The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1912-08-15
now simple me prouIem mas become .

Il confess l can't see 1t at ALL"
LET me state it for you: A woman
! from somewhere in Connecticut buys
a black suit of rather peculiar tex
ture from a cloak and suit house that
receives a great many mail orders.
! She requires a thirty-eight coat with
| sleeves heightened two inches and a
| thirty-eight skirt let down an inch
and half. That's enough to identify
any person"
81 must confess I still don't see
how that knowledge will help you"
! I'm these days of system every
| house that sells women's garments
has elaborate card indexes. The great
| est expense they have is in altera-
! tons. They figure that a roll of cloth
| that costs SO much will make so many
suits of certain pattern which they
! will sell for so much in a certain
| length of time. They figure on max.
ing so much profit on the suits. If
the cloth is all right, the pattern pop
! ular and the price reasonable, they
can figure to a certainty on their prof
its, except for one Observation-Disclosures
! Alterations require the time of skilled
work-peopie and also correspondence
| and frequently extra express charges.
! The aim of the manager is to reduce
| alteration to a minimum. For that
| reason he keeps a record OF every al
| teration made. This particular dress
! happened to come from store where
l know the manager we'll. 1t is their
| busy season just now, and l took
! chance on finding him in his Office I
! described the goods in the suit, gave
| him the size and the sort OF altera-
tons that had been made on it and
asked him to have his card index
looked up. I told him in all prob.
ability the woman l wanted to know
about came from Bridgeport, Conn,
or near there. 1t happened that only
three of the eight suits they had made
from this piece Of goods-at least the
only ones entered on the alteration
carlsbad gone to Come cticut OF
the three, two were thirty-six coats,
so they could be eliminated at once.
The third one had had the sleeves
| heightened and also the skirt The
sizes correspondent, go there was very
! little doubt that it had been this wom-
an who had bought 1t, Miss Sarah
Sackett, the woman who committed
suicide here"
"But even So" I protested, still mar.
yelling at his revelations, "how did
you get the rest of your information
! about her so uuickly?"
THE address she had given was IN
care Of the express agent at Bridge
port. Such an address in a large city
would mean nothing, but In a place
the size Of Bridgeport the inference
was plain that the agent was probably
an acquaintance. If she lived in
/ Bridgeport, she would have given
street and number. I concluded at
once that she lived IN the suburbs
near Bridgeport. called up the sx-
press agent, and he gave me the rest
Ct my facts"
Did he tell you why she committed
| suicide?"
He doesn't dream that she has,"
the inspector replied. 81 put my ques-
tons in a guarded way and he hap,
pened to be a garrulous fellow, who
readily followed my leads. All l
! asked him was where a letter would
reach Miss Sarah Hackett, saying
had forgotten which rural free deliv,
cry route it was that she lived on. He
| told me that she and her brother were
still living on the old Sackett place,
Route No. l. l explained that | want.
ed to make sure Of an important let
! ter reaching her at once. He told me
she was away, explaining that he had
seen her come down to the station
! with her brother, and suggested that
1t might be good idea to send the
letter in her brothers care, and told
me the address of the bank where
| her brother could be reached. So you
see it is all quite simple when you
! know how"
Il don't see, though" I objected,
how anything that you have learned
| in any way connects this woman with
the Parrish mystery"
81 told you there would be other
suicides, didn't II"
at looks to me like a mere coinci-
dence"
How about the yellow letter she
was reading?"
l started. For moment l had for
gotten the strange, tinted link that
seemed to bind the Parrish tragedy,
the Elser case and the Sarah Sackett
suicide together in the terrible chain
! of mystery.
We've got to find Hugh Crandall!"
l exclaimed. Il will not be content
until we do. There is no doubt in
my mind that he is the author Of those
letters. We've got to find him, Davis,
and make him explain. l promised
the girl / love l would not rest until
l had cleared away the mystery, until
| had lifted the cloud that is hang
ing over her father and her sister
Nothing, nothing shall stand in the
way! Think what 1T means to mel The
one love, the one who is dearer to me
than anything else in the world. is
living In constant dread of an I'm.
known terror. l feel that Crandall is
responsible. l am positive that he Is
guilty. Help me find him, Davisi We