Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-03-24
Through the Wall
BY
CLEVELAND MOFFETT
c..yish.. 1909. ), D. Ap,,..oa Co.
CHAPTER VII.
rHRoUaH THE WALL.

1~lHE detective entered the room
Of the tragedy and turned up
the lights, all of them, so that
- he might see whatever was to
be seen. He walked back and forth
examining the carpet, examining the
walls. examining the furniture, but
paying little heed to- the body. He
went to the open window and looked
out; he went to the yellow sofa and
cat down; finally he shut off the lights
and withdrew softly, closing the door
behind him. 1t was just as the corA-
missary had said with the exception
Of one thing.
Papa Tignol entered to say that he
had finished the footprint molds. M.
Paul motioned his associate to chair.
by the way" he asked, what do
You think Of thatY He pointed to a
japanese print in a black frame that
hung near the massive sideboard.
why" stammered Tignol, III don't
think anything Of it,
Coquenil laughed. Cali the same, 1t
has bearing on your investigations"
"Diablew
NJ. Paul reached for his glasses, rub
bed them deliberately and put them
on. Papa Tignol," he said seriously.
Il have come to conclusion about this
crime, but haven't verified it. lam
now going to. give myself an intellec-
tual treat"
"Wha-at?"
Il am going to prove practically
whether my mind has grown rusty in
the last two years. You understand
that we are in private room No. Z.
don't you? On the other side Of that
wall is private room No. 6, where
man has just been shot. We know
that, don't we? But the man who shot
him was in this room; the little hair
brushing old maid saw the pistol
thrown from this window; the dog
FOUND footprints coming from this
room; the murderer went out through
that door into the alleyway aud then
Into the street. He couldn't have gone
Into the corridor because the door was
locked on the outside"
'He might have gone into the corri-
dor and locked the door after him."
objected Tignol.
CoGuenil shook his head. He could
have, locked the door affte: hin, on the
outside, not Oh the inside. but when
we came ill here it was locked on the
inside
Then how. in heavens name
Exactly. How ctf;ld Il man in this
room kill i, man i'll tie next room?
And i believe I have solved it. Listen.
Betwee1 these rooms is a solid wood
en- partition with no door iii it--no
passageway Of any kind. Yet the man
In there is dead: we're sure of that.
The pistol was here: the bullet went
1here-somehow How did it go there?
Think"
= The detective paused and looked fix
Ally at the wall near the heavy side
board TignoI, half fascinated, stared
at the same spot, and then, as new
idea took form In bis brain, he blurt-
ed out, .sYou mean it went through
the wall?''
"1s there any other way?"
"But there is no hole-through the
Rall."' he muttered. ut might be back
sf'that sideboard."
But NJ. Paul disagreed. mo man
Is clever as this fellow would have
moved q heavy piece covered with
plates and glasses. Besides, IL the
sideboard had been moved there
would be marks on the door. and there
are hone. Now you understand why
I'm interested in that Japanese print"
Tignoi sprang to his feet.
you're knocking me; you've looked
behind the picture"
CoQuenil shook his head solemnly.
s'On my honor, have not been near
the picture. / know nothing about the
picture. but unless there Is some flaw
dn my reasoning
The old man stepped forward quick
~ and took down the picture.
"Tonnere de Dieuv' he cried. "Its
true! There are two holes.''
Sure enough, against the white wall
stood out not one but two black holes
about an inch In diameter and some
thing less than three inches apart.
Around the left hole, which was close
to the sideboard. were black dots
sprinkled over the. painted woodwork
like grains of pepper.
Powder marksw muttered Coque
nil, examining the hole. 'He fred at
close range as Martinez looked into
this room from the other side. Poor
chap! That's how he was shot In the
ieye.H
Asses! Idiots! That's what we
are muttered the old man. "For half
ian hour we were in that room, Gibe-
lin and !, and we. never found those