Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-03-12
denly asked me. showing that he had
heard all said. q

neard all | said. s Il
Both the landlord and answered
him afirmatively.
Where is the telephone?" he asked,
Il want to call long distance"
There was a note of excitement I'M
his voice that indicated to me that he
believed himself on the verge Of some
discovery, though what it was could
not imagine II there were any clues
that had been revealed In those rusty
garments his methods were too much
for me-
He dashed away to the telephone,
the landlord following. I ate my sup.
per alone and waited. Just as / was
finishing he came back into the room,
and, seating himself. began to eat, ap-
parently Indifferent to the fact that
everything had grown cold in the half
hour he was absent.
! We'll, said inquiringly, did you
learn anything?"
He nodded and calmly finished drink
ing his cold coffee, seemingly with q
relish.
| Expectantly / sat there, waiting for
MIN to go on. He seemed not to no
tice my Impotence, though 1t must
nave been apparent, and waited until
he had pushed back his chair and
lighted his cigarette. He always rolled
his own, and never before had I real
lied what an irritating operation roll
Ing a cigarette can be made. It
seemed to me that he was taking en-.
t1rely unnecessary pains to have the
ends twisted just SO. Finally could
brook no further delay and burst out
with: We'll. what have you discov.
cred, Mr. Inspectors
| supposed that he might have ob.
tanned a clue to where the woman's
garments had been manufactured. some
tiny thread by which he hoped TO run
her identity to earth. Little was i pre-.
pared for the startling discoveries ho
volleyed at me, so tersely, 20 con-
cretly put that could not doubt the
accuracy of his information. n
"The woman was Sarah Sacke$t.
spinster. She lived on little farm
just outside Bridgeport with her bro4
Their Robert, who is somewhat older
than she. They inherited the farm
from their parents and have lived there
all their lives. The brother IL en-,
ployed as cashier in little country
bank about ten miles away. Every
morning he drives into Bridgeport and
takes the train. When his sister left,
two days ago, he came with her to the
station. He evidently Is not aware
of her death, though he seems greatly
worried over her absence He pre-
sumably expected her to return last
night, for he waited over several
trains.a This morning he was asking
the station agent If he had seen her"
The dry, matter-of-fact way In which
he recited the facts he had learned ad,
ded to the value Of his narrative,
More and more marveled at the mans
detective ability. was overwhelmed
with sense OF my own incapacity. All
day long the coroner, the constable and
had been trying to ferret out the
mystery Of the unfortunate woman's
identity with practically no result.
With the same clues to work on, with
identically the same properties to draw
deductions from, the inspector In a
/ very few minutes had not only learned
her identity, but many other important
facts about her. Nor did it occur to me
to doubt the truth Of his information.
The assurance with which he spoke
was In itself sufficient guarantee.
| How on earth did you learn all
this so quickly?" I asked In amaze
ment.
| He smiled with that grim tantaliD
His cigarette had burned itself to Z
fully In his fingers, inspecting It as II
to see whether he could extract another
pun before throwing It away. HI
finally decided that he could not. and
drew forth his cigarette papers and
| f1hon "a "a = ~
one. Meanwhile / awaited his ansWel
in suspense.
Go on commanded "Tsll M
about 1t. l must know how you did
It."
THE principal part Of magfcfanf
art" he said as he lighted his new
cigarette, Ties in what is called mis-
direction With a glance from hi
eyes, with sudden movement OF hill
hand he attracts your attention to hill
right side. Meanwhile his left is do
! ing the trick. Now, misdirection, II
my business, has just the opposite 81
feet Amateurs, in investigating crime
examine the evidence and see clue
pointing in some direction They fol
low those clues and and themselve4
foundering. They have the right clues
but they go In the wrong direction
You read the evidence Alright as Il
Miss Sackett coming from Bridgeport
but all your efforts to locate her q,
Mary Jane Teller were simply vast
of time. In the clothes she left behind
her was her real name"
Look here" said, you can't Strini
me in that fashion. myself examined
those garments closely. There was n
name in them and there were no mark
by which she could be identified"
rs that so?" There was deep sal
casm in his tone.
"And not only that, even II hal
overlooked any marks that might haW
been there. the landlord, the coronei
the constable and half dozen other
examined them closely. II there wen
any marks, some one of us surel
would have discovered them"
For answer he got up leisnrely an
walked across to a chair where tn
garments were still lying. He picks
4 ~, tho cl> opd hold ~ nv tho 1nua