Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1912-07-12
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: emily SET away, come back Iiere. Make
sure, though, that nobody follows you.
As soon as the constable had gone,
Davis lit a cigarette, turned up his
:oat collar and took n seat on a
| rough bench just outside the door.
Come on out here, Harding, and
watch the sun rise" he called 10 NE.
rose hastily from where had
been sitting gazing stupidity about me
and joined him on the bench.
"There was something you wanted
to ask ME, wasn't there?' he said
pleasantly.
There were so many things I want
ed to ask him | hardly knew where 10
begin, but the first thing blurted out
was:
as Hugh Crandall guilty."
'He IS guilty only Of being in love
with Katharine Parrish against her fa.
theirs wishes he replied.
But surely" said doggedly, "he
has some connection with the crime
of the yellow letters. He knew
Young. He knew where to find him.
There are many things ahoI.t his &C.
items that to my mind call Tor eypla-
nation"
did you notice his eyes?" asked
Davis. 1t was still too dark for me TO
see the inspectors face, but L felt
sure that he was laughing at me. He
made ne feel that way al too often.
81 didn't" answered rather cross
IL. but what's that got to do with
It?"
I'm afraid, Kent, as have said be-
fore, you will never make good de-
tectiye, You are entirely too unob-
servant of important details. Do you
recall my asking early in our investi-
CATION whether or not Crandall had
blue cycs?"
Yes" 1 grudgingly admitted, 81 re-
call it."
"As soon as I discovered that Gran
dali had blue eyes that eliminated him
as the probable criminal"
Il don't see your logic"
1--WE told you before" said Davis.
after a pause long enough to permit
him to light another cigarette, chat
there arc classes OF crime and types
of criminals, each strongly market
after its own sort. | saw right at the
start that this crime was of the hid
den sort, OF the kind that includes cor
sptracy, blackmail, secret plotting
the kind that requires sk!lful sneak.
You never In your life found Q blue
eyed sneak. There are lots of blue
eyed desperadocs and burglars. Most
Of the notorious bad men OF the west
We're blue-cyeI, but you don't find
man with blue eyes shooting or stab
bling a man In the back or kidnapping
a child or writing Matchmaking let
tcrs."
While ! was not at all convinced
by his argument, | felt that it would
be useless for NE 10 dispute it, for |
would be invading comparatively un
known territory, whereas he undoubt-
edly had dozens of cases at his finger
tips ready to illustrate his theory. I
decided to change the subject.
81 recall, too" I said, that you
asked if Crandall was left-handed. So
far as saw, he is not. What Of that?
Is that another proof Of Crandall's IL
nocencc?"
"No," said Davis, that didn't prove
CrandaIl's Innocence. 1t proved Rou-
ser's guilt. In fact. it was the lett
handed clue that put me on the right
track ard eventually led me to this
very cottage"
"For Heavens sake" said 7 impa-
tiently. don't talk in riddles. Go on
and explain It."
You're not to blame" he continued
calmly, "for not having seen the left.
handed clue. You lack the education.
Only person who had seen hundreds
and hundreds Of envelopes and hal
studied them closely would have OBJ
served it You remember that a po-
liceman brought me part of 4 yellow
envelope that had been found in cid
Andrew Users room. On it was
stamp and part Of the postmark. The
first thing that noticed was that the
stamp was put on crooked. This
might mean much or nothing. A left.
handed person stamping a letter in,
varlably gets tho stamp on crooked.
1t ordinarily IS put in the upper right
hand corner Of the envelope. \ right
handed person stamping a letter has
the two edges Of the envelope as
guide. Try putting on a stamp with
your left hand and you will see thai
your hand comes in such a position
that the edges OF the envelope are
hidden and in ninety-nine cases CUT
Of a hundred the stamp is out o.
plumb. On the other hand, as a post
Office inspector. an we'll aware that
in q business house Or Office where
there is large correspondence, AL
office boy mailing hundreds OF letters
at 4 time, is apt to get most OF the
stamps on crooked. II this yellow let
ter was one that had been mailed in
q business Office. the crooked STAMP