Gunnison news-champion., 1920-03-05

. tl AAaAN N'As -AaA FA"~A- -
common sense. He had never been
I de-eciiye Of the shoWy type. Results
had justified his methods. but b. was
perfectly aware that young Mr.. Oakss
. looked on him as a dull osd man who
had been mIraeulously favored by luck
Mr.. snyde- had selected Oakes for
me case In hand principally because
IL vas one where insIpsrience could
do no harm. and where the brilliant
guesswork which the latter called his
inductlys reasoning might achieve an
unexpected success.
II was one OF those bizarre cases
which call for the dzshing amateur
rather than the doggsd ruls-Of.thumb
professional
Mr.. Snyder had. moreover. a kind
Of sCperstiiious faith In the luck Of
the beginner.
Another motive sctuatei Mr. Sny-
suspicion that the conduct Of this case
vas going 10 have the beneficial result
Of lowering Oakes' self-esteern.
II faiiur. achieved this end. Ar.
Snyder felt that failure. though IL
would not help the agency. would not
be an uumiIed ILL.,
The door opened and Oakes en-
tered ,rnsely He did everything tense
ly. partly from natural nervous
energy. and partly as pose. He
was q lean young man, with dark eyes
and n ihin-lipped mouth. and looked
as like q typical detective Ms Mr..
snyder looked Ike comfortably pros
porous stock broker.
Mr. Snyder had never bothered HIM
self about the e1ternals Of his profess
sion. One could imagine Mr.. Snyder
In his moments OF leisure watching a
bah game or bowling. Oakes gave the
impression of having no moments OF
/ leisure.
Isl, down. Cakes said Mr.. Sny-
/ der. "rve got a job for you"
Oakes sank into chair like a
. crouchIng leopard and placed the tips
OF his fingers together. He nodded
curtly. II was part OF his pose TO be
keen and silent.
II want you 10 go 10 this address"
[ he handed him an enyelope-"and
/ look around. Whether you Will find
out anything. or whether there's any.
thing TO find out. Il more than ! can
say. When the old lady was telling
me the story own was carried away.
She made II convincing. She thinks
&, was murder. don't know what 10
think"
THE factsf' said Oakes briefly.
Mr.. Snyder smiled quietly to him
| self.
The address on that envelope Is
OF a boarding house on the water
front. down in Long Island. You know
I the sort OF place-retired sea-captains
and so on.
/ "All mos, respectable. Don't run
away with the idea that I'm sending
I you to some meIodramatic helrs-kitch
( en- where the guests are drugged and
shanghaied on the day OF their arrival
"As far as I can gather this place
7 is sort OF male Martha Washington.
/ In all Its history gothing more sensa
/ ;ional has happened than n case of
suspected cheating at pinocle. Well. a
Z man has died there"
: "Murderedf"
II don't know. That's for you 10
find out. The coroner left II open. ]
I don't see how 1t could have been mur.
der. The door was locked; nobody
could have got in"
The Window"
The window was open. But the
room is on the first floor. And. any
way. you may dismiss the window. /
remember the old lady saying there
was bar across 1t, and that nobody
could have squeezed through"
Cakes eyes glistened. He was In
terested.
what was the cause Of DEATH"
Mr.. Snyder coughed.
"Snake-bi,e." he said.
Cakes careful calm deserted him.
He uttered a cry Of establishment.
"whatI''
Its the literal truth. The medical
examination proved that the fellow
had been killed by snake poison. To
be exact. the poison Of snake known
as the kraft. In this Long Island
boarding house. in room with a
locked door, this man WAS stung by
kraft. It's small snake. found prin-
cipally In India.
ITO add q little mystification to the
lirnpid simplicity of the affair. when
the door was opened there was no
sign Of any snake.
1T couldn't have got out through
the door. because the door was locked.
II couldn't have got up the chimney,
because there was no chimney. And
II couldn't have got out Of the window.
because the window was too high up.
and snakes can't jump. So there you
have It."
He looked at Oakes with a certain
quiet satisfaction. 1t had come to his
ears that Oakes had been heard to
complain Of the infantile simplicity.
unworthy of a man of his affninmentS