Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-02-21

i'll Just the same way.
But that's a difficult thing to do" l
remarked, Ito find a theory that fits
all the facts
Exceedingly difficult sometimes"
aSsented my companion. because the
facts often appear to be entirely con-
Trajectory. Really, facts are never con-
tradictory-truth Is always truth-tha
trouble is we can't always tell what is
fact and what is fiction. The hardest
part of II detectives work is to Sft
the wheat from the chaff- to get at
the meaty, essential facts.
We'll. as you know. | started out
with the theory Of Tremaine's guilt.
More than that. was morally certain
that he was guilty. knowing what l
knew of the man. And first of all it
was, evident to me that no criminal
rs careful as he is would run the risk
of going through that boathOuSe and
committing a murder on the pier out
side with young Graham sleeping on
cot few feet away. | therefore de
duced this bottle Smell of it,
He uncorked it and held it under my
nose.
"ChlorOfOrm"' | said.
Precisely" And he corked it care
fully and returned it to his pocket.
The boys story helped me to arrive
ut it. He had heen awakened by that
violent thunder clap. but for the first
moment he had found himself unable
| to move dizzy. as he explained it"
But how did YOU know where TO
look for it," | asked.
We'll. | knew that no experienced
criminal would keep about him any
such important evidence as q bottle
that had contained ChlorOform. The
odor ClinCs to it for a long time.
committed the mistake at first of sup
posing that he had hidden il in the
hoathouse | should have known bet
ter Naturally he would throw it into
the bay. There was a single chance
against me- If he bad thrown il in
uncorkcl it would probably have sunk.
That was pO-nI he didn't thinl of.
and hy Just that much he fell below
perfection. | think he probably ad
miEistercI the ch'oroform by pouring
il upon one corner of the sheet and
throwing it over young Grahams face.
No doubt the odCr would have been
perccptihlc next morning had any one
| thought to look for il. There was only
one point in the whole case" he added
thoughtfully. That was utterly ut va
Rance with my theory and it worried
I me badly for a time"
What was that?" | asked.
That was the story the jailer told
| uS-that Miss Croydon believed Drys-
dale guilty. But you have seen how
naturally that was explained. | knew
then. in that instant. that was on the
right track-that nothing co1ld defeat
me. But let us go back TO the begin
ning-and I'd like You to point out any
! flaws you see in the story
Very we'll" | said and settled back
| in the seat to listen.
| "Trcmaine had two very powerful
crime" began Godfrey. He needed
money and could take no more from
| Miss Croydon. since he was trying
| seriously to win her affections. He was
| determined to get Drysdalc out of the
way under circumstances as diScrcd-
liable as possible, confident that in
that case he would himself win Miss
Croydon. Which," he added in a
thoughtful aside. from what you've
| told me of him. don't think at all inn
possible
Not in the least agreed. Il be-
lievc Tremaine could win any woman
he really set his heart on
AT any rate, he learns of Drysdale's
jealousy and of Miss Croydon's prom
Use to explain things. He sees that at
any hazard he must prevent that eX-
PLANTATION. Monday morning he comes
to town with Delroy, and the latter
tells him that he intends giving the
necklace the salt water treatment.
You'll remember it was Tremaine who
originally proposed this, though he
could scarcely at that time have fore
seen what would come of it"
Mere chance" | nodded.
"Well Tremaine takes the early train
back to Edgemere and lays his plans
He writes the note
But You really haven't any evidence
that he did" / objected.
For answer Godfrey took from his
pocket the blotter he had found il
| Tremaine's room.
Il told you that these letters aren't
in Tremaine's hand" be said, but Il
you'll compare them with the note
you'll see how nearly they resemble
Miss Croydon's. Again, they are only
capital BIS, G's and Is. which are the
only capitals used in the note. That's
pretty good circuInstantial evidence
Tremaine. of course, burned the piece Of
paper he practiced on. but he didn't
, think to burn this blotter. 1t was only
the freshest line at the bottom of the
paper that left these marks"
But did Tremaine have sample Of
: Miss Croydon's writing?"
There's no reason to think he didn
have. but if he didn't he could NJ
doubt have found plenty of sample:
among Drysdaie's things. He's prob
ably an adept at forgery as well as a