Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-05-20

The alarm Is from StaceyS 8, Out the nfe docs
not develop. Craig nnds that 1t was caused
by can Of ether near which was placed an
electric wire. from which the nrebus. at q
hitting the ether fumes On the door were
masses Of burned ledger sheets and memoranda,
some Of which Kennedy took to examine The
next night there 10 q real IRE at Stacey's. In
the ONCE, after it il out, they hnd the chafred
body Of a woman. an employe Of Stacey. Miss
breast 4 6ookEeeper under her. Douglas is
missing. 4,
7 WAS too exhausted to go to the
Office. In fact, I doubt If could
have written line But / tele-
phoned in a story Of personal ex-
periences at the Stacey fire and told
them they could fix it up as they
chose and even sign. my name to it.
About noon Mccormick came in
again. looking as fresh as il nothing
had happened. He was used to 1t.
II know where Douglas is he an
nounced breathlessly.
Fine" said Kennedy. land can you
produce him at any time when 1t Is
necessary"
] went down to the district attorney
from here-routed him out of bed.
He has promised to turn loose his &C
countants to audit the reports OF the
adjusters. Hartstein and Lazard, as
we'll as to make a cursory examlna-
ton of what Stacey books there are
left. He says he Will have preimi-
nary report ready tonight, but the
detailed report will take days. OF
course.
It's the Douglas problem that is
difficult. though. I haven't seen him,
but one of the central office men.
he is in hiding down on the East Side.
He's safe there: he can't make
move to get away without being ar
rested. The trouble Is that II arrest
him, the people higher up will know
1t and will escape before l can get
his confession and the warrants. I'd
much rather have the whole thing
done at once. Isn't there some way
we can get the whole Stacey crowd
together, make the arrest of Douglas
all together without giving them a
chance to escape or to shield the real
f1rebug?"
Kennedy thought moment. Yes"
he answ cred slowly. There Is. II
you can get them all together at My
laboratory tonight at, say. o'clock.
I'll give you two clear hours to make
the arrest of Douglas. get the con-
fession and swear out the warrants.
All that you'll need to do - to let
me talk few minutes this afternoon
with the judge who will sit In the
night court tonight. I shall install
little machine on his desk in the
court, and we'll catch the real crlmi-
nal-he'll never get chance to cross
the state line or disappear in any way.
trail ground I think you can get them
to come. inasmuch as they know the
bookkeeper is safe and that oeao
women tell no tales"
When next 1 saw Kennedy 1t was
late In the afternoon. in the labora-
tory. He was arranging something
in the top drawer of a fiat-top desk
1t seemed to be two instruments com.
posed Of many levers and disks ana
magnets, each instrument with roll
of paper about five inches wide. On
one was q sort Of stylus with two
silk cords attached at right angles
to each other near the point On the
other was a capillary glass tube at
also at right angles to each other.
1t was quite like old times to see
Kennedy at work in his laboratory
preparing for "seance. He said
nothing as 1 watched him curiously,
and I asked nothing. Two sets of
instruments and these he carefully
concealed and led out the window.
Then he arranged the chairs on the
opposite side Of the desk from his
own.
walter" he said, when our guests
begin to arrive 1 want you to be
master of ceremonies. Simply keep
them on the opposite side OF the
desk from me. Don't let them move
left. And. above all. leave the doors
open. 1 don't want any one to be
suspicious or to feel that he is shut
in in any way. Create the impress
sion that they are free to go and
come when they please"
Stacey arrived first in a limousine
which he left standing at the door
of the Chemistry building. Bloom
and Warren came together in the
latter's car. Lazard came in taxi
cab which he dismissed. and Hart
the last to arrive. Every one seemed
to be in good humor.
I seated them as Kennedy had d.
rected. Kennedy pulled out the ex-
leaned his elbow on it as he began
to apologize for taking up their time
at such a critical moment. AS near
as could make out. he had quietly
pulled out the top drawer of his desk
on the right. the drawer in which /
apparatus. But as nothing further
happened I almost forgot about 1t In
listening to him. He began by re-
ferrfng to the burned papers he had
found in the office.
TT is sometimes possible" he con-
tinued. ito decipher writing on burn
ed papers il one is careful. The pro-
cesses of color photography have re-
Gently been applied to obtain a legible
photograph of the writings on burned
manuscripts which are unreliable
by any other known means. AS long
as the sheet has not been entirely
disintegrated positive results can be
manuscript Is carefully arranged in
al near It's original shape as possible,
on q sheet of glass and covered with
drying varnish. after which 1T Is
backed by another sheet of glass.
by using carefully selected color
screens and orthochromatic plates q
perfectly legible photograph of the
may be no marks on the charred re-
mains that are visible to the eye.
This is the only known method in
many cases. I have here some burn
ed fragments of paper which 1 gath
cred up after the. first attempt to
fire your store. Mr.. Stacey"
Stacey coughed In acknowledgment,
ters in telling what he had found.
Some were notes given in favor
of Rebecca Wend and signed by
Joseph Stacey" he said quietly. "They
represent large sum of money in the
aggregate. Others were memoranda of
Miss Wend's, and still others were
autographed letters to Miss wend of
nection with the fires by another per.
son."
Here he laid the "A. Spark" letters
on the desk before him. Now" he