The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-11-14

your assistance. But tell me OF your
anafr. II may have a connection with
mine. after all. / should not be at all
1T is possible. Crimes are not un.
commonly irterdependent."
"Ah! You have discovered that. have
Mr., Mitchell said this so quickly that
Mr. Michel intentiy for momenf. and
then replied without having fully COM
pretended his companion's meaning.
Why; Why yes" said he 1T Is certainly
other =, But what point do you make
AN important one" said Mr.. Mitchel.
with a wave of his hand toward his
ence Of a detective with brains enough
to look beyond the immediate case IN
S sns aqe uh hs Crime you sas
pardon the harsh phrase. wtNch. how
ever. exactly expresses the truth-it fol-
lows that you cannot hope TO- fully COM
searched back into the past to learn
whether II be merely result OF previous
wrongdoing or an initial departure from
"oh, suppose so. Theoretically, at
er than a practical detective Would go"
on M,cSsy, very Te,, we VIII VIII 70 no
with that tncisive manner so peculiar TO
himself. II did not know how far you
would care to go We will return TO
work. by all means, Pardon the digres-
sion and proceed with your narrative"
Mr.. Barnes felt slightly annoyed. He
arng his talents. placing him on the
plane OF the common thief taker, a plane
which he knew that Mr. Mitchell consid-
cred q very low one intellectually. New
wherein he had offended. Was It not true
that the practical detective should con-
hne himself 10 the immediate facts con-
nected with the crime in hand, II he
hoped to bring the. wrong doer to justice,
rather than 10 make speculative pilgrim
ages into the remote past? He still be-
iieved so. vet II annoyed him TO find that
thought that gentleman egotistical in the
highest degree. he fully appreciated his
have. preferred 70 discuss the question.
but II was not easy TO re-open the SUBJ
lect. Mr.. Mitchell having dismissed the
often was when in Mr.. Mitchers society.
despite the uniform courtesy with which
he was alwavs treated, Mr. Barnes there
fore found himself obliged 10 conhne HIM
self 20 the relation OF his case
Well then" began the detective. after
pause. about week ago most
startling sta murder ssonseS Ss the interest OF
a man than Matthew Mora, many
times millionaire. prominent In Wall
street banking circles as we'll as In Fifth
for his many deeds ~ philanthronv."
How was the killing Effected"
I'm a most brutally horrible manner.
The old man was dubbed to death. This
is not speculation, but fact. The muir
derer did not deign 10 hide the weapon.
but left II upon the floor near the body.
This was shrewd, because had he taken
II away from the house its discovery
might have been a clue which would
have led US 10 a solution. But as IL
appears that the bludgeon was one OF
collection OF Indian implements OF
war owned by Mr.. Mora its presence in
the bedroom tells US nothing"
"Oh. yes Il tells you something" in
terjected Mr. Mitchell Every known
fact connected with crime tells its
quota OF the truth and is therefore more
important than the theoretical or cir
cumstantial evidence which may be
gathered"
"Of course, know that" said the
detective testify. What I mean Is that
the weapon left in the room. having be-
longed TO the dead man. gives us no
direct clew TO the identity OF the muir
derer 1t does. however. tell US some
thing. and it may even. however. indi-
rectly point 20 the right man. For ex-
ample, IL Is positive nat the murderer
did not bring this cllJ with him. From
this postulate there are two possible de-
ductlons-frst. the man may not have In
tended murder when he entered the
house, second. he may not have entered
the house eat ell"
An Now you are doing better. Mr..
Barnes" said Mr. Mitchell. with a pleas
ant smile
You mean that the criminal may have
been an inmate OF the house and there
fore did not need TO look for a weapon.
being familiar with those at hand, eh?'
Exactly. And this k the more
plausible OF the two theories because the
Indian weapons were kept locked In a
case in the library on the floor below
Mr.. Moras bedchamber."
This case was not broken open. I sup
poser
no; but as the key was commonly IN
the lock this counts for nothing. The
OF the cabinet. however, to-
Tether with the weapon used. furnishes
n with another safe deduction. As you
know, IL IL often difficult 10 decide |
whether crime be premediated or not
In this instance IL was certainly
ola nnod-o