The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1927-09-24

"Wt uld you dvocat~ ignoring all
the tangible evidence of a crime? -
asked Markham, BIZ patronizingly.
:, "Most emphatically," Va..ce de-
clared calmly. It's not only worth
less but dangerous +. The great
trouble with you chaps, d. We see,
is that YOU approach every crime
with q fixed and ,nshakable 1ssump-
ton that the criminal is either half
witted or a coloss i bungler.
| Il say, has never by any chance
occurred to you hat if detective
could see lue, the crimina. would
also have seen it, and woul either
have concealed it or disguised it. III
he had not wanted it found? !Andi
| have you never arset to consider
that anyone clever enough to plan
and execute successful. crime these
days, is, pso facto. c.evcr enough toe
manufacture whatever clues suit his
purpose?
"Your detective seems wholly un-
willing to admit that the surface
appearance Of crime may be de-
lib'ratcly deceptive, or that the clues
may have been .anted for the del
finite purpose Of misleading him."
I'm afraid" Markham pointed
out, with an air + :ndulgcnt irony,n
that Wet convict very fe.. crimi-p
nails if we were to ignor all indi-
catory evidence, coge1t circum-
stances and irresistible differences.
-. As rule, yor know crimes
arc not witnessed Dy outsiders"
That's vour fundamental error, 3
don't y know" Va &c ohse. sed im-n'
passivcly. ~ Y crime is WITT.
messed by outsiders, just is everyte
work of art. The fact that no one o
sees the criminal or the artist, r
actu1ly 1T work, is wholly incon-e e
s'quential. The modern investiga-:1
tor Of Grim would doubtless refuselo
to believe aat Rubens pai..ted thea
Descent from the Cross in the ca
thedral at Antwerp if there was suf-s1
ficient circLm initial evid ,nce to:1
indicate ,has hat been away ones
diplomatic business, for Instance, at'7
the time it wa. PARTED. And yet, q
dear fellow. such a conclusion woulda9
be prepost'rous. Even if the in-.d
f'rences 10 the country were soy
restistible as tc be legally over-se|
poweri.le, the picture itsel' would
prove conclusivcly that J ms didy|
paint it. Why? For the simre rear
son, d We that no one but Run
bens could have pail. ID it. 1t bears,d
the indel'. lc imprint Of his personally
| ity and genius and his alone"
I'm not an aesthetician," Mark-y|
ham reminded him i. trifle testily.ts|
I'm rerely pre- ica- lawyer, ands-
when it comes to icte mining thee
authorship Grim, / refer tan-Q|
giblc evidence to metaphysical hyl-|
potheses." q
"Your preference, my dear fell-|
low" Vance returned bla ly, "wills'
inevitably involve you in all man.
ne. of embarrassing errors"
He slowly lit another cigaret, and
blew a wreath Of smoke toward Thea
ceiling. vi
Consider. for example, your con-.
illusions in the present murder case,"..
he went on, in his emotionless drawl.d
"You are laboring under the gravee
misconception that yol know the
person who prob'b' killed the un--|
speakable Benson. You admitted asr|
much to the major, and you toldt|
him you had nearly enough evidence
to ask for an indictment i
| NO DOUBT, YOU 90 possess NUNS
Der what The learned olons ofe
today regard as convict.ng clues
But the truth is, don't y know, YOU
haven't your eye on the guilty per-
son at all You're about to bedevih
some poor girl who had nothing
whatever to do with the crime.
Markham swung about sharply
"So!" he rctorted. 'I'm about to-
bedevil an innocent person, eh ?,
Since my assistants and / are the.
only ones who happen know what
evidence we hold against her, PERI
haps you will explain by what oct
| cult process you acquired youl
knowledge Of this persons innot
cence." I'll
Ito be Continued al