Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1912-11-20
CHAPTER slII.-fcontInued.)

attempted 3nerE NE t.J,5s
R CHAPTER I.-(contInued.) Is
glanced quickly at Davis. l fully
expected to see in his face something
OF the same astonishment had felt. !
was disappointed. With casual
glance at the envelope he turned to
Dowd as II waiting for him to go on.
TITS evidence In the Elser case" the
detective went on, turned in by the
man on post who reported the suicide.
He was that old party that was found
dead, in his room up on West Twenty
third street. To my mind, it's just
plain case Of suicide-an old man tired
Of living The poison bottle was there
on the floor beside him. I don't see
nothing suspicious about it; but the
chief has taken notion that there's
something behind it and wants to
know, where this letter came from. We
searched the room. but this torn en-
5.velope was all we could find. The
spostmarks torn through. but he
thought maybe you could trace 1t any
how"
t...I'll see what / can do and I'll let
you know in the morning" said the
inspector calmly, Diminishing the de-
tectiye with a nod. From his matter
of-face tone and apparent lack Of in
terest would not have been surprised
a il he had refused this undertaking.
too. Is he had mine, though It seemed
\ to me that the two bits of yellow pa
per connected the two suicides at the
1 same hour as something decisively
Y more than mere coincidence.
AZ soon, however. as the detective
had left the room the inspectors whole
manner changed. With the glitter Of
excitement In his alert eyes he turned
to me and exploslvely said:
8i Quick, let me see that yellow
scrap a.5. u /. b
had placed 1t carefully in my wal
let after he had refused my request.
AZ I drew 1t out now he almost
snatched 1t from my hand. Putting It
on his desk beside the torn envelope,
i he picked up IA reading-glass and
I studied both pieces carefully. His in,
spection lasted for several minutes,
and meanwhile, I. too, studied the torn
envelope. sii3 q &: s: = Il ..g
s2S Both in color and texture the paper
so closely resembled the scrap that
was positive that they were Of the
same lot. The envelope bore the ad
dress Of Andrew Elser, in West Tween.
ty-third street. Part Of the postmarA
]. most Of 1t, in fact---had been de
stroyed, as if in the careless opening
of the letter with the finger. All that
was decipherable was a capital "a
and part Of another letter that might
q have been either an "N'' or an "R." Ir
4 the lowerpart OF the circle was frag
ment Of a letter that looked as If Il
X might have been an en- I noticed
q too, that the stamp had been stuck OF
\ rather carelessly, in a lopsided man
4 ner. III 5ssi
Ny friend, his inspection completed
turned to me alphabetically.
Il beg your pardon, Harding Kent,
he said, you were entirely right
\ These two bits Of paper are keynote.
in an important mystery. one that it II
we'll worth my while to try to solve"
what made you change your MIND
y SO suddenly" / asked, for though
quite agreed with him, his manner
q had puzzled me not a little.
& He leaned back in his chair and
turned 1t so that he faced me. He had
K a sharp. explosive way of speaking
biting on his words almost before he
4 had completely enunciated them.
q Can't you see? One footprint leads
& nowhere. Two footprints start . path
When you. brought that yellow scrap
\ to me you were merely guessing that
u it might have something to do with
L. the strange happenings in the Parrish
4 home. There was no way in which
you could have positive knowledge,
nor could !. You were only guessing =
Indeed, I wasn't" exclaimed in
i dignantly. What drew my attention
& to it was General F'arrish's exclama'
ton Of terror at the sight Of it Just be.
fore he fell, paralyzed." 81
Davis shook his head determinedly
THAT meant much-or nothing. 1t
may have been. mere senile hysteria
superinduced by the great shock. AT
Z some time In his life he may have had
H some unpleasant experience which
was associated in his subconscious
memory with a yellow document.
s. Wrought up as he was by the news Of
his daughters attempt to kill herself,
the brain cells called into action were
those that had recorded other disturb.
ing experiences, perhaps month ago,
4 perhaps forty years ago. No impress
sions In the brain records are ever
lost. The sight Of the yellow paper
probably recalled some other yellow
paper. There was then no evidence
Il ss.-.-.----------- --------