The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-08-16
DETECTIVE STORIES.
Little Things as Aids In Solving
Problems On Crime.
THE VALUE OF SMALL cLeHs

-ln All Ny Experience" Says Police
Sergeant CUT. One ~ Willie ces-
Inns Creations. u tiavo Never Vet
Met Such Thing ~ Tribe.
II you ask some London publishers
they will tell you that no book sells %,
vel, a. detective story and that peo-
pie still find q fascination In -
achievements Of Edgar Allan Po0D
Dupin. Gaboriau's LecocQ and Tabaree
and the reticubtable Oeeeeant CuR Of
Wilkie Collins.
These men were the fcrerunnefo OF
Sherlock Holmes. and their feats Of
criminal tracking were n remarkable
a. those achieved by the famous char
acter created by Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle. Perhaps the least known n
Cuff. who figures In The Moonstone."
Gun looked for ciews In tribes. In
vestigating a smear on q newly paint
ed door. he was told BY the superin-
tendent who had the case IN hand that
1t was made by the petticoats Of the
women servants. The superintendent
said petticoats were tyi6ss.
In all my experience along tho
dirticst ways Of this dirty little wossd."
replied Gun. II have never met such
3 thing ~ . tribe yet. We must -
the petticoat that made the smear. and
we must know for certain that the
paint was wet"
Lecocq. the beau ideal OF the FrencA
detective. was wont to explain his de-
auctions to assistants. just ~ Sherlock
Holmes did to his friend Watson. In
the story Of "File No. ll3" safe has
been robbed. There II . scratch on
the door Of the safe which seems to
have been made BY the key slipping
from the lock. But I1ecocQ explained
that the paint was hard and that the
scratch could not have been made by
the trembling hand OF the thief letting
the key slip.
He therefore had an iron box made.
painted with green varnish. like the
safe. A LecocQ inserted the key no
asked the assistant to endeavor 20 pre-
vent him using the key just ~ he was
about to insert IL In the lock. The n.
sistant did 20. and the key held By
Lecocq. pulled aside from the lock.
slipped along the door and traced upon
It q diagonal scratch from top to bot.
tom. the exact reproduction Of the one
shown In q photograph Of the safe.
Thus 1t was proved that two persons
were present at the robbery -ouo
wished to take the money and the
other to prevent Its being taken.
In the play Sherlock Holmes. the
detective. with the aid Of an accom-
plice. raises nm alarm Of IRE at the
house OF the Iarrabees. during the ex.
element Of which be II able TO inves-
tigate the mystery Of the purloined
documents.
A somewhat similar incident occurs
in Edgar Allan Poe's The Purioined
Letter." when Dupin. having obtained
entrance TO the house Of . minister
fee H. stats Who had purloined q let
ter OF great importance from q lady.
wished to NE Il from its hiding place
"A card rack tevag the mantelpiece-
and substitute . facsimile. While
Dupin was talking to the minister
there was q sudden report Of q pistol
beneath the window. followed by fear
full screams and loud shouting. Tho
minister rushed to the window. and
while his attention was thus D0Acted
Dupin took the real lettee ~ onobti-
tuted the false one wh1eA ~ ~ pre-.
pared. Needless to say. tt 11lDlsion
had been created BY Dupln's assist.
ants.
Although ''The Adventures Of Sher-
lock Holmes" somewhat overshadow
the stories Of other detectives which
~
should not forget TO mention Martin
Hewitt, investigator. ana Dick Don.
ovan.
Both these detectives worked alone
and were past masters In the art OF
solving robbery mysteries. murders
and the crimes Of secret societies.
And the value OF noting tribes. par
ticularly IN detective work. II striking
" illustrated in The Case Of 9lr. Fog
gait" The latter had been murdered
in his cha mber. which was situated nc
the top OF the building IN which Hew-
lit had an office. Hewitt was the 6rse
one on the scene. The door was lock-
ed. and when he goe inside the room
he found Foggatt lying across the Ia
bic. shot dead. There was q sheer
Drop OF uIty 1eeI OUlSlOe Nue WAUOUWS-
How had the murderer got In. and
how had he escaped:
On the sideboard were the freshly
bitten remains Of an apple. Hewitt
noticed that II had been bitten By .
person who had lost two teeth. one
at the top and one below. He also
saw that the dead man had an excel.
lent set OF false teeth. with none
missing. He observed. too. that an &C.
tive young man could. BY standing on
the window sill. draw himself on the
roof and thus escape. Thus Hewitt
comes TO look for . tall athletic look
ing young man with two teeth miss
ing. He finds him. obtains BY . ru.o
another apple which he has bitten.
compares the two and ultimately OBJ
tains the startling STORY OF the muir
der from the murderer himself after
the coroper's jury had returned Q YER
dict Of accidental death" - London
Tit-BitS.
Il u the little pleasures which make
life sweet. n the little displeasures