrance on
Exchange place. But this too, is protect
cd by n massive iron gate which also was
found locked. Flynn raped for assistance,
and the call having been answered by Po-
liccmen Fitzpatrick and O'Donnell, he left
tho 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 dispatched to
the house of Richard Dunlap the prcsi
dent of the bank, and to that Of Mr.. George
$. Rutherford, the cashier. The former was
not at home, and the family being out o.
town, there was no one who knew where he
was spending the evening
Every eye turned toward Richard
Dunlap as this paragraph was read.
His features remained impassivc, under
the full control of the veteran finan-
cicr; but 10 an observant eye like Stur-
gis', the mans real anxiety was be-
traycd by he unconscious action of his
right hand, which lay upon the table
and played ncrvously with fork.
Yes" said the banker, carelessly,
feeling the curious gaze of the other
guests upon him, and answering their
unspokcn questions, yes, that is true,
was invited 10 dine by cur friend
Spraguc this evening. There was, of
course, no reason why | should. Well,
Dr. Murdoch, did they find Ruthcr-
ford? ."
Murdocli 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 a once with his
| set of bank keys. Two detectives from the
central Office accompanied HIM. and the
three men carefully searched the premises
| They found nothing out of tho way there
| except that three gas lets were lighted and
| turned on fun 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 he reached in to steal the
satchcl from the vcsubulc. had fired upon
him. This would explain the pistol shots
| heard by Flynn y careful examination Of
the bank, however. failed to reveal any
trace of bullet.
The vallse, whom opened. proved to con-
/ tain only change of linen for man and a
few toilet articles OF but slight intrinsic
valuc. Tho satchcl itself is an ordinary
| cheap leather handbag, stamped in imita-
| ton of alligator skin.
The police are now looking for its owner
in the hope that he will be able TO throw
tome light on tho mystery OF the pistol
shots"
When DR.. Murdoch had finished read
ing, everybody, except Dunlap and
Sturgis. looked disappointed. The
former settled back in his chair. the
muscles OF his face relaxed, and the
anxious bank president orce more be-
came the genial and polished man of
the world. The reporter sat gazing
thoughtfully at his wineglass,
"Well, Mr. Sturgis," said Murdoch,
-what do You think of my little prob
! LEM"
II have already been assigned TO
work up This case for he Tempest" an
sWered 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 the police? Give him some
truly knotty question and he will be in
his element; and then, at least, some
interest will attach to your wager"
All. You think the problem has al
ready been solved?"
"To be sure. The article YOU have
read us started out as if it We're going
to prove interesting; but, instead of
that, il ends in an anti-climaX. What
is the crime here? The confessed theft,
by petty sneak thief, Of a 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
he owner does not care to take the
trouble to claim them
~ cannot agree with You, Mr..
| Spraguc. While the crime in his case
may be petty theft, il contains, to my
mind, interesting features, which You
appear to lose sight of in your disdain-
full summary. The problem, II 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. | should like to know
the cause that lighted the gas in the
/ Knickcrboclcr bank"
Il shall probably find out that cause
the day after tomorrow" said Mr..
Dunlap, smiling, land | shall give the
fellow a talking 10 for his carelessness
in forgetting to turn out the gas when
he locked up"
"Mr. Dunlap's suggestion" contin-
ued Murdoch, "is plausible in itself,
! md might Tint the