The daily Alaskan., 1908-10-14
A Process of Deduction
COrlginall

COrigiRaLl
 Mac" said the chief to me, take up the Peet case He has been con yicted of murdering Walker in his Peet'O house. They were friends, and Peet has borne a good reputation. Pettingrl his attorney, has been In and says he has got stay so that one more effort may be made to solve what he considers mystery.
 took up the case with interest and went with Pettlngill 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 Walker had been shot from the outside. But 1t went clean through Walkers head and made no dent in the room.
 I'm methodical man. If ] weren't I wouldn't be a detective. PettlngIll said that search had been made for the bullet within the limit of the car rylng power of q revolver and 1t 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 fired. There was clean sweep outside of n mile without an obstruction. except several different houses from 800 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, OK aminIng wont 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 cloud In the sky. brought my telescope to bear on the different houses In the way of possible shots. There was sldeboard in the room, and one of the directions l noted was along it's top On this top rested glass table articles. consisting of tum- blers, finger bowls. etc. made a diagram in my notebook of certain points outside, intending first to ex- anime them and. If no bullet was found lmbedded in them. to hire an army of boys tO hunt on the ground.
 One of the first points I 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 l found a suspicious hole. With my knife dug out a bullet. It was not pistol bullet. but rifle bullet,
 or course 1t might have been fired into the barn by anybody. However, got a piece Of chalk and made a white round spot as big as q football. Then I went back to the house and. laying q cane on the SidebOard, with little adjustment pointed it directly at my chalk mark. The hole In the win dow pane was in line.
 Stll I had nothing to build on. sat looking at the sIdeboard racking my brain for some possible connec- ton between 1t and the direction Ot the bullet A decanter filled with wa ter stood on the sideboard. Its body was round and smooth. The sun was shining on lt. and the decanter concen- trated the rays ln focus, Somehow went out and got some gunpowder and poured few grains on the cane where. if it were rifle. the nipple would be The focus of the suns rays approached the powder which l had put in It's path. Presently there was an explosion.
 Remote as were the probabilities In The case, began to be interested in the hypothetical structure | was en- Gcavoring to find a foundation for. l confess smiled at the connection which | was building as showing how far man may reach out for a clew. This was as far as l had got: A man pointing a dlntlock musket over the Sideboard would not need to pull the TlgSer-the sun and the decanter would do lt for him,
 But We detectives must follow trail bljndly. What firearms were there in the house? I searched and In a closet found a rife. took out an exploded cartridge. The bullet had found fitted the metal case exactly.
 This hypothetical germ that was de- veloplng iu my brain suddenly took a start, but prudence forbade my hurry Ing on. had found the rifle and the ball with which Walker had been kill ed, but had l not proved that Peet had killed him? Why hadn't the prosecu- tion got on to the rife? Lucky for Peet that they hadn't. though, since they had convicted him 1t made no diff . ference.
 l found box Of cartridges with the rifle ani fitting one In 1t went down. stairs, laid 1t on the sldeboard and 1 pointed it 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