The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1912-06-28
CHAPTER XVI.

CHAPTER XVI.
IN the silence that followed the slow
ticking of the tall clock sounded like
the tolling Of a bell shut my eyes
Go on" I commanded as he sat
facing me with no signs of any incli-
nation to proceed. What does this
junk signify to you?' He got up and
crossing the room silently bolted the
door that led to my uncle's apart
ments; then resumed his seat and adj
dressed me In the low tones Of one
who adds caution to precaution.
when I began this investigation,
Tom, as I then told you I was about
to do commenced to shift the chan
from the wheat in order to decrease
the number of objects which l would
in the last analysis be compelled to
examine with great mfnuteness. My
inquiries made upon the morning !
first came, together with my inspec.
ton of the house upon that occasion,
satisfied me of several things, among
which were that Mrs. Tebbets had
possessed no knowledge of the money
being in the safe, and because Of THAI
and divers other reasons she should
be eliminated: that your uncle had IN
no wise spread the information Of his
having the currency to anyone ex-
cept yourself and Bruce, and there
fore that he, as distributor of the
news to outside parties, was to be
eliminated; that the house must have
been entered by the front door, and
therefore that the idea that all par
ties were telling me without reserva-
ton all they knew about the matter
was to be eliminated; and last, that
on account of the unusual drilling of
the safe and the quantity and quality
of the explosive used, that all thought
of it's being the work of a profession
al cracksman must be eliminated. You
see that brought me down to pretty
narrow field" He ceased speaking,
and with my eyes still closed and my
head resting heavily against the back
of the chair + nodded slightly.
II understand. Having eliminated
the possibility Of its having been done
by a professional, you have brought it
down to Bruce, who possessed key,
or to Richard Mackay or one of his
friends who might have obtained
duplicate from the key left at Mrs.
Dace's. However, go ahead"
"You seem to be following me to
certain extent. Having decided that
It was the work of an amateur, l was
obliged to start out with those
thoughts in my mind as ! attempted
to still further construct the circle.
Your key was in the possession of
your uncle at the time of the crime.
and L did not believe that you had
ever had another. Mrs. Tebbets and
your uncle had theirs; Miss Winton's
was missing and you had assured me
that Bruce had been in the possession
of ono which he failed to account for;
that he had made rash statements
about getting money; had become
angry at your uncle; had been in a
generally unnatural and desperate
frame Of mind the day before. and
therefore l started In to investigate
him. This seemed to me the most
logical way Of going at it, for loom
ing as big as he did among the sur
roundings, I must either concentrate
upon him as the probable thief, or
greatly simplify matters by getting
rid Of him altogether. You had told
me Of his entering a cab the evening
before the crime, and so l went to
q friend of mine who is an official in
the cab drivers union. They are prac-
tically all union men In this city, and
he sent out circular to every mem
Der Of his association calling upon the
driver who had conveyed the person
described to come forward and receive
reward. Within two days l was talk
ing to the man who had driven Bruce.
and In that way found out where he
spent the night. The cabman drove
him to resort ten miles from this
place and Bruce spent the night OF
the robbery there asleep" l Enclosed
my eyelids with an expression of sur
prise.
Il did not know that Bruce went to
such placeS," muttered. LeDuc
went on.
Nor does no voluntarily. He had