The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-03-19

a promenade, reports that he had last
seen this tool in the hands Of n. Wharf the
day before. But the man expressed sur
prise at the masters not having replaced
1t where such tools were always kept I'm the
room beside the garage"
There was another brief silence as Per
that all7"
"That is not all, monsieur" Pervier an
swered. What / have just told you would
not alone be enough on which to make an
arrest. But as you must know, we have ar
rested Robert Delmas for the murder Of
Monsieur Jules Wharf"
Jacques nodded. Then to my astOnish-
ment he said quietly, ''In that case you
must have had your excellent reasons. But
what I have Just heard is quite enough for
me. / will examine this man this after
noon at the hour set, and tell you what his
tnmost thought tells me-"
Even the self-cOntained detective, or to
be more accurate, observer, looked sur
lprised at this simple statement. More than
that, he looked dissatisfied.
1T is not much for you to go on, mon
Nevertheless, it is enough" said Jacques.
? A you should by this time have dis
covered. my faculties function more clearly
if not influenced by accusatOry details"
e He looked at me. You see. Johnny, I do
I not defend on indicatOry evidence. All [
= desire to know is just what has happened,
z with no reference to why it may have hap
D pened, so or by what other agency be-
d You'd that apparent to those present at the
time"
For some reason that I cannot explain.
I all Of my first susL iciOns Of subtle trick
cry returned. 1 found it impossible to be-
I Aeve that any person who knew more
d about this case than I did at the moment,
and that was all that jacques prOfessed to
5 know would Lresume pronounce Robert
t Delmas innocent or guilty.
At the risk Of offending Jacques. I
e asked Pervier directly, HAS any evidence
u beyond what you have just told us been
published? %
n mo, monsieur" he answered. "It is not
even known to any but us Of the police"
2 Then do you mean to tell me-" l asked.
u that the finding Of Monsieur Hughes.
Is knowing no more than he does Of this case
e than you have just told us. would be ac-
cepted as final-Or even of legal value?'
a faint smile showed on the thin lips of
+ the observer. 1t would if followed by a full
Il confession, monsieur"
But what if it were to be followed by a
flat denial" / asked.
Even in that case, monsieur. if the
crime were to be reconstructed in detail
to substantiate our own conception of it.
and PERHAPS with added features that we
may have overlooked, it could not help but
- be of tremendous value, the more so as
coming from a man who canTOt possibly
know. what else we have actually disco
cred"
"Then you are sure-nO Offense. Jacques
that Monsieur Hughes has made no in.
I V~esttgatiOn of his own or caused one to be
a lmade?"
ohHOAnAEAgT MOnHACuLs ne uAlkdAAEl
land one of his men from the nearest pOsI
of Gendarme Rationale arrived on the scene
|. Of the crime at the same time as the sur
geOn, within half an hour of it's occurrence
and guarded the premises. / do not thinl
Monsieur Hughes desires me to say more.
You are right said Jacques. IF
required any more than what I have beer
told 1 would scarcely have the right t
profess myself as a thought reader
So that, for the moment was all. Mon
sieur Pcrvier politely took his leave. In
maze or EnEn1r1nm and hnVEfInnRmnmf
y would have plunged into the topic again
L. but jacques, reading my intention, made
Of restraining gesture.
10 mot n word about this. please. Johnny
os You have come all the way from New YOr.
N to be convinced against your will. and
6s desire TO convince you. It is nearly tim
ee for luncheon, so in order that your belle
IN my Lower may be as complete as pos
Sible l would suggest that you remain con
Z stantly with me until the hour for thi
D seance. which is fixed for two o'clock. YO
4 Will then be able to testify that I have nc
. been in communication with anybody VIII
u might know something of the case, thOug
I as you have heard NJ. Pervier declare, thel
e is nobody outside of the police whO doe
+. know anything about it except the erin
Z inal. if indeed it is a criminal case"
D This, after all, was best.
g Jacques slipped off his painters blOus
q washed his hands at a stand behind
= screen, invited me to do the same, the
u told his valet that we were going to ]
I" Petit Lavenue for dejeuer.
i. My appetite was rather Door. Even Il
aDertif and hOrs d'Oevres were not enOug
- to stimulate its eagerness for the deliciOl
IL lOmelet, pOintes d'aSperges and entrecOt
10 TONNES s%Ouffies, with a bottle Of goo
,s lChablis. Jacques, however, ate wit
relish, though he touched no wine. He to
me. in fact, that alcoholic stimulant Of an
sort was absolutely fatal to mental tel
me pathy, and ] thought again Of the Martif
and how, after alcoholic indulgence,
'uI would be days anG weeks before he cOu
no be blindfOlded and feel the north / n
nm ticed also the burning interest with viii,
- Jacques was regarded by the clients of Il
place, to several Of whom he bowed. OF
OF ers Of the larger restaurant, found prete
fer to look into the little one where we sat, e
60 a brief, awed observation of him..
mo" he answered. Its scarcely VIII
VI one would care to make a paid job, is
W. Johnny? I do It in the interests Of Il
public safety. My idea about it is thi
That once potential criminals are co
WINGED there is an individual who can re;
their Utmost thoughts they will thiI
twice before deciding to commit a GRIN
vas and then decide not to-"
to YES" I said, land some day one mig
Of also decide first 10 remove the create
lgb danger to their commitment of it."
! Il He nodded. I've considered that,
course"
up "Then you're a drawer man than y
Ices were a boy, Jacques.
can 90, I don't know, Johnny. I was new
oil cOwardly. Merely shy and sensitive al
can with a sort of dread Of rough contacts.
ally was more afraid Of being punched Al
Ltef mauled about by some other boy than
would have been Of being killed. But 8
OuT WAYS like to Impress and startle poop
That led to my tricking them, and som
ade times shown up for a faker, for instan'
by yourself"
well" I said, 81 must say my skeL.
lief cism is badly shaken on thinking Ov
OF what Pervier-" He raised a p%rOtestil
MF hand.
one Keep off it, Johnny. I don't want
owe think about it."
lred But I could not keep from thinking abo
rer. r. mvsalf 7 conld Visualize This moor q
our gentlemen gathering up his clOches nest
Che one into the above, his fingers hook
into both sides Of the rim Of the lowe
with the dome Of the top one, which mig
have been the third or fourth, as / rene
bered the things, just under his chin, tn
the door slawming, so that he had to loo
W one hand to reach for the latch, which,
= his impatience to get them set before
hail fell he might easily have done ratl
than set them all down 1 could pictl
80 then the tOttering Of the unstable mass,
- sudden releasing Of the latch to try
~, steady the wretched things, then losing
-p equilibrium or a foot slipping as Il