Omaha daily bee., 1921-07-24

>
( There may have been other confed-
! crates, but there were at least five. "
Balthazard Explains.
| But how did you hit on the girl
: so quickly" asked the bank manag-
er.
Partly luck, partly detective in
stinct," returned DR.. Balthazard. Il
knew when you you told everybody
as soon as they had finished their
work they could go, that all would
work quickly and forget for the
moment. | staked on that forgetting,
for | was on the lookout for some
thing unusual, something that would
have been forgotten. And surely a
pencil standing by window with a
piece of yellow ribbon is unusual!
Most people who use pencils throw
them down carelessly, and don't bal
ance them carefully against a VIM
dow, especially where they can be
seen from the outside.
II left orders that the pencil was
not to be moved, and I went outside
to see from where | could see it
best. The only place where l could
see it plainly was from the upper
windows of the tall building oppo-
site. | made inquiries there and l
found that the only newcomers in
the last few months were two men
who posed as agents for South
American rubber company. l entered
their office, but they were out, as
l expected. and there was very lit
tie sign of the business they were
supposed to be carrying on. How
ever, from their window l had an
excellent view of the lead pencil
with the yellow ribbon. And from
the caretaker | have obtained an ex-
cellent description of the two men,
who are now being watched for, un-
known to themselves, by the police.
Doubtless they will be caught be-
fore the news of the robbery and
murder leaks out into the papers
even.
"The car used was big touring
car, olive green in color, with a
deep scratch on the left hand side,
and the running board removed on
that side as we'll"
Good heavens, how did you know
that?"
Because the slashboard of the
bank car had on it large shaving
of green paint where the other car
had scraped against it. The length
of the wheelbase and the closeness
of the wheel tracks to those of the
bank car showed me that !. was a
big car, and to have got so close
must have had its running board
removed"
"How was Santon murdered?"
asked the bank manager.
"He was murdered by a shoe
maker, and with shoemaker's tool,
an awl!' came the astounding reply.
"How did you know that"
THAT again is simple. I have
studied wounds of all kinds for
years. and knew as soon as l
found it that the wound in the top
of his head was caused by some fine
steel instrument like an awl. | de-
duced it was a shoemaker's awl
after an examination of finger prints
on the window of the banks car.
Among them was print of a thumb,
showing a corn on the outer part
of the first thumb joint. This is a |
pecularity of a shoemaker's thumbs,
fact we'll known to anybody who |
has made a study of finger prints"
Thanks to the deductions of the
detective, the two men who posed |
as agents for the South American
Rubber company were arrested the |
following day on visiting their rooms
in the building opposite the bank.
Large green touring cars are not
too comon, and from the description
of it the police were able to trace
it to the ownership of a retired
army captain named Boudelot.
1t transpired that it was Boudelot
who had engineered the crime from
start to finish. He had spent months
planning every detail, and but for
the quickness of DR.. Balthazard he
would have got clear away with his
booty.
Of the two men arrested in the
building opposite, one turned out to
be an ex-convict named Charles Le-
conte. While serving a previous SEN
tence he had learned the trade of
shoemaker, and he confessed that he
had murdered the chauffeur with a
shoemakers awl. He added that he
had watched the chauffeur for weeks
before the crime was carried out,
learning exactly what route he took,
what time he started, what cloth
ing he wore, and little mannerisms,
so that he could initiate him perfect
ly when the occasion arose. Actual
ly confederate had driven up the
day of the murder exactly as the
detective had said. Leconto had
quickly jumped in and murdered the
chauffeur before he realized the dan
ger, and had then exchanged the
bank box for an exactly similar one
in the green car. 1t had all hap
pened while a confederate was de-
tanning Benot by knocking him down
in the snow and apologizing. Its
very daring had made the scheme
successful
The wrecked girl confederate in
the bank confessed that the ribbons
round her pencils were meant as defi-
mite signs. The red ribbon meant
danger, the blue one that the con-
signment of gold and notes was
nothing out of the usual, and the
yellow one that the consignment was
greater than usual Her betrayal of
the banks trust brought her no gain,
for she died while under arrest. \
1f
the well-planned robbery, committed
suicide before his trial, but his ac-
complice. Leconte, was found guilty
of murder and sentenced to death.
The remaining members of the gang
were all captured and convicted. Z
Gin our next issue watch for another
Worlds Greatest Detective Case.) y