The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-10-22

: THE STURGIS WAGER
) A DETECTIVE STORY. =
> BY EDGAR MoRETTE. <
e Copyright, 1899, by Frederick A. Stokes Co. y
CHAPTER v.-CoST1NuEp.

Point FIVE" resumed Sturgis, .'the
right arm was broken just above the
wrist"
eyes" said the physician, 81 thought
at first that the arm might have been
broken in the collision with the cable
car; but the discoloration of the flesh
proves conclusively that the fracture
occurred before DEATH.
Precisely. Now, it is possible that
the man broke his arm when he fell,
after being shot; but the confused
wound looks to me as if it had been
made by a severe blow with some blunt
instrument"
Possibly" admitted Thurston.
"This broken arm, if we can place
it in it's proper chronological position,
may prove to be Of some Importance in
the chain of evidence unused Stur-
gis. eff the fracture occurred before
the man was shot, that, of course, ex-
cludes the possibility of suicide; but,
on the other hand, it also brings in an
obstacle to the hypothesis of muir
der"
GLOW so??"
Because we have settled, you will
remember, that the shot was fired from
the right of the victim, and close to him.
Now, if he did not fire the shot himself
the person who did must have reached
over his right arm to do so. In that
case, unless the victim was asleep or
stupefied, would he not instinctively
have raised his arm III self-defense, and
thus detected the weapon upward?"
Evidently"
"Well. it is idle to speculate on this
line for the present. Let us come to
point six. You remember I called
your particular attention to the cab
man. DO you still think he was only
drunk?"
NO replied Thurston; while he
had unquestionably been drinking
heavily, he also showed symptoms of
narcotic poisoning"
"Then the presumption is that he
had been drugged by those who wished
to place the wounded man in his cab.
I observed him closely and l am salts
fed that he knows as little about his
dead passenger as we do. He prob
ably knows less about him, at all
events, than the young man in the
sealskin cap who gave the police the
slip during the excitement which fol-
lowed the overturning of the cab"
StCrgis paused a moment.
This, l think" he continued, "cov-
ers all the evidence we have thus far
collected in the Cab Mystery. 1t is
quite satisfactory, as far as it goes,
for it is circumstantial evidence. and,
therefore absolutely truthful. In the
Knickerbocker bank mystery we have
as yet 10 satisfactory data whatever;
for everything we have heard concern
ing it has its origin in the fallible evil
dence of witnesses, and has, more
over, reached US third or fourth hand.
There is. however, fact that may,
or may not, prove to b~eimportant. Have
you noticed that these two mysteries
are contemporaneous, and, therefore,
that they may be related?"
"Do you think there is any connec-
ton between the two?'inquired Thurs
ton, interested.
II do rot allow myself to think about
it at all as yet replied Sturgis; 81
simply note the fact. that, SO far as time
is concerned, the Cab Mystery could be
the sequel to the Knickerbocker Bank
Mystery-that is all. Facts, my dear
boy, are like words. A word is only
an assemblage of meaningless letters
until it becomes pregnant with sense
by context. So, a fact, which, stand
ing by itself, has no meaning, may,
when correlated with other facts, be-
come fraught with deep significance.
And now,' he continued, after a
pause, 81 think our work is concluded
for the present. I shall be able to lay
it aside for the night. Let me offer
you a glass of sherry. Pleasant evening
we spent at %Sprague's tonight. Ihave
a great admiration for him as an artist
and a great fondness for him as a man
Most of his friends are strangers to
me, though. You know I have very
little time to indulge in social dissipa
ton. BY the way, who is that DR.
Murdoch with whom / have made thi:
bet?"
ooh! he is a physician, though nov
retired from practice. He devotes him
self entirely to scientific research, es
pecially in the domain of chemistry
He has made some important discov
cries in organic chemistry, and the,
say he has succeeded in proving som,
of the supposed elementary metals t,
be compounds. He has quite an envi
able reputation in the scientific world
/ understand he is a remarkable man.
THAT is evident AT a glance. H.
showed himself this evening to be
clear thinker and a brilliant speaker
] should say lie was something of
genius, and | should judge, moreover
that he was a man of magnificent nerve
capable of the most heroic actions
Or
Sturgis hesitated.
"Or--?" asked Thurston.
"Or of the most infamous cruelt,
and crime. 1t all depends upon wheth
er or not his great mental attribute
are under the control of a heart;
point upon which / am somewhat il
6oubt