Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1908-03-05
Martin Hewitt,
Investigator.
The Case of
Mr.. Foggatt.
By ARTHUR MORRISON.
Published by Arrangement With
Harper & Brothers.
[c~oNTINuED.l

"Oh, yes; the easiest person in the
world to draw out is a cyclist. When
you see a healthy, we'll trained looking
man, who nevertheless has q slight
'stoop in the shoulders and, maybe, a
medal on his w%atchguard, it is always
a safe card to try him first with a little
cycle racing talk. I soon brought Mr..
Mason out Of his shell, read his name
on his medal and had a chance Of OBJ
serving his teeth. Indeed he spoke of
them himself. He had lost exactly two
teeth-one from the lower jaw just to
the left Of the center and another from
the upper jaw further still toward the
left! Trivialities, pointing In the same
direction, became important considera-
lions. More, his teeth were irregular
throughout and, as nearly as I coula
remember it, looked remarkably like
this little plaster mold of mine"
He produced from his pocket an ir-
regular lump Of plaster about three
inches long. On n side of this ap-
peared in relief the likeness of two ir-
regular rows of six or eight teeth, mi
nus n in each row where a deep gap
was seen in the position spoken Of by
my friend. He proceeded:
"This was enough at least to set me
after this young man, but he gave me
the greatest chance of all when he
turned and left his apple (eaten I'M
peeled, Observation-Disclosures important
t%riviality) on his plate. I'm afraid I
wasn't at all polite, and 1 ran the risk
~ o,~,,,r l;1 c,,oNs1;0,,, J,,4 r
couldn't resist the temptation to steal
it,"
He brought the apple from his coat
pocket. One bitten side, placed against
the upper half Of the mold, fitted pre-
cisely, a projection Of apple filling ex-
.actly the deep gap. The other side
similarly fitted the lower half.
There's no getting behind that, you
:see," Hewitt remarked. you'll never
find two men bite exactly alike, nc
matter whether they leave distinct
teeth marks or not. Well take another
mold from this apple and compare
them"
He oiled the apple, heaped a little
plaster in a newspaper, took my water
jug and rapidly pulled off a hard mold
The parts corresponding to the merely
broken places in the apple We're, OF
course, dissimilar, but as to the teeth
marks, the impressions We're Identical
'That will do, /, Think Hewitt said
Tomorrow morning, Brett, 1 shall put
up these things in a small parcel and
take them around to Bow street"
"But are they sufficient e%vidence"
"Quite sufficient for the police pur.
pose. There is the man, and all the
rest-his movements on the day, and
so forth-are simple matters Of inquiry
At any rate, that is police business"
1 had scarcely sat down to my break
fast on the following morning whe1
Hewitt came into the room and put 9
long letter before me.
"From u friend of last night" he
said. "Read it,"
This letter began abruptly and un
dated and was as follows:
ITO Martin Hewitt, Esq.,:
"Sir-1 must compliment you on the
:adroitness you exhibited this evening
in extracting from me my name. The
address I was able to balk you of fol
the time being, although by the time
you read this you will probably have
found it through the law list, as I an
an admitted solicitor. That, however
will be Of little use to you, for l an
removing myself, I think, beyond the
reach even of your abilities of search
1 knew you well by sight and was
perhaps foolish to allow myself to bt
1u0-xn 0r I;5 CksIy r Ill - ~.
that 1T would be dangerous, especially
after seeing you as q witness will
very little to say at the inquest po1
the scoundrel / shot. Your somewhat
discourteous seizure Of my apple al
first amazed me-indeed, I was a little
doubtful as to whether you had really
taken it-but it was my first warning
that you might be playing a deeI
game against me, incomprehensible a.
the action was to my mind. 1 subse
quently reflected that I had been eat
ing an apple, instead of taking tn,
drink he first offered me, in the deat
wretch's rooms OF the night he cam
to his merited end. From this I as
sumo that your design was in som
way to compare what remained of tn,
two apples, although I do not presum,
to fathom the depths of your detective
system.
II do not know by whom you ar,
commissioned to hunt me, nor to wha
extent you may be acquainted with m,
connection with the creature l killed
have sufficient respect for you, how
ever, to wish that you should not re
gard me as a vicious criminal, and
couple of hours to spare in which t
offer you an explanation that may per
suade you that such is not altogethe
the case. A hasty and violent tempe
I admit possessing, but even now
cannot regret the one crime it has lie,
me into-for 1t is, / suppose, strict.
speaking, a crime-for it was the maj
Foggatt who made a felon of my ia
Their before the eyes of the world an,
killed him with shame. 1t was he VIII
murdered my mother and none the les
murdered her because she died of