The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-08-22
A Process of Deduction

lOriginal1
"Nfac." said the chief to me. take
up the Peet case. He has been con-
vlcted of numbering Walker in his
Peet's) house. They were friends,
and Peet has borne good reputation
Pettingill, his attorney, has been In
and says he has got stay so that
one more effort may be made to solve
what he considers a mystery"
| took up the case with interest and
went with Pettingil 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 It entered, indicating that Walker
had been shot from the outside. But
II went clean through Walkers head
and made no dent in the room.
I'm n methodlcal man. If | weren't
wouldn't be a detective. Pottingill
said that a search had been made for
the bullet within the limit of the car.
rying power OF a revolver aud It had
not been found. examined the hole
In the pane. took into consideration
also the direction OF the shot from the
only point in the room from which It
could have been very well fred. There
was clean sweep outside OF a mile
without an obstruction, except several
different houses from 800 to 1000
yards away. made up my mind
first to find that bullet IL had to hunt
six months for It
After an hour chatting, thinking. ex-
amining. went away, resolved to
come back the next day with 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,
There was sideboard In the room,
and one OF the directions | noted was
along its top. On this top rested
glass table articles, consisting OF tum-
blers, finger bowls, etc. | made u
diagram in my notebook Of certain
points outside, intending first to ex-
anime them and, IL 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 suspicious hole. With
my knife dug out a bullet 1t was
not pistol bullet, but a rifle bullet.
OF course It might have been fired
into the barn by anybody. However,
got piece OF chalk and made a
white round spot as big as football.
Then / went back TO the house and,
laying cane on the sideboard, with
little adjustment pointed 1t directly at
my chalk mark. The hole in the win
dow pane was in line.
Stlll ] had nothing TO build on. !
sat looking at the sldeboard, raclling
my brain for some possible connec-
tion between It and the direction OF
the bullet. A decanter filed with wa
ter stood on the sideboard. Its body
was round and smooth. The sun was
shining on II, and the decanter concen-
trated the rays In focus. Somehow
went out and got some gunpowder
and poured few grains on the cane
where, II II were a rife, the nipple
would be. The focus OF the suns
rays approached the powder which !
had put In its pain. Presently there
was an explosion.
Remote as were the probabilities In
the case, | began to be interested in
the hypothetical structure was Ell.
deavorlng TO find foundation for. ]
| confess l smiled at the connection
which was building as showing how
| far q man may reach out for clew
| Ihis was as far as | had got: A man
pointing filntlock musket over the
| sideboard would not need TO pull the
trlgger-the sun and the decanter would
do 1t for him.
But we detectives must follow a tral
| bllndly. What firearms were there IN
| the housef ! searched and In close
found a rife. l took out an explode,
cartridge. The bullet had found fittef
the metal case exactly.
This hypothetical germ that was de
yeloping In my brain suddenly took {
start, bat prudence forbade my hurry
Ing on. ! had found the rife and th,
ball with which Walker had been kill
ed, but had not proved that Peet haC
killed himY Why hadn't the prosecu
tlon got on TO the rife? Lucky fo
Peet that they hadn't, though, sine
they had convicted him II made no DIFF
ference.
| | found box Of cartridges with th,
rifle and fitting one In 1t went down
stairs, laid II on the sldeboard ant
pointed 1t at my chalk target. Th,
muzzle of my gun, the place wher
Walkers head had been, the hole II
the glass, were all IN a straight line
Had II not been for the focus OF tn
suns rays ! should have proved Pee
guilty. AS 1t was the focus may hay
fired the gun.
Here was a cue TO the solution.
| questioned Peet. and he remembere