Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-06-01
aertahe the eases" staekAease asked,

dertake the easel" gtaekheuse asked,
eagerly.
II have decided to-" said Lamm,
dryly. II Am very glad you came here,
Mr.. staekheuse. think should have
been led into serious error regarding
this case II you had not come. How
ever, It is all right. ! shall make an
exception to en- almost unbroken bust.
ness rule, and undertake the case for
O few days ut least. II I And I cannot
continue the work, will promptly
notify YOU"
Evidently gratifed at receiving this
assurance, Stackhouse took his leave.
Mr.. Lamm was not In the habit of
working for both sides of case at the
same time, and he was only induced
to break his rule in this instance by
the sudden suspicion that Fetridge,
not Stackhouse, was the criminal. He
had strong objections to identifying
| himself with the cause of the murderer
when he might be employed n the in
terests of justice.
"I'll soon find out" he sa, to him
self, (Which of you is the villain, and
send in my resignation to that man at
once"
But it did not prove to be such an
easy task as Mr.. Lamm had antici-
pated.
The detective left his Office almost
| - I. !
and, shadowing him short distance
saw him enter branch office of the
Western Union Telegraph company. II
is very strict rule with the company
that dispatches are to be considered
confidential, and woe to the man who
betrays this confidence and gets caught
at it. But it is pretty difficult thing
to restrain man from accommodating
a friend when he is sure that the
friend will never allow him to suffer
thereby; and so, through the courtesy
of the operator, who was upon Mr.
I.amms list Of "availables," the dis
patch written by the junior partner
was. soon after that gentleman's de
parture, in the hands of the detective
1t was addressed to Comfort Hard
wood, Swampscott, and contained
these words:
Am very busy with matters grow
ing out of sad event VIII come By
five o'clock train to Phillips Beach"
The reading of this telegram modi
fled John Lamm's plans. If he wished
to shadow Stackhouse, there were two
courses open to him. One was to fol
low him through all the details of hi
operation till he got to Swampscott
and the other was to anticipate hi
arrival there. He. adopted the latte
as the more promising.
with all due respect to you, Mr.
Partridge" he said to himself, 81 SHOULD
like to begin the case with an under
standing of the motive, and if it's
family affair, as you say, why, the fam
lily will be a very good point to star
at Perhaps shall find them less deli
cate than you are about it-wh'
knows? For at such times en-
tional excitement lo-sens everybody
tongues"
, He consulted timetable an
fastened to the railway station ii
Causeway street. In Is minutes h
was in the train going toward
Swampscott.
Drawing from his pocket scarcel
dry copy Of the paper containing tn
first chapter of the tragic mystery Il
which he was embarked. he ran hi
eye carefully through the meager de
tails thus far published. He SCENE
pleased when he saw by whom tn
report was signed.
; OK F. Thomas? Indeed! I'll loo
him up at once. That fellow know
more people and their histories than
biographical dictionary. Perhaps h
can tell me ALL want to know abou
Richard Fetridge."
At this point in his soliloquy MI
Lamm could not repress start Q
surprise. At that very instant tn
man whose name was on his mind
lips entered the smoking car and sa
down in one of the forward seats.
What the deuce is Fetridge goin
to Swampscott for at this time of tn
day." he asked himself
And for reasons which he believe
to be excellent the detective folded hi
paper and fastened out of possibl
range of view of his client unsatisfie
till he had put the entire length of tn
train between them.
49,. CHAPTER w