Evening star., 1921-03-06

of Sauer's tooth-the sole mortal re-
mains of Sauer, that Pettibone
couldn't dissolve in his vat
Admission sat down dumbstruck.
Remember" continued Parr, with
painful gertrude. "it was only three
weeks before that the dentist had
made that filing. He used the ANAL
He has the matrix-and it fits to
crossed 1t" and dotted a." Further
more" said the policeman. as he
| watched Admission with keen eyes.
''the dentist happens to have the pre-
liminary rubber impression he took of
Sauers jaw. you won't tell me you
can counterfeit that. Those are the
, facts. Armiston," he concluded, and
he leaned back in his chair to await
the verdict.
In his school days Dean Pettibone
had been Armiston's kindly guide and
friend. one Of those rare teachers who
achieve something like saintship in
the memory of their students.
INTERPRETATIONS ArmistoH
began, and halted. Are you going
to maintain in court that dear old
Petty-why. he doesn't weigh a good
hundred pounds-carried the dead
body of Sauer across town. in the
middle of the night, to get rid of
him in his vat?"
"'Preposterous?' said Parr. Not
at all. 1t was midnight. Sauers
apartment was on the ground floor
with d private entrance in the side
street. Pettibone admits he came
and went in his coupe. alone. No
body saw him leave Sauer's rooms
His laboratory is on A lonely road
I believe there was an element of
danger in his research work. and a
bad smell-and he had to get off by
himself. Now do you say 'prepos-
terous?''
"Cobwebs." cried Admission. con-
temptuously. Use a little reason.
Parr."
"'Reason~ said the deputy. There
But that He pointed to the
tiny fragment Of gold. every acct
dental irregularity OF whose surface
testified incontrovertibly to it's iden-
tity He turned fiercely on Admission.
"What are YOU going to do about
that"
You can't establish a murder with
| only a gold tooth to show" muttered
Admission.
Cant /? Take the classic Webster
Parkman case as an example,
The deputy commissioner rose and
| pulled on his coat slowly. THE jury
| won't leave its seat" he said, alb
| sently. "Regrettable. yes. to balance
| a man like Petty against a cheap
trickster." He picked UP the particle
of gold and restored it to it's tissue
paper. and as he put it back in his
pocket he murmured. .It will send
your friend Petty to the chair"
Without a leave taking he staIked
out In the street the police function
airy permitted himself a complacent
| smile as he looked up at Admissions s
windows. Unless he was very much
| mistaken, he had started fire.
): * x 4
WHEN Admission emerged he at
w once became conscious of some
thing in the air. Not infrequently,
even in a city of such involved COM
plexes as this. there comes a moment.
an occasion. when street sweeper and
applewoman, milady and her maid,
stockbroker and greengrocer. think
the same thought. as il an idea had
become static, and anchored itself
over them like a fog. On this day
every street corner had its little
I group. heads together; in the restau-
rant where Admission lunched usually
decorous people craned their neck $
| over their neighbors' newspapers: the
! female cashier instead of saying, IT'S
| Il nice day" said, Wasn't it awful
| about the vat?"
! The latest extra blared in large
! type: Held Without Bail" One
! couldn't escape it: in the quietest side
! street the cddies of the news danced
and swirled. the vat murder was on
| the tip of the tongue wherever one
| turned. The sleuth hounds of the
\ press, long fretting on leash. were
! loose, full cry. This single obscure
! crime summoned into being myriad
phenomena of human interest and ac-
| tivity. On every corner stood i'm
patient groups jingling pennies anu
| waiting for fresh extras. 1t isn't
often that the public gets Il best
seller. When it does, newspaper cir
I culation must stand ready to expand
| like a rubber band.
Momentarily there had been doubt
unbelicf. But the facts were over
i whelLing. Then. as if by some com
mon process of thought. the world
I of newspaper readers became sophists
| AT Armiston's club his friend Ballard
voiced the tone of public debate when
he said:
THE real CRIME was Pettibone's
overlooking that gold tooth. He de-
serves the chair for that. Pettibone.
a chemist, tripping up on a solvent
for gold. I condemn his bungling
j after the blow was struck. But for