The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-11-13
A PROCESS or DEDUCTION.

Mac,f salu tne enief to me, take
up the Peet case. He has been con-
victed OF numbering Walker in his
(Peet's) house. They we're friends.
and Peet has borne good reputa-
tion. Pettihgill, his attorney. has
been in and says he has got a stay
SO that one more effort may be made
to solve what he considers a mys-
terry"
took up the case with interest and
went with Pettingill to 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
bullet had either entered or left the
room. Pettingill would have claimed
that 1t entered. indicating that Walk
er had been shot from the outside.
But ii went clean through Walkers
head and made no dent in the room.
I'm methodfcal man. II weren't
wouldn't be a detective. Pettingill
said that search had been made for
the bullet within a limit of the car
rying power of a revolver and II had
not been found. / examined the hole
in the pane.
There was a clean sweep outside
OF a mile without an obstruction.
except several different houses from
500 to 1000 yards away. made up
my mind first to find that bullet If
] had to hunt six months for 1t.
After an hour chatting, thinking,
examining, | went away, resolved to
come back the next day with a small
telescope with which to fix directions
The sun rose clear in the morning,
with not a cloud in the sky, /
brought my telescope to bear on diff
ferent houses I'm the way of possible
shots. There was a sideboard In the
room, and one of the directions 4
noted was along its top, On this top
rested glass table articles, consisting
of tumblers, finger bowls, etc. made
diagram in my notebook Of certain
points outside, intending first to ex-
anime them and. If no bullet was
found imbedded in them. to hire an
army of boys to hunt on the ground.
One OF the first points | searched
was barn in line with the sideboard
and the hole In the window pane.
got ladder and climbed to the peak
OF the roof hadn't moved my lad
der more than two or three times be-
fore | found a suspicious hole. With
my knife ! dug out bullet It was
not a pistol bullet. but a rife bullet.
OF course It might have been fired
into the barn by anybody However,
got a piece of chalk and made a
white round spot as big as a football.
Then went back to the house and,
laying a cane oh the sideboard, with
little adjustment pointed II directly
at my chalk mark The hole in the
window pane was in line
still had nothing to build on. |
sat looking at the sideboard, racking
my brain for some possible connec-
tion between itaand the direction of
the bullet A decanter filled with
water stood on the sideboard. Its
body was round and smooth. The sun
was shining on lit. and the decanter
concentrated the rays in focus.
Somehow / went out and got some
gunpowder and poured a few grains
on the cane where. II IL were a rife,
the nipple would be. The focus of
the suns rays approached the pow
der which | had put in its path. Pres
emily there was an explosion
Remote as were the probabilities in
the case, ! began to be interested in
the Hypothetical structure | was en-
deavoring to find foundation for. |
confess smiled at the connection
which | was building as showing how
far a man may reach out for clew.
This was as far as | had got: A man
pointing a flintlock musket over the
sideboard would not need to pull the
trigger the sun and the decanter
would do it for him. .,.,.. ....,.....
!, But we detectives must follow a
trail blindly. What firearms were
there In the house? | searched and
in closet found a rife. | took out
an exploded cartridge. The bullet /
had found fitted the metal case ex-
actly.
This Hypothetical germ that was de-
yeloping in my brain suddenly took
a start, but prudence forbade my
hurrying on. had found the rife
and the ball with which Walker had
been killed. but had | not proved
that Peet had killed him? Why had
not the prosecution got on to the
rife? Lucky for Peet that they had
not, though, since they had convicted
him II made no difference
found a box of cartridges with the
rifle and fitting one in 1t went down
stairs, laid It on the sideboard and
pointed 1t at my chalk target. The
muzzle of my gun, the place where
Walkers head had been, the hole in
the glass, were all in a straight line.
Had 1t not been for the focus of the
suns rays | should have proved Peet
guilty AS It was the focus may have