Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1912-10-09
700A'7maem 000A0 US X,BaZueS

OI Il nunQr6Q the stamp is out OF
plumb. On the other hand, as a post
office Inspector, l am we'll aware that
in a business house or office where
there is a large correspondence, an
office boy mailing hundreds of letters
at a time, is apt to get most of the
stamps on crooked. If this yellow let
ter was one that had been mailed in
a business office, the crooked stamp
meant nothing. If, on the other hand,
it had been mailed singly or with a
few others, it was pretty safe betting
that the man who mailed it was left
handed. 1t was easy after l came to
Ardway, especially as Rouser was al
ready missing and every one wa talk
ing about him, to learn that he was
left-handed."
II still fail to see," I said stubborn
ly, "why you did not suspect Gran
dali. There were many things that
seemed to point to him-his telephon-
ing to Katharine just before she shot
herself, his sudden disappearance, the
finding of the morphine syringe in his
rooms, the Ardway address in his note
UOOh, COup1CO Will Liz IdCI tia 0OI-
eral Parrish had forbidden him the
house. l do not see how you could
help %suspecting him."
"I1l admit that on the surface these
things all did look damaging, but
against this was the one important
fact that he was too well-balanced-
too sane, if l might put it that way.
T o-;o1zI1 1oo-ooJ 41o4 h. n1-,,
table business man, that he was one
of the governors in two clubs, and you
yourself informed me that Katharine
Parrish had thought highly of him.
No Well-balanced man commits crimes
of this sort. You might find an insane
man conducting a successful business
and getting away with it, but it is
highly improbable that he could sue
coed in not betraying his mental con-
dition to his club-fellows or his wom-
en- friends. On the other hand, a man
might be sane enough in society, but
you would find the vagaries of his
brain manifesting themselves in bust
ness. AS o on as I convinced myself
that Crandall was sane and well-bal-
anced, l felt that all possibility of his
being the criminal was eliminated"
do you near to tell me-" I cried
angrily, that all criminals are in
sane?"
Yes" said Davis thoughtfully, 81
mean exactly that. The time will
come when our courts will not be punt
tive but curative. Men are criminals
because they can not help it. The
great w~ell-balanced majority of people
see that in the observance of the laws
the community has made for itself
les the only hope of a happy, regular
life. The unbalanced few, the UNI
healthy product of unfit parents, in
their poor misshapen brains are I'M
able to comprehend this. They be-
come the rebels against authority, the
slaves of alcohol and narcotics, like
that poor devil in there. They can
not help themselves. It's the fault OF
their parents, it's the shape of their
heads, it's the diseased condition Of
! their nerves. It's our fault for not TAX
ing the same care in breeding the hui
man race that we would in breeding
horses or dogs"
"Oh, bosh," said I. 81 ask o how
you account for the ~hypodermic sy-
ringe in Crandall's rooms and | get
a sermon"
Lawyer though you are" retorted
Davis, I'm afraid that you are weak
in logic. Having. decided that Gran
dali had no criminal connection with
the case, what then? | set up the
theory that his connection was exact
" the same as your own. You were
in love with Louise and were deter
mined to trace the hidden danger that
was threatening her father. He was
in love with Katharine and was try