Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-03-05
YELLOW LETTER
A Fascinating Mystery Story
ByWlLLIAM JOHNSTON
COPYRIGHT ,elI-rAe eoBss. MERRILL co.
R w. CONTINUED. }

CHAPTER w. (Continued.)
Knowing him as we'll as I did, after
studying closely his eccentric move
ments, I felt sure that the array OF pei
lets was closely allied with the mental
process by which he was seeking to
solve the Parrish mystery. The larger
pellets, I decided, must be the various
theories about the yellow letter or let.
tiers and their origin. The smaller pei
lets were the different persons con-
nected with the case. One by one he
pushed the larger pellets from the
table until single pellet remained.
The smaller ones he kept arranging
and rearranging until at last ne
seemed satisfied. The single surviving
large pellet stood directly on crease
in the cloth. On one side equally dis
tant 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 he 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 Pc
coming as loquacious as he had be-
fore been silent. When we have run
this mystery to earth we Will lind
that there are two of the criminals
only two guilty"
equity of what?" ased in amaze
ment. ),
II haven't the slightest idea as yet,
he replied with such apparent frank-
ness that suspected he was not ten.
ing me all his thought. civil ideas are
of three kinds-the solitary, the pair
the group. Crimes are merely the
physical expression of evil ideas anu
bear the same classification. The SOIL
tary evil idea manifests Itself IN a
variety of crimes In this class belong
defalcations, poisonings, crimes against
women and generally the assassina'
ton of private individuals. These are
the hardest crimes to discover ana
punish. The evil idea is not communl'
Gated. This sort of criminal seldom
has confidants. Often, in fact almost
always. he masks his villainy behind
the cloak Of responsibility. Most OF
these offenses are due to mania, TO
blood-lust, to a desire for revenge LOT
real or imaginary wrongs.
evil ideas of the pair are generally
attributable to money-lust. In sucn
crimes as burglary, highway robnery'
blackmail, you will find two persons
equally guilty, always the pair, Some,
times It is the man and the woman,
sometimes the strong man and the
weak man, sometimes two women
though seldom, for women have little
of the inventive or creative Faculty,
even in crime. Notorious women
criminals, just like other feminine
celebrities in literature or art, have
much of the masculine IN their
makeup.
"The third kind of evil idea, that or
the group, is responsible for the
strike, the mob. the conspiracy. II IS
the contagion Of crime. The Black
Hand is typical example The mem
bers of this notorious organization
while they profit financially by their
misdeeds, care little about that end OF
it. Their greatest pleasure Is IN the
torture of their victims, in the agony
they suffer from the time the name
less dread of the Black Hand first
seizes them until finally they are put
to death for refusing the society 8
exactions. It is this evil spirit that
kills kings, burns witches, destroys
property and lynches negroes. The
Parrish mystery, however, Is OF the
second class-the crime Of the pair. !
am certain of It,"
"The important thing then for us to
do" said I, trying to bring him from
the abstract to the concrete. is to
find Hugh Crandall and also to dis
cover who was his closest associate
man or woman"
"Do you think so?" he asked eng
matically, adding a second later,
Cant you take me to see Miss Far
rish?'
Hardly another word passed be-
tween us as the taxicab whirled us up
Madison avenue to the generals home.
I was thinking about Davis strange
theories of crime and his opinion that
this was crime Of the pair. felt sure
that he, as we'll as I, must, be con-
WINGED of Crandall's connection with
the matter and surely his flight did
not argue innocence. But if this was
crime of the pair. who was the other
guilty person? Whom did Davis sus-
pect? He had said that 1t might be
either two men or man and a Wom-
an. A woman? Could it be that he sus-
pected Katharine Parrish OF sharing
Cranda1l's guilt?
No, No. it was too impossible, too
absurd. Yet certainly the yellow letter
seemed link between her and Elser.
It was she who for long time had
been Crandalls closest associates That
association apparently had been re-
Gently renewed in secret. Was it pos
sible that back of the mystery there
was some crime and that Katharine
was guilty?
For moment I was tempted to
order the chauffeur to stop. 1t seemed
almost dissertation to take this heart
less analyzer of crime into that home
where death stalked so close. Suppose
Katharine was--No. had pledged my
word to Louise that would solve the
mystery and would keep my promise,