The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1902-03-06
"IT IS NEVER roo LATE TO MEND,
TER, MINNESOTA, THURSDAY, MARCH s. 1902

light windows or means of reaching
the roof from the inside" A very re-
markable omission in the construction
of these houses. The roofs were fiat,
and all such roofs have some means of
communication with the attics below
them-this is necessary to facilitate re-
pairs and made imperative by fire ordi-
nances. This was necessary to carry
out the deductions of the shrewd Boil
ton.
The three students are visited in their
quarters by Under the Tiles" quite
frequently, Bolton being particularly
interested in ssTiles's'' @pet subject"
One evening during one of these
periodical visits, the subject of crime
and murder is more thoroughly dis
cussed than usual and Bolton expresses
the opinion that when the opportunity
offers he will surprise the slow-going
members of the police force. Edwards,
the dullest of the students, withdraws
from the gruesome atmosphere and
seeks the attic room above, where he
has been in the habit Of burning the
midnight oil over his studies. When
Edwards leaves theroom it is remarked
that he appears melancholy. "Under
the Tiles" closes the discussion by a
brief lecture on his pet hobby and bids
the vivacious Bolton good night.
Next morning Edwards fails to ap-
pear as usual and his two friends as
cend the stairs to the attic to find the
reason. They find the door locked and,
on looking through the keyhole, dis
cover the lamp burning on the table;
they twist open the door and find, "in
the center of the room with the feet
just lifted from the tioer almost an
inch, hung the body of Edwards" Boil
ton, cool and collected, ,-all the heroes
of this kind ola tale are perpetually on
ice-restrains his friend from cutting
down the body of Edwards and sends
him after an officer. By the time the
officer arrives Bolton has the mystery
solved. "Under the Tiles" arrives up
on the scene with "Jack," who meets
him as he is returning from wiring the
police. Bolton says that it is case of
cold-blOOded murder and scorns "Un-
der the Tiles's" suggestion Of suicide.
He makes the whole thing clear by the
simple process of logical deduction,
saying that Edwards was strangled by
an assassin who threw lasso from
the open skylight of the attic and en-
circled Edwards throat with its moose.
Edwards was studying, and as the
crime was committed after midnight,
he was without doubt tired and proba-
bly, sat resting his head upon the open
palm of his hand as he bent over his
book. This is the natural attitude of
one deeply interested in study. Bolton
reasons that Edwards sat bolt upright
IN his chair, thus offeringa good target
for the moose. What nonsense! And
again, you ucannot throw lasso through
an open skylight with any success; you
must have room to give the coils of
rope full swing-so much for this re-.
markable deduction. Bolton says the
murderer crossed the roofs of the ad-
joining houses, neither of which had
any means of communication with the
attics below them. What ridiculous.
statement! He reasons that when the
murderer lassoed his victim he pulled
poor Edwards from his feet and left
him suspended in the air and fastened
to spike that was part of the appa-
ratus which raised or lowered the sky
light. A man does not submit to such
drastic usage without some protest.
Why, before the assassin could have
drawn that rope taut, Edwards would
have got q foothold on the chair,
reached up and grasped the rope
above his head with both hands, kicked
the table over and made noise enough
to raise the whole block. Mr.. Bolton,
your deduction is too "obtuse."
Bolton trails the murderer from the
scene of the tragedy over the roofs of
the adjoining houses until the trail is
broken by an alley. But an alley ten
feet wide does not stop Bolton; he says
the assassin bridged it by throwing his