Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1916-04-27
SYNOPSIS

S1NOpSlS
Gordon, a newspaper reporter, II
awakened by a telephone summons tt
visit the rcsidece of Anthony Conrad
q retired broker, who has been fOunt
dead on his couch.
Suspicion points to Gustav Conrad
his nephew, with whom he had quar-
relied the night before and who to al
appearances tried to commit suicide
after killing his uncle.
Physicians find that Gustav has a
chance to recover. The will leaves
$4,000 to Gustav and the balance OF
the estate to George Mallet, another
nephew.
Not satisfied with the apparent So
luton of the case, Semi Dual, the old
man of mystery, takes hand in the
le of human life.
Dual asks Gordon to go with John
son of the detective force and search
the Conrad premises thoroughly for
other evidence.
They find a footprint beneath a
window and finger print on the sill
and also secure the will itself, for in
spection and comparison with the two
nephews' handwritings, which Miss
Burton aids in getting.
Gordon, the detectives and Mallet
are summoned before Semi Dual to
learn his deductions from the evil
dence secured.
Next he took thin broad -bladed
knife and divided each pile in two,
lifting one portion upon each of the
small steel plates, and turned back
again to address US.
at is a proven fact" he began,
"that every powder varies in some
slight degree from every other, and
that the powder used in shells loaded
with modern steel-jacketed projectiles
is of a slightly different composition
from that used in the ordinary shell.
1t is also fact that modern chemis-
try as applied to criminology has
found ways to detect those minor diff
ferences. Upon those two facts l
am basing the further experiments
and demonstrations of this crime of
last night.
at is to-day possible to decide pos
itively whether a shell has been load
ed with one of variety of powders
by making a chemical test of its
remaining smoke settings, or of its
marks upon cloth or other substances,
such as skim"
He put out his hand and unfolded
the gauze pad which held the trim
ming from about Gustav Conrad's
wound.
81 have here bit of the blackened
skin which DR.. Sommers saved for me
when he operated upon Gustav Con-
rad at the hospital this afternoon. l
eXpectto to subject it to tests to show
what sort of powder made the mark"
81 see," said Bryce, from his end of
the desk, where he was now leaning,
his eyes glued on Dual's hands. can
if the powder mark ON the skin
matches with the test of that empty
shell you've got there, then that the
ball what shot him, an if those other
powders is different, that supports
your other idea, eh?"
''That is the salient feature" re-
piled Dual.
Without more words he took up a
small dropper, uncorked a vial and
drew some of it's contents into the
glass tip This he transferred to the
empty shell from Conrad's gun, al
lowed it to stand for a moment and
then poured it's contents into a test
tube.
To this he added water and shook
the two together. From there on |
lost track of the test.
Dual worked rapidly, without hesi-
tation, and with perfect assurance.
Finally, while we all watched, he held
the tube over the alcohol lamp and
warmed it gently.
Close on the heels OF that he took
the bit of powder-blackened skin and
dropped it into shallow porcelain
dish, subjected it to reagents, and pre-
sently poured off the supernatant So
luton into another tube, which he
treated as he had done the former, in
the same assured way.
And while he worked we watched.
Bryce leaned forward on his end of
the desk, his eyes wide with inter
est, pursing his heavy lips from time
to time, half consciously nodding now
and then over something he did not
understand. Johnson, thin-lipped, lay
back in his chair and smoked in si-
lence and watched Dual's manipula-
tions with complete patience.