The Tomahawk. [volume] (White Earth, Becker County, Minn.) 1903-192?, 1916-02-03
hand, Capt. Francis Forsythe lay upon
the floor, dead.

Qr1X was SdyluS-Cucy WcIo OH 5e1tAo
cred in Felix Hazards private Office
the doctor, Helen, Hazard and the
last-named's chief-"what I can't see
is how you arrived at your conclusions
so quickly. It is amazing-astound'
ing!"
Really it was all very simple, in
deed one of the simplest problems l
ever was called upon to solve," Haz-
ard returned modestly. "As a matter
Of fact, knew the answer within five
minutes after you left me this morn
ing. All that Miss Bertel and I did
this afternoon was to cOnf1rm-or,
rather, find means of establishing
the conclusions.
There were three factors, which,
taken together, made the conclusions
inevitable. These were the fact that
you had administered strophanthus to
Mrs. Forsythe the night before she
died, that her husband had a collec'
ton of African weapons and that there
were three insurance policies
though he never suspected that the
largest, upon which she had been pay
ing premiums, was doubly beyond his
reach. His thoughts and sensations
must have been horrible when he re-
allied that the murder of his wife
had produced so paltry an amount.
But before moving in the case,
satisfied myself upon two aspects OF
the affair that strengthened my posi-
ton: obtained the mans record, and
I obtained a full statement OF his
bankrupt condition. The rest was
merely a matter of happening to be
possessed of a scrap Of uncommon
knowledge"
Hazard fell silent, and sat musing
moment before taking up the thread
of his recital.
tits trite to repeat that whenever
crime is committed, no matter how
shrewd or intelligent the criminal, or
how carefully every factor that might
leave clue pointing toward detection
is provided against, some detail Is In
variably overlooked; the one thing
Justice is sure to pounce upon to
bring down retribution upon the per-
petrator.
"This case is pointed illustration
Of the truism. It Is probable that For
sythe had no idea that strophanthus
has an established place in materia
medica; it Is possible that he didn't
even know the drug by that name;
he did know, however, its deadly prop
critics and that under the various
names of inee, Poison of Polionias, or
Komba, it has from time immemorial
been used by many African tribes to
poison their spears and arrows. Els
pecially in the region round about
Somaliland is to be found the dead
Hest of all the genus, the strophanthus
hispidus, from the seeds of which is
obtained glucoside so fatal that an
elephant wounded by one of the little
arrows impregnated with it will drop
dead before it can run ten miles.
'But today I made one blunder:
when I let the maid carry to her
master information Of a deputy coro-
ners surprising interest in his collec-
ton, while at the same time there
was a strange woman with the dead,
albeit she was an undertaker's assist
ant"
How did you guess ABOUT the SPIN
teri" asked the doctor.
"Well, that touches upon another in
stance of the diabolical deliberation
with which he went about numbering
his wife. In the beginning he made
a solution from several of the arrow
tips, but the poison doubtless has lost
much of it's potency through age and
IN %h4 ~ rof a
it was not strong enough to produce
fatal results when administered in
ternally. But found one arrow from
which a splinter had recently been
cut, and when Miss Bertel reported
that the body bore not the slightest
mark, I, by signs-for the maid was
watching US closely-conveyed the
message to her that she look under
the finger-nails. She found the splin-
ter under the third nail of the right
hand-probably placed there while his
wife was in fainting or unconscious
state"
BY and by Helen Bertel and Hazard
were alone. They sat in silence, each
busy with his or her own thoughts.
The minutes licked away until fully
quarter of an hour had passed, when
something caused Hazard to glance
up quickly at the girls sweet face.
He was surprised to see her lovely
eyes suffused with tears.
What, Helen-what is it," he
asked solicitously.
She met his look.
ooh, it's so sad, Felix. That poor,
poor woman. Even in death the shad-
ow of a great sorrow lies upon her
face. And she was so beautiful"
Hazard considered this view Of the
affair, then
IT must confess that I was giving
her but scant consideration. was
thinking of the doctor. May the Lord
keep him from ever putting two and
two together"
"Why, what do you mean?"
"Can't you see? For two weeks
Forsythe has been giving his wife the