Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1912-11-07
CHAPTER ~


Katharine Speaks.
Tf had been alone [ would have
gone directly to the Parrish home. J
was anxious about Louise. had not
seen her since the night before, though
had teIephOned her early in the
morning greatly regretted having
to leave her so much by herself in
such disressfuI circumstances. j
thought Fl wiser now to prepare her
beforehand for the inspectors com
ing / wanted him to see the Parrish
home. 7 felt that if he met Louise
and realized the luxury and comfort
ia which the family lived he would
better appreciate the mystery and my
determination to solve it.
suggested luncheon at Martin S
and Davis assented AS soon as We
had obtained a table / excused my
self and fastened to the telephone
Louise told me that the condition Of
both her father and Katharine was
practically unchanged. / briefly sum
married. my mornings work and asked
if I might bring the inspector after
luncheon.
by all means" said Louise, bring
him right over. want to meet him
and there may be some things I can
tell him which will aid him"
When [ returned to the cafe on the
Broadway side, where I had left the
inspector, I found him abstractedly
rolling little pellets of bread and plaC-
ing them In various positions on the
cloth So absorbed vas he in his oc-
cUpatiOn that he hardly seemed to note
my return. His flying fingers would
hastily mold three or four pellets in
as many seconds. Placing them in
a row, he would eye them intently
Occasionally he would swoop down on
some unOffendIng pellet and sweep it
70 the floor. Two or three times
tried to interrupt him to learn what
he wished to eat, but each time he
waved me impatiently away Finally
not desiring to delay too long over
luncheon, I gave the waiter the order
without consulting him. Mechanically
he ate what was put before him, all
the while keeping up his game with
bread balls
knowing him as we'll as I did, after
studying closely his eccentric move
ments. I felt sure that the array of
pellets was closely allied with the
mental process by which ne was seek
ing TO solve the Parrish mystery. The
large. pellets, 1 decided. must be the
various theories about the yellow let
ter or letters and their origin. The
smaller pellets were the different per-
sons connected with the case One
by one he pushed the larger pellets
from the table until a single pellet
remained The smaller ones he kept
arranging and rearranging until at last
he seemed satisfied. The single sur
yiving large pellet stood directly on
crease in the cloth On one side
equally distant from the crease, but
close to each other, he had placed
two of the smaller pellets. The rest
were in three groups on the other side
of the line For perhaps five minutes
lie carefully studied their position
without shifting them, and then with
a quick motion of his hand swept them
all TO the floor.
There was some purpose distinctly
criminal connected with the yellow
letters he said, as if for the first
time aware of my presence, and be-
coming as Ioquacious as ne had before
been silent. when We have run this
mystery to earth We viii find that
there are two of the criminals-only
two guilty"
Guilty Of what?" asked in amaze
ment.
Il haven't the slightest idea as vet"
ne replied with such apparent frank
ness that I suspected he was not tell
ing me all his thought Evil ideas
are of three kinds-the solitary, the
pair, the group. Crimes are merely
the physical expression Of evil ideas
aLj bear the same classification. The
solitary evil idea manifests itself in
rariety of crimes In this class be-
Ions defaICaGOns, poisonings, crimes
against women and generally the as
sGssinatiol Of private individuals.
These are the hardest crimes to dis
cover and punish. The evil idea is not
communicated. This sort Of criminal
seldom has confdauts. Often, in tact
almost always, he masks his villainv
behind the cloak of respeca btIitv.
Most OF these ofenses are due to ma
MIA, 10 bl0odlust, to a desire for re-
Yenge for real or imaginary WRONGS
"Evil ideas Of the pair are generally
attributable to money-lust In such