The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1908-10-22
APrOCess of Deduction
Observation-Disclosures
LOr!EiHa!.l

[Or!EinaIl
..NIac," said the chief to me. take
IN The reet case. He has betr con-
v!cted OF numbering Walker in his
Q'eersl house. They We're friends,
ana Feet has borne Il good reputation.
Pctrlngill, his attorney. has been in,
and says ne has got Il stay, 50 thai
one more effort may he made 10 solve
what he considers y mystery"
I took up the case With interest and
went With Peiti..s..! 10 the house
where the murder had been commit
ted. He showed me the lounge where
Walker was lying asleep one warm
September afternoon and the hole in
the window pane through which the
hrilct had either entered or left the
room. pcttingill would have claimed
that 1t entered. indicating that Walker
had been shot from the outside. But
it went clean through Walkers head
and made no dent in the room
I'm methodical man. If l weren't
wouldn't he Il detective. PcttinEill
said that II search had been made for
the bullet within the limit of. the car
ryiug power OF Il revolver and it had
not been found. I examined the hole
in tho pane .rok into consideration
also the direction of the shot from tho
only point in the room from which it
could have been very we'll fired. There
was clean sweep outside OF Il mile
without an obstruction, except several
different houses from 800 to 1000
yards away. l made up my mind
first to find that bullet II l had to hunt
six months for it.
After an hour chatting, thinking. ex-
aiming, I went away, resolved to
come back the next day With Il small
| telescope with which to fix directions.
The sun rose clear in the morning,
with not cloud in the sky. brought
my telescope to bear on the different
houses in the way OF possible shots.
Thee WIS sideEoard in the room,
ana ono OF the directions | noted was
along its top. On this top rested
glass table articles. consisting of tuul-
hierS finger bowls. etc. l made Il
dtt&tam in my notebook of certain
points outside. intending first to ex-
anime them and, il no bullet was found
Embedded in them. TO hire an army OF
| boys TO hunt on the ground f,
One of the first points | searched
was 4 barn in line with the sideboard |
and the hole in the window pane II
/ got u ladder ana climbed to the pea
OF the roof. l hddn't moved my lad
fore | found Il suspicious hole. With
my knife | dug out bullet 1t was
not Il pistol bullet. but rife bullet
OF course it might have been tired
into the barn by anybody. However,
got piece of chalk and made 4
White round spot as big MS Il football.
lh"h went back to the house and.
laying :: cane on the sidcboard, with
liitic adjustment pointed It directly at
my chalk mark. The hole in the win
dow pane was In line.
sun ! had nothing to build on.
sat looking at the sideboard, rackine
! my brain for some possible connec-
t!on between it and the direction OF
me bullet. dccanter filled with wa
'er $1,000 on the SidcbOard. Its body
WIS round ana smooth. The sun was
shining on il. ana the dccanter coucen
Ir;ited IN" rays in Il focus Somehow
went out and got some gunpowler
ana poured few grains on mo cana
where. If it were Il rife. the minnie
Wonlh he. The focus OF tha SIMS
rays approached the powder which
h'i" put in its path. Presently thcra
was an explosion
i''Hl'ic as were the prOba Utilities I'm
'he case, began to be Interested In
me hypothetical structure v,s on
""aN"rinG to find Il foundation for
confess smiled ut tie conncctiop
Whl'ii WaS buildn" as showing how
LIZ Il man may reach ont for Il cIcw.
ms was rs far as had got: :, man
pointing llintl"cIi ml!Skct ovor tho
SiNch"'ird would not need to null tho
ulS-"r-thc sun ana the Lccan,cr wo,15
do il for him.
1'ut We detectives must follow i, Troll
hlih'iN What firearms wcro tbnra in
ti'e '"''Sc: | searched ana in n closet
round Il rife. l took out AN cxnIndo1
'''r'"S". The bullet had found fitted
me metal case exactly.
MS hypothetical germ that woe do
Inning III my brain suddenly took n
sl''rr' nut prudence forbade my hurrv-
ing on | had found the rifle ana ~.
""'i win which Walker had boon XIII
~ "nl lah not proved that Pect had
I'''ci MN Why hadn't the prosrcu-
u"h got on TO the rifle: Lucky for
rect that they hadn't. thouYh since
liieH had convicted him it made no diff
ference nv VII
found Il box of cartridges with tho,
'iHe ana hitting one in it went doDn-
Stars laid it on the s;dobo,rt md
p"ii1'rh II Mt my chalk target. The
ni"HHle OF my gun. the place where
WALKERS head had been tIn bora in
'i' glass. We're all III Il STRAIGHT lin.
Il;l II not been a..