The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-07-27

handsome fellow. lie has the gift Of
faacination." &t ~
'TIe has the gift Of all the vices TINT
disgrace humanity said Bailey. with
decision. "iIe inherited them. But this
Is not prejssiice on my part. looked
him up. | know him TO tho backbone"
-what reason have you for supposing
tina, Temple sent tbisr'
1T looks foreign 10 me. and he's been
abroad. He has Just got bnck. No 9th.
or young man OF Charlotte's ncqualnt'
ance has been across the waier think
Temple bought this on the other side
and broughtit over with him"
Bertrand examined the frame. w
''Thc anatomy OF these Cupids sug'
gests Germany surely" said he.
Temples been there" said Bailey.
There was a plain. thin sheet OF paper
which was folded Hike cover protect
ing tho frame and the photograph. Ber'
trand held II up TO the light and point
Cd out to Bailey two letters. ID. o."
unmihtakably German.
'sl'bat's evidence" declared Bailey;
but. Of course, II doesn't really prove
anything. l can't open my mouth with
out having something more definite.
But how to got IN This valentine
was mailed IN this city. saw the post
mark on tho envelope. But there's no
way OF finding out who mailed II. The
address was typewriter"
Bertrand spent half minute In med
itatlon. rubbing his yellow hair into n
strange tanglc meanwhile. Then he
slowly walked TO the steam radiator In
the corner and laid the valentine upon
H.
'TEere In another point" said he.
"You nny remember that about year
ago your cousin. Mra Ewing. was visit.
Ing yon just after returning from
abroad, She had Photographic repro
ductim Of the picture Of which we
have bere detail Charlotte cared
very little for the picture rs a whole,
but slie admired this particular ngure.'
II remember" said Bailey. "She
tried 10 find large photograph Of the
painting In this city. but couldn't II Ia
the ilkeliest thing In the world that she
told Temple and that hc found this
somewhere In Europe"
MY sxca,ient alleged uncla." said
Bertrand, smiling. there n no din
Guilty az all in the matter. Barring the
luck whifh may defeat the invincible,
nuilify cvrtaintios and-to all intents
and purposes, for ycu and me-pre'
vent TIM sun from rising tomorrow
will show you the way to obtain posi-
tive prcof as to who sent this valen.
tine. and tn do II without rising from
my chair.
"Now, then, In the frst place, we'll
consult the valentins itself. How was
II nader
"Bless yeur soull'' cried Bailey, Il
don't know anything about the tech
meal details Of getting up such n
thing"
"You can see, however, that II never
was made to hold this photograph.
There's nothing TO hold It. It's pasted
ON, and very crudely. Didn't that
strike your eyer See how neatly all
the rest OF II Is got up. Contrast that
with the pasting. What do you make
OF itY'
"weli, / don't know: really. don't
know" repeated Bailey, alternately
peering at the back OF the valentine
and at the face Of the detective.
There was another picture here orig.
inally." said Bertrand 1T was at
tached In a different way from this
one. The frame was made In two
parts. back and front. The picture
was laid between them, and they were
glued together. II you look closely you
can see that that picture was cut out
with the sharp point Of a penknife
probably. and then this one was affix-
cd to the back so that 1t shows all
right from the other side. It was done
very recently, long after the original
valentine was made"
"EhT" said Bailey. How do you
know thatT'
"The paste is not thoroughly dry.
The heat of the radiator has wrinkled
the edges OF the photograph even with
only few minutes trial. But the
heat has had no effect upon the older
portion.
''lf the man had bought the picture
and the frame aboard he would have
done this work long ago, Indeed. with
so much time at his disposal he proba-
bly, would have had some more skillful
workman do II for him. infer that
the Idea of sending this picture as a
valentine came to him suddenly ut the
last moment and that he hunted
through the stores for a frame that
would fit II. That means that the
frames were imported by some hrm II
this country, most probably IN til.
city. There are only h very raw
that line OF business. Ii W.' t3,lr
only little while to tNN} 70 !cm
telephone"
This task Bertrand de,gr;'eA ta
assistant, who within twe"n p,'nv
gave him the name Of thn t lslYa,