Omaha daily bee., 1919-08-03
CHAPTER XII.
The Murderer ConfesSes.

Without pausing in the task OF
cutting his mutton into very small
pieces Mr.. Cupples replied: The
most curious feature of it, in my
Judgment, was the irony of the sit
uation. We both held the clue to
that mad hatred of Mandersons
which Marlowe found so mysterl-
Gus. We knew of his jealous OBJ
session; which knowledge we with
held, as was very proper, if only
in consideration OF Mabers feelings.
Marlowe will never know Of what
he was suspected by that person.
Strange! Nearly all of US, ] ven
ture to think, move unconsciously
among a network of opinions, often
quite erroneous, which other people
entertain about US. With regard to
Marlowe's story, it appeared to me
entirely straightforward, and not, in
its essential features, especially re-
markable, once we have admitted,
as we surely must, that in the case
of Henderson we have to deal with
a more or less disordered mind. 1t
was Mr. Bunner, l think you said,
who told you of his rooted and ap-
parently hereditary temper of sus-
picious jealousy. When the pres
sure of his business labors brought
on mental arrangement, that alb
normality increased until it domin-
ated him entirely"
Trent laughed loudly. "Not
especially remarkable" he said. Il
confess that the affair struck me as
a little unusual"
"Only in the development of the
details" argued Mr.. Cupples.
What is there abnormal in the es-
sential facts? A mailman conceives
crazy suspicion; he matches cum
ming plot against his fancied In
jurer; it involves his own destruc-
ton. Put thus, what is there that
any man with the least knowledge
of the ways of lunatics would call
remarkable? Turn now to Mar
loves proceedings. He finds him
self in perilous position from
which, though he is innocent, tell
ing the truth will not save him: Is
that an unheard-of situation? He
escapes by means of bold and in
genious piece of deception. That
seems to me thing that might
happen every day and probably
does So" He attacked his now I'M
recognizable mutton
II should like to know" said
Trent after an alimentary pause In
the conversation, whether there is
anything that ever happened on the
face of the earth that you could
not represent as quite ordinary and
commonplace, by such a line of
argument as that You may say
what you like, but the idea of i'm
personating Henderson in those
circumstances was an extraordi-
narily ingenious idea"
"Ingenious-certainly!" replied
Mr.. Cupples. Extraordinarily so
no! In those circumstances (your
own words) it was really not strange
that it should occur to clever man.
1t lay almost on the surface of the
situation. Marlowe was famous for
his imitation of Manderson's voice;
he had talent for acting; he knew
the ways of the adjustment init
mately. I grant you that the idea
was brilliantly carried out; but ev-
erything favored it. As for the es-
sential idea, I do not place it, as re-
CARDS ingenuity, in the same class
with. for example. the idea of utiliz-
ing the force of recoil in a discharg-
ed htearm to actuate the mechanism
of ejecting and reloading l do,
however, admit, as l did at the out
set, that in respect of details the case
had unusual features. 1t developed
a high degree of complexity."
Did it really strike you in that
way?" inquired Trent with desperate
sarcasm.
"The affair became complicated"
proceeded Mr. Cupples quite I'M
moved, because after Marlowe's
suspicious were awakened a second
subtle mind came in to interfere
with the plans of the first. That
sort of duel often happens in bust
ness and politics, but less frequent
ly, l imagine, in the world of crime.
One disturbing reflection was left on
my mind by what we learned today.
re Af,rto,ve bod eucoerted pothinp