The Winslow mail., 1901-01-03
"Or behind a counter" suggested

lnceSSanb contact with the counter
leaves across the front of his trousers
an unmistakable line of wear. at
level varying according to the height
of the individual. This line was not
present in the case of the man in the
cab. On the other hand, his waistcoat
is frayed at the level of the fourth but
ton from the top. Therefore 1 main
tain that he was in the habit of work
ing at a desk. Now the trousers, al
though not new, are not baggy at the
knees, though free from the seams
| which would suggest the effect of press
| ing or of trouser stretcher Conclu.
sion, the desk is a high one; for the
| man stood at his work. Most men who
work standing at high desks are book
| keepers of one kind or another. There
fore. as l said before, this man was
probably bookkeeper. Now, as to his
salary; / do Tot pretend to know the
exact amount of it, of course. But
when a man, who was evidently not a
dude, has his clothes made to order,
| of imported material, and when his
| linen, his hat and his shoes are of good
| quality, it is fair to infer that the man S
| income was comfortable.
81 proceed with the arrangement of
my data:
Secondly: the man in the cab died
of a wound caused by bullet fired at
| very close quarters. Indeed, the weap-
on must have been held either against
| the victims body, or, at any rate, very
near to it; for the coat is badly burned
by the powder
"On these points at least" assented
The bullet probably penetrated the
upper lobe of the left lung"
eyes," added Sturgis, "and it passed
out at the back, far below where it
went in.''
"What makes you think it passed
out? The wound in the back may
| have been caused by another bullet
! fired from the rear"
"That hypothesis might be tenable
were it not for this
With these words the reporter pulled
| out his watch, opened the case, and
with the blade of a penknife took from
| the surface of the crystal a minute OBJ
iect, which he handed to the physician.
"Look at it," said he, pushing over
a magnifying glass.
DR.. Thurston examined the object
carefully.
"a splinter of bone," he said, at last.
'sYes. | found it on the surface of
| the wound in the back. How did it get
| there?"
"You are right" admitted the physi-
clan; sit must have come from with
in, Clipped from rib and carried out
| by the bullet which entered from the
| front"
81 think there can be no doubt as to
that. Now, the bullet does not seem
to have been detected in its course by
its contact with the rib, for, as far as
have been able to judge by probing
the two wounds with my pencil, their
direction is the same. This is impor-
tant and brings me to point three,
which is illustrated by these diagrams,
drawn to scale from the measurements
l took this afternoon"
AS he said these words, the reporter
handed to his friend sheet of paper
upon which he had drawn some ge-
ometrical figures.
'"The first of these diagrams shows
the angle which the course of the bull
let made with horizontal plane; the
second represents the inclination from
right to left The former of these an
giles is nearly and the latter not far
from forty-fve degrees. The inclina-
tion from right to left shows that the
shot was fired from the right side of
the dead man. Now then, one of two
things: Either it was fired by the man
himself, the weapon being held in his
right hand; or else it was fired by an
assassin who stood close to the VIC
TINS right side. The first Of these hy-
potheses, considered by itself, is adj
missible; but it involves the assump-
tion of an extremely awkward and un-
usual position of the suicides hand
while firing. On the other hand, the
dead man is tall-siX feet one inch
and to fire down, at an angle of sixty
degrees, upon a man of his height, his
assailant would have to be colossus,
or else to stand upon q chair or in some
equally elevated position, unless the
victim happened to be seated when the
shot was fired"
Happened to be seated" exclaimed
Thurston, astounded, why, of course
he was seated, since he was in the
cab"
''That brings up point four, which
is not the least puzzling of this in
teresting case" said Sturgis, impress
lively; 1.-The shooting was not done in
the cab"
''Not done in the cab!"
mo; otherwise the bullet would have
remained in the cushions; and it was
not there"
'It might have fallen out into the
street at the time Of the collision" sug-
gested Thurston.
mo; l searched every inch of space
in which it might have fallen. If it
had been there 1 should have found
it, for the spot was brilliantly lighted
by an electric light, as you remem-
ber."
The physician pondered in silence for
a few minutes.
"With all due respect for the accu-
racy of your observations, and for the
rigorous logic Of your inductions
Sturgis," he asserted at last with de-
cision, Il am positive that the man
died seated, for his limbs stiffened in
that position.