Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-03
THE INTERRUPTED WIRELESS
Continued from page 10

operator-an operator-WaS aboard, but for
divers reasons preferred to remain unknown
| We know that certainly as that two and
| two make four. not sometimes but all the
| time.
DIR. Maher turned and dropped back into
| MS chair, with new interest evident in every
| line of his face.
With these facts in hand it is a simple
matter, albeit perhaps a tedious one, to find
| what message was sent from the ship both
by the operator and by the unknown at night.
The Thinking Machine resumed. He was silent
| for a moment, then and left the room He
was gone for perhaps ten minutes. Now.
| Captain Delhi, and you Dr. Maher, have you
formed any opinion as to the exact method of
the murder? Was the murderer inside the
| cabin with Ingraham, or was he killed by
knife thrust through an open window! You
| know the arrangement of the place better
| than /. What is your opinion!'
Captain Delhi considered the matter care
fully as he sought to recall every minute detail
of the cabin as he found it. Since you have
| brought up the question: he said slowly at
last, it seems to me that he must have been
stabbed by some one outside, through the
window. His left side was toward the win
dow, and the window was open. as it
was warm, and he was in his shirt sleeves
| Yes, it was within easy reach, and I'm in
clined to believe What do you think,
Maher?"
Il agree with you perfectly was the prompt
response. The angle of the knife indicates
state room, and there upward thrust,
| where if person had been in the room the
| natural angle would have been downward,
unless that person had been lying on the
| floor
"All of which being true, is point in favor
of Tenne," said The Thinking Machine curtly.
You found him inside the cabin with the
body, and we must suppose from your own
statement, DR.. Maher, that he would have had
to lie down to infct the wound. l may say
| fboff no he
that he did not throw away the knife. He
rid Of it, but didn't therefore" He
shrugged his shoulders and was silent for a
moment.
IAN things depend upon the point of view.
gentlemen, he continued after time. There
are half dozen casual facts, several of which
| have specified, which incline me to belief in
Tennels innocence; and only two against
him, these being the motive and the knife.
Strong, you say? Yes: but the knife is turned
in his favor. Now let us assume Tennells
innocence for a moment. and build our hy-
| pothesis on facts that we know. 1t is always
possible to reconstruct happening by the
| logic of its units. Let see this rule applied
| to this
I'VE are reasonably certain that whatever
! message lngraham was sending just before, or
| at the moment of his DEATH was not written
message. l have your word, DR.. Maher that
| there was not trace of any message after the
one about noon. Shall we suppose that there
was written message and it was stolen from
his desk by the hand that slew? Hardly. Let
us take the simple view first. He was sending
message somewhere as he composed it.
| Now. anyone aboard that ship who knew the
Continental code could have read that
sage, because the wireless has that fault.
| That being true, we shall admit that some
| body did read it, was reading it as it
| went.
Right here come to what may prove
| to be the solution. 1t was necessary for the
person who read the message it went to
stop it, and perhaps to silence the who
sent it. at the cost of life. Therefore,
the Importance of the message to the person
who read it was life and death A blow was
| struck; the message was stopped. But the
knife? Tennell says he lost it; anyone might
| have found it.
THE message is stopped; the man is dead.
| The next vital necessity which the murderer
| feels is self protection. How? Can a message
| be sent which will counterfeit the one which
was stopped by the murder9 If this can be
done, it is vitality necessary. Some then
the murderer-takes another tremendous
chance, enters the Office, and is sending an
other message possibly continuation Of the
interrupted message, when Captain Delhi be-
comes aware of it. He goes to investigate,
and the probabilities are that the unknown
operator escapes by way of the window and