The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1913-06-26
Fitting Crime to the Evidence

ul0Il VI tuO Sllys ohCoh1AS cSAoAG ~
the shadows, l saw him enter a darl
stairway. l started to follow, then stop
ped. The building, on the upper floor
! had noticed, was occupied on one
side by q small manufacturing concern
q sweatshop, probably. Then he must
have his room somewhere on the other
side. / hurried into the alley next tc
the building and watched. Soon q
light appeared in a window on the
fourth floor, to shine dimly a moment
then fade as a curtain was pulled.
strained my eyes at the shadow as the
man had gone to the window. was
sure he was the one I was following,
and that had located his room.
THAT night the house took q new
lodger one who preferred to live on
the fourth floor, where the light was a
trifle better. She was a poor woman,
but at that she managed to pay her
first weeks rent in advance"
Alice Clement smiled as she said
this, and l could not help wondering
at the courage of this bright eyed lit
lie woman, slight, pretty, young appear
ing, woman who seemed of the type
that lives for petting and for easy lux.
lry, instead of the grueling life that
pne must undergo when stalking crime.
The IL" train had stopped for the
transfer from local to express trains at
Indiana avenue. Miss Clement waited
until the whirring of the wheels began
again before she took up her narrative
once more.
1T isn't usual thing for a man to
buy papers like that" she said. And
that was the reason I had become so
Interested in him. What was it that he
desired to see? What was it that he
was constantly fearful might come
forth every day-what was it that
lmpelled his curiosity to watch
the very latest edition of papers,
that he must know what was hap
pening up to the very last minute?
The thoughts gnawed my brain. There
was no particular nnsolved murder
mystery just at that time. There
had been no very great robberies. AS
[ sat in my little room, looking at the
faded, torn wall paper and the miser-
able furnishings, dissected the whole
thing, piece by piece. That man was
a criminal, I felt sure of it. He had
done something which as yet had not
been found out. His conscience was
hurting him. The thought of crime,
down upon his brain, was
driving him night after night out into
the open, to learn if possible if the
world had yet learned Of his guilt.
Yes, l was sure of all that; but to
prove it was different matter. A
criminal, forced to the wall, is hard
person to deal with. I had nothing
by which a lead of attack might be
made. There was nothing that he
could be accused of. There was only
one thing to do-wait and play spy.
That night, as the hours grew late,
[ sneaked into the hall and stealthily
approached the door. There, in the
shadow, just around the corner from
where dingy hall light threw it's
feeble rays against the overpowering
darkness, l knelt, hour after hour, lis
tening at the keyhole. But no word,
no sound, came from within. There
was no movement from the man with
in the room, nothing that would inGi-
cate that he was suffering from the
thoughts of crime. l went back to
my room and went to sleep.
"The next night it was the same.
There must be a new plan.
The following day, gauging my time
SO that felt sure he would be at the
newspaper Office, tried my keys on
the door. They all failed. Then, fol-
lowing apparent failure, there enter
ed hope. The door of the room next
went open to my touch l saw that it
was vacant. felt the walls; they
were almost nothing. 1 saw that by ju-
dicious use of sharp knife I could
have hole through the connecting
one within a half hour. set to
work."
The IL" train had stopped for a mo-
ment, and with it stopped Miss Glenn
ent's narrative. Then, as the mo-
torman shot the lever around on the
controller, it began again.
When my man returned that night,
he was being watched by two eyes
that We're tireless. l had stationed
myself in that little room, locked and
bolted the door, and was at the tiny
hole had made in the wall. felt sure
that it would not be noticed. I was
willing, anyway, to take the chance.
He came into the room somewhat
wildly. His face was set, he seemed
nervous. Hurrfedly he walked to the
small cupboard and took from it q
box containing some white powder
cocaine fiend! Then, almost stealth
lily, he paced around the room, to take
out at last some letters from a desk,
and seated himself by the light I
could see that the paper was old and
dirty. The letters evidently had been
read and reread a thousand times.
Il stood at that hole in the wall
spellbound. The man before me was
changing in every bit. of his ma
ture. The shifty, nervous expression
had left his eyes now. As he read
line after line Of the missive he held
in his hand, his eyes grew steely and
cold and glazing. Now and then the
lips seemed to part in a snarl. The
blood surged to his cheeks, then left
1t. The hands trembled. The man
beneath my gaze was turning animal