The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-03-29
THE ckYPToGaAM
i OF A LIFE
Detective. cfoaktts StudisS and
Makes Discoveries IN 4 Vacant
Apartment.

~ HNNEE @A
~lAborously Il he stood at the doak Of that
select apartment hotel the oTtoAh.
"A bSaAaly bot nlGhtiH he Srumbled,
scant you a. me out with one Of those
rooms on the eleventh floor, Mr., Clerk
with the balconies, I mean; they look cool
and inviting. Facing the east, SAy; The
morning sun IL I'll right, ~ the afternoon
sun Is ell wrong
The clerk SMILED gratihediy,
1T isn't often We can give q man Just
what he wants ct this time Of year he
uaid. Our folks stay late, you know.
But the RAacoms left last night for the
summer, end gave W the privilege Of rent
inE--mutuAliy advantageous, you under
stand. You woat mind . small suite,
only three rooms. It Isn't much more 10
Day when you take into consideration the
extra comfort
That's what I'm after duriRsmy abort
stay decided the detective, and he regis
tered and then followed the hAllboy 10
the very rooms In the hope Of occupying
which be had come 70 the hotel.
Il vas 4 remote theory that CFonkite
for lack Of q >better had adopted, and yet
ne had faith In II. He was q stout believer
II the force Of individuality 10 reveal and
betray, AZ human thoughts are intensely
personal, %, too, 10 his mind were the acts
which we're tbsI oonorete manifestAtlonS-
aotS eight, habitual, often automatic,
which when taken together made q orypto-
Rram containing a iife's history.
For lack Of a better theory, for the Magoon
case on which the detective was now en-
gagged At the instance Of bic master, Judge
josiah Marcellus, was absolutely devoid Of
patent clues.
The verdict might - reasonably have
been by visitation Of God the old jurst
had sighed on detailing the sparse facts.
The Coronef's verdict had been as fol-
lows: THAT the deceased. Horace Magoon,
was murdered in his bed at HE residence
on the night Of the 2sth ultimo by a person
or persons unknown; and Cronkite failed
to See how IL could be moro explicit. The
lonely old man had failed to respond whsn
called In the morning. The iightene1
servants had burst in his door. There he
law 0HAQ III IlIH wv III lHN kINAA y lhAAN
chamber on the second story, with front
windows 10 the street and aide windows to
the garden-so peacefully dead that it
might we'll have been by the act Of Provi-
dence. he'd not expert examination revealed
the slightest wound in the left breast,
scracely exuding a drop Of blood, yet pene-
trating the heart,
That was all, II seemed positive that the
lock Of the door must have been picked,
since the windows were sheer twenty-five
feet from the ground; but II bore no sign Of
tampenng, eyen a. the approaches and en-
frances Of the house showed no sign OF an
intruder. The only other inmates we're
trusty old servants. with nothing 10 gain
and everything to lose through their mas
ter's death.
And motivs-where was one to be found
for the murder Of q harmless reclusei His
moderate property vested In his niece,
Elise bascom, his only known blood con-
n~ection-a natural and often avowed die.
position, a. Judge Marcellus himself had
testified.
Elise and her husband were also willing
witnesses At the inquest; but they had
failed 10 throw the faintest slimmer into
the darkness Of the tragedy. Their mar
rage was but recent. Their happiness had
perhaps caused them to neglect the old
man. II certainly impelled them. nov
that the mystery val officially sealed, TO
hurry out Of town, away from the notoriety
and gloom.
Yet the very fact that Elise had lived
for the period between her graduation
At boarding school and her marriage with
her uncle sent Cronkite 10 the young
couples rooms a. soon as he learned Of their
departure. The record Of her life enclosed
in the tribes she used and cherished must
implnge on that per lod. might wen show
tho primal cause which led TO the ultimate
result. For lack Of q better theory the tidal
was worth making.
Cheap and common prettiness showed
In tn dreas and style Of the rooms as Cronk-
lie proceeded with biz exhaustive scrutiny,
the vacuity Of lives dependent for interest
on resources not within themselves, Withal
there was a certain pnmness Of prevailing
order which convinced him that the temi-
nine will was the stronger.
II was not dihfcllt for the detective to
AZ upon the corner Of the sting o which
Edward Bascom hight call his own. There
we're his easy chGir. his smoking Get. q
fash picture or two overhead, and swinging
shelves containing amid Z tumble Of odds
and ends & book On gRmee Of chance. a
history Of the sporting ring aud a stamp
album with a half Allied flask behind II.
Not a promising field Of research; and yet he
smiled with grave satisfaction when he
shook out from the history a letter which
II seemed had been used as a marker.
Similarly when after an inventory OF the
ballroom, Eliss's own donna In, he picked
out a card Of foreign make from q collection
Of photographs thrust into q wire holder and
balancing the shoe bag on the other side
Of the closet door. Cronkite felt that HE
visit had not been In vain.