The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-06-14
WNRAvElED A MURDER MYSTERY
A FELON.

therefore. point conclusively to Sun
day night as the time of the murder"
The proprietor took a pencil and a
piece of paper. Let me figure that
he demanded.
Very we'll; now calculate" said DR.,
Gross. Put down the limit of the
flea's life in water mt sixteen hours,
and ants as s~eventy-two. How many
hours had elapsed since Tuesday dusk
and the time of the finding Of the
body?"
Not more than nine.' answered the
park proprietor.
But the flea is dead of drowning,
therefore the body must nave been
thrown in the water before Tuesday
dusk. But the ant is alive. How
many hours have elapsed since dusk
on Saturday night Eighty-one
hours. YOU say. Very we'll: if the body
had been thrown in on Saturday the
ant would have been dead. a simple
matter of mathematics"
Now. If you have a list Of the
members of the athletic club which
was here on Sunday let us examine
it and have one of your men see if
there are any jewellers among Them
In the list were found the names of
two jewelers..
Let your men .arres. the one whom
they will find to be between so and
40. stout. with black hair turning gray,
as | first described" said DIR. Gross.
But before l do this please tell me
how YOU can describe a man you have
never SEEM" demanded the chief of
police.
In the cap" said DR.. Gross, I'VE
found three hairs. w black and one
gray. A microscopic examination
showed me that while the gray hair
rind. the center did contain a great
many pigment cells. There were
many more than those found in the
hair of old people. showing me that
this mar Was turning prematurely
gray. Hence l arrived at the age.
Moreover. the outer LAYER of the hair
showed under the microscope several
Wart-like protuberanCes. These are
always due to undue excretions of
who are either stout or inclined to
stoutness. These protuberances are
indeed d common popularity of the
hair of the fat"
"But l still do not see how you
managed to tell his trade said the
chief.
That" said DR.. Gross, was the
easiest of all. All hair. even short
halr' accumulates a certain amount of
dust through the day. Thus a cabinet
makers scalp will show minute par
ticles of wood; a carpet LAYERS scaip
VIII SOW ordinary dust and tiny bits
OF Worsted: a h~laclismith's minute iron
innings and coal particles. A jewelers.
scalp Will show enthusiastically small
DTS of metal. You saw that little in
strument for which | sent my assist
INT. 1t is a specially made vacuum
cleaner. / applied this to the inside
or the cap. l examined the screen
WITH the microscope afterward and
found several particles of gold and
silver-sufficient evidence to tell us
what trade the owner pursued.
But o will say the murderer
might have borrowed the cap. Very
true. And last l come to the most
important piece of evidence of all
the hand mark in blood on the
crown. AS l reconstruct the crime the
murderer after stabbing the woman
dragged her to the lake. His hands
became full Of blood. At one point
ne stumbled and fell. His cap pitch
ed from his head and he landed with
one hand squarely on the crown. 1t
IS m of the incidents that prove that
the laws of chance are enormously
against a murderer making his escape.
Now. just as YOU have occupational
traces in the hair, SO do you have
o~ccupational habits and occupational
marks ON the fine network of lines on
the palm Of the hand and the fingers.
An occupational habit of jewelers. is to
stop with the tleshy inner base of the
thumb the little wheel with which
they cut gems or shape their gold and
silver. This grinds down the tops of
the little skin ridges and leaves a tail
Invisible to the v but plain under
the microscope. If you will look at
this hand print under the glass you
will see that along a line half an inch
VIDE and an inch long the markings
seem to be smoothly planed away.
That is the %occupational habit mark.
Again. under the glass you will note
on the inner side of the forehnger
what appears to be tiny cars. They
are just that-another occupational
mark of the jeweler whose finger
comes o and hen in contact with
his wheel and so has small bits ground
away here and there. Do you accept
my conclusions?'
This" said the CHIEF Of police. lis
truly amazing"
1T. is. after all. only common
SENSE" answered DR.. Gross.
The Dresden police found that one
of the jewelers. named as members Of
the athletic club was between 80 and
40, with black hair turning premature
ly gray. A comparison. of his hand
with that left on the cap showed them
to be identical. The woman had been
a member Of the Italian company. The
jeweler later confessed that he had
killed her in a moment of drunken
anger. and suffered the penalty of his
crime.
Economy in government is never
very popular with either party. re-
gardless of what the orators saw.