The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-01-31
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STORY or MONDAY

THE STORY OF MONDAY NIGHT
Not until the regular click-clfck Of
the wheels told me thai we were we'll
under way did 1 open my mind to Cod
FREY: then l spoke with what / deemed
a necessary frankness.
MY dear Godfrey" l began, I've
watched you all day. smelling bottles,
examining sc%ratches, trying to read
faint ink marks on a blotter. puzzling
over O. broken cane. n doing n
ious other eccentric things from which
you seemed to r conclusions utterly
invisible to me. I've heard o assure
both Drysdale md Miss Croydon that
the former will be cleared OF suspicion
at tomorrow's inquest. and that the
real culprit will be pointed out. You'll
pardon me IL I confess to some curl
osity as to how all this is to be ac-
complished."
Did you see her face as she came
through that door, Lester?" he asked.
staring absently at the seat in front Of
US. Il tell you. 1t warmed the heart
OF even an old reprobate like me. And
to think that we did it," he added. ITO
think that we did It,"
you did It," I corrected. II was In
the chorus today-you had h center
But you don't mind, Lester7 I
couldn't help 1t. o know"
"Of course you couldn't-that's
where you belong. But now that the
curtains down. and we're alone to-
gether with plenty OF time to talk. I'd
utest detail. Let's see-this is the
smoker, isn't 1t? Well. p we
light up-I can think more clearly
when I'm smoking"
"Al right; fire away" I said, as soon
as the cigars were going.
Well" began Godfrey. "as I pointed
out to you this morning. for good and
sufficient reasons. I started out in this
investigation with the assumption OF
Tremaine's guilt"
o course" l observed. you know
IL is the duty of every jury to start out
with exactly the contrary assump-
tion."
Certainly I know that: but a detec-
tive has to work with some definite
end in view. or he never gets any
where. In other words, a detective.
after carefully studying the details Of
any crime. must form a theory con-
corning 1t. and must work along that
fact that fails to fit with his theory,
he must modify 1t or form another;
and he must keep on doing this until
he finds the theory which agrees with
all the facts-not all bu one or two.
but with every one. A good many de-
satisfied with the theory which fits
most Of the facts--a serious error. for
the right theory must, of course, in
evitably fit them all. That's the scien-
tifc method and the only safe one.
! When a detective hits upon a theory
which fits all the known facts, he's got
as much right to assume it's truth as
an astronomer has or a physicist, who
builds UP the universe in just the same
way"
But that's a difficult thing to do"
1 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
contradictory-truth is always truth
the trouble is we can't always tell
what is fact and what is fiction. The
hardest part of a detectives work is
to sift the wheat from the chaff-to
get at the meaty, essential facts.
We'll. as o know, I started out
with the theory of Tremaine's guilt.
More than that. l was morally GER
tain that he was guilty, knowing what
1 knew Of the man. And first of all,
1T was evident to me thai no criminal
as 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
a cot a few feet away. l therefore
deduced this bottle. Smell OF it."
He uncorked 1t and held It under
my nose.
Continued Next Weekly