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An Artist In Crime

An Artist In Crime image
Parent Issue
Day
11
Month
August
Year
1899
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

AN

 ARTIST

     IN CRIME.

BY

RODRIGUES

OTTOLENGUI

 [Copyright, 1826, by G.P. Putuam's Sons.]

  "You must prove that," said Mr. Randolph, "and, according to our agreement, it must have been a crime which was much talked about."

  "Quite right, my friend, but I shall be able to demonstrate all that. By an enrious coincidence a robbery was committed on the very night and upon the same train upon which we made our wager, while another robbery was committed almost at the moment when the stipulated month expired. The two crimes transpired within the time allowed me, and with both of these my name has been connected in the mind of the detective, Mr. Barnes. Now, that you all may better understand the circumstances I must go to what I might call the beginning. Years ago certain circumstances in my earlier life gave me an intimate acquaintance with the methods used by detectives, and I then acquired the idea which led me into this undertaking – that where the criminal has succeeded in escaping actual watching during the commission of his crime, so that there is no witness to the act, the detective is almost powerless until he learns the object for which the crime was undertaken. Am I not right, Mr. Barnes?"

  "To know the object of a crime, of course, is a great assistance, but much would depend upon the attendant circumstances."

  "True. The object then is important. From this point I reached the conclu-sion that if a man approached another, totally unknown to him, at night in a lonely neighborhood, struck him on the head, killing him, and then, unseen, reached his own home, it would rest entirely with himself whether or not he would ever be caught. I wanted a chance to try this experiment – that is, to commit a crime solely to test the ability of the detectives to discover me afterward. The difficulty was that a gentlemen of honor would scarcely wish to engage in such a reprehensible piece of business. For years, therefore, I could think of no way to have my wish, till the merest chance threw the opportunity within my grasp. Waiter, fill up the glasses."

  He paused a moment while this was being done. The men went around with champagne, and when Mr. Thauret was reached he asked to have his burgundy glass filled also. Mr. Mitchel was again speaking when the waiter returned with the red wine and did as requested. Mr. Barnes also presented his glass for the same liquor, saying in an undertone to Mr. Thauret, "I cannot take too much champagne."

  "One of my hobbies," continued Mr. Mitchel, "as you all know, is the collections of jewels. A few years ago I heard that a magnificent set was offered for sale. A rich East Indian nobleman, so the story goes, had procured the gems as a present for his wife. They were of the choicest quality and of each exactly two, matched precisely in size, cutting and coloration. In time he had two daughters, twins, the mother dying at their birth. Eventually these girls grew up and were married, the ceremony being a double wedding. The father took the set of jewels and divided them, giving each girl one of each. This greatly diminished their value, for the matching of gems adds to their price.

  "Reverses of fortune tempted one of these women to offer her jewels for sale. They were taken to a Paris dealer, who chanced to be a man through whom I had made many purchases. He undertook not only to dispose of the gems, but to reproduce them with a high order of imitation, so that the woman retained the original setting and continued to wear what her friends supposed to be the genuine gems. I bought the unset stones. Subsequently her sister, learning her secret, and seeing that there was a way by which jewelry could be retained, while the jewels themselves could be turned into money, engaged the same dealer to serve her in a similar way. Of course I was doubly anxious to obtain this second lot, for by doing so I enhanced the value of those which I had already. I therefore bought them also."

  He paused a moment, to allow the company to recover from the surprise at learning that the stolen jewels were his.

  "This lot was sent to me through the Boston custom house. I instructed the dealer to do this because I had found that goods can be received with less delay in Boston than in New York. Being notified by my broker there that they were ready for delivery, I went to Boston and obtained them. I placed the wallet in a peculiar satchel which had been made to order for me, and carried it to my room at the Hotel Vendome. Later in the day I met Mr. Randolph, and went with him to a theatre. He was to return to New York by the midnight express, and I went with him to the depot. As we stood awaiting our turn to purchase tickets you may imagine my utter astonishment to see a woman pass and board the train having my satchel in her hand. There could be no mistake whatever, because the satchel was peculiar, both in shape and color. Of course I was at once I had been robbed. It was useless to go back to my hotel, for that would be time wasted. If by any miracle there were two such satchels, mine was safe in the hotel. I therefore astonished Mr. Randolph by offering to accompany him, and I did go, accompanying the same section with him.

  "While I was thinking what action I should pursue, knowing that once the train started my thief would be safe as far as New Haven, Mr. Randolph began to praise Mr. Barnes, and like a flash it came to me that this was my chance. I would rob the thief of my own property. Thus if caught I could not only win my wager, but I would have the excitement and the satisfaction for which I had wished. One thing threatened to upset my plans. Mr. Barnes by an odd chance came aboard the same coach, was given the section next to ours and overheard our conversation. This of course I could not have counted upon."

  "You did take it into your account, though," interrupted Mr. Barnes.

  "You mean that I refused to tell Mr. Randolph what I meant to do, saying that I might be overheard, and that I might even be talking for the benefit of a listening detective? True, but I had no idea that is was so. It was merely extreme precaution, and only shows that we can never be too cautious in an endeavor to keep a secret. Later, however, I heard you get up, and peeping through the curtains I saw you sitting up or rather lying in a berth opposite, with the curtains drawn. I at once supposed that you must be a detective. My companion was sound asleep, but with $100,000 worth of jewels in the balance I could not sleep. I was busy wondering what I should do. I think, though, that I must have dozed, for I know that I was startled to discover suddenly that we were not moving. I looked out of our section window – fortunately I was next to it – and found that we had ran the depot at New Haven. Like a flash it came to me that the thief might leave the train here. I was about to get up, when to my astonishment I noticed a man sneaking along by the side of the train. I was on the side opposite to that from which the passengers would alight, and the suspicious actions of the man forced me to watch him. He passed so close to me that I could have touched him had my window been open, and as he did so the light of an electric lamp disclosed the fast that he had my satchel. The thief had been robbed already. The man approached the coal bin, and stooping shoved the satchel behind it. Then he returned to the train and came aboard. 

  "I said to myself: 'That fellow is an artist. He will remain on board till the robbery is discovered, if necessary, and even allow himself to be searched. Then he'll quietly come back and get the satchel and jewels.' Thus is was my cue to act quickly. But if I left the train I knew that the detective would see me. I therefore gently raised the sash and deftly let myself to the ground out of the window. I quickly took the satchel, ran to the end of the depot, and found a place where I could shove it far under the platform. Then I climbed back into the berth, and after that I assure you I slept very well."

  The company applauded this descrip-tion of how the robbery had been committed, and Mr. Mitchel bowed.

  "Wait, my friends; we are not through yet. The woman who had robbed me had the supreme audacity to report her loss, or perhaps we should say that she was so angry she became desperate. I have reason to believe that she had an accomplice in this man, and that suspecting him of robbing her she would have been willing to give testimony against him if caught and trust to escape herself by turning state's evidence. When we were running in to New York, Mr. Barnes directed that all should be searched. I enjoyed that, I assure you. It seemed so amusing to look in New York for what I knew was in New Haven. At the same time I was anxious to get back to New Haven as quickly as possible. With that end in view I invited Mr. Barnes to breakfast with me, I tried to make it appear that I was anxious to have him agree to be the only detective on my track, but in reality I wished to discover whether he would be able at once to place a spy at my heels; that is, whether he had a man at the Grand Central already. This I found was the case. I therefore was obliged to go to my hotel as though having no desire to leave town again. Then subsequently I eluded this man by the convenient bridges across the elevated railroad. I went to New Haven, found the satchel, and then deposited it at a hotel near by for safe keeping. My object in this was plain. I knew that the robbery would get into the newspapers, and that by behaving suspiciously at the hotel – of course, I was disguised – attention would be attracted there. This did happen, and the result was that the jewels were given into the custody of the police authorities, the very safest place for them, so far as I was concerned. Gentlemen, that is the story of the crime which I committed. I have only to show my receipt from the Boston custom house and my bill of sale from the Paris dealer to be able to recover my property. Are you satisfied, Mr. Randolph?"

  "Entirely. You have won fairly, and I have a check for the amount with me, which you must accept with my congratulations upon your success."

  "I thank you very much," said Mr. Mitchel, taking the check. "I take this because I have immediate use for it, as you will learn directly. Now I must tell you the true story of the other robbery."

At this all were very much astonished. Mr. Thauret [illegible]. He placed one hand over the top of his claret glass, and let it rest there a moment, after first having take a sip from it.

   "You all recall the fact that I was sick in Philadelphia," continued Mr. Mitchel, "at the time of the Ali Baba festival. I flatter myself that that was the most artistic thing that I have done throughout this whole affair. Any one seeing me would have been satisfied that I was truly ill, yet, in point of fact, my cough was brought on by drugs administered to me by my physician at my express desire, and for purposes which I had explained to him. I guessed that I had been followed to Philadelphia and took care that I should not be too closely watched, as Mr. Barnes knows. Yet I expected that after the affair Mr. Barnes himself would come to Philadelphia to see me, and my artificially produced illness was to baffle him. But I am anticipating events. After the train robbery the woman was murdered. By what seemed an odd chance she was in the same house where my wife then lived. I knew that I had been followed from the theater to that house on the night of the murder. I knew that other circumstances pointed strongly to my guilt. But I had the advantage over the detective, for I knew that the man who had stolen the jewels from the woman, not finding them when he returned to New Haven, must have been furious. Judging the woman by himself, he would suppose that at least it was possible that she had taken them from the satchel herself. Then on that slim chance might he not have returned to the woman, and, admitting the thefts of the satchel, have endeavored to make her confess that she still had the jewels? Failing in this, might he not either in a fit of anger or to prevent her from 'peaching' as they call it, have cut her throat?"

   "You are wrong there, Mr. Mitchel," said the detective. "The woman was killed while she slept. There was no struggle."

   "Even so, we can imagine the sneak going into the house and killing her that he might search for the gems undisturbed, and also to rid himself of a companion for whom he no longer had any need. At least, that was the view that I took of it, and, more than that, I felt convinced that I knew the man."

   At this moment Mr. Thauret nervously reached forth his hand toward his glass of wine, but before he could get it, Mr. Barnes had taken it up and drained it to the bottom. Mr. Thauret seemed livid with wrath, and a dramatic incident occurred, unobserved by the rest of the company. Mr. Thauret turned toward Mr. Barnes and seemed on the point of making a demonstration, when that gentleman just tipped back his chair slightly, and meaningly exposed to the view of his neighbor the gleaming barrel of a revolver, which he held in his hand below the table. This only occupied a moment, and immediately afterward both men seemed, like the others, simply interested listeners to the narrative.

   "When I say that I thought that I knew the man," continued Mr. Mitchel, "I make a statement which it may interest you to have me explain. In the first place, I saw the fellow who hid the satchel at the New Haven depot. Still I obtained but a momentary glimpse of his face and would not have been sure of identifying him. I will call your attention now to the fact atet very slight incidents sometimes lead the mind into a suspicion, which, followed up, may elucidate a mystery. Prior to the train robbery I had met a man at my club one night, or rather I had seen him playing a card game, and I conceived the notion that the fellow was cheating.

   "Within a few days of the robbery I met this man again, on which occasion Mr. Barnes was present, and an interesting conversation occurred. I was standing aside, pretending to be otherwise engaged, but really puzzling over the face of this man, which now seemed to me strikingly familiar. Of course I had seen him at the club, yet despite me there was an intuitive feeling that I had seen him elsewhere also. In the moment I heard him admit that he had been aboard of the train on the night of the robbery, and that he had been the first one searched. Awhile later he offered to wager Mr. Barnes that various theories which had been advanced as to the thief's method of secreting the jewels were all erroneous. This one remark satisfied me that the thief stood before me. I had not then heard of the murder. Now ti must be remembered that I was insnared in the meshes of circumstantial evidence myself, so that, besides any duty that I might owe to society, it became of vital importance to my own safety that I should be in a position to prove this man guilty. I formed a rather bold plan. I made a friend of the fellow. I invited him to my room one night and then accused him of having cheated at the card game. He at first assumed a threatening attitude, but I retained my composure and perhaps startled him by proposing to form a partnership by which we could fleece the rich clubmen. I hinted to him that I really possessed less money than I am credited with, and that what I did have I had taken at the tables on the continent. He then admitted that he had a 'system', and from that time we posed as good friends, thought I do not think he ever fully trusted me. I learned from him that his partner int eh game where I caught him cheating was entirely innocent and made him promise not to play with him again, for I had discovered that the detectives had been told of this game, and therefore knew that they would be watching both men when playing cards. I therefore preferred to be the partner myself upon such occasions.

   "Having somewhat won the fellow's confidence, I was ready for my great scheme in baffling the detective so that I might win my wager and at the same time entrap my suspect. I had conceived the Ali Baba festival. I showed Mr. Barnes one day the ruby which I afterward presented to my wife. At the same time I told him that if he should come to conclusion that I was innocent of the train robbery, he might as well remember that I would still have to commit the crime as agreed upon. Then I arranged that the festival should occur on New Year's night, the very day on which my month would expire. I knew that all this would lead the detective to believe that I meant to rob my fiancee, a crime for which I might readily have escaped punishment, with her assistance. There he misjudged me. I would not for triple the sum have had her name mixed up in such a transaction. She knew absolutely nothing of my intentions; though being at that time in ignorance of the details of the train robbery. I left her mind in a condition not to offer resistance to the thief, who she might suppose to be myself. Then, after laying my trap, at the last moment I baited it by asking my fiancee to wear the ruby pin in her hair. I went to Philadelphia, and feigned sickness. Then I eluded the spy and came on myself. Mr. Barnes I supposed would be present, and I had arranged that if so he would necessarily be in one of the domince of the Forty Thieves. I had invited my suspect to assume the role of Ali Baba, but he shrewdly persuaded some one else to take the costume, himself donning one of the Forty Thieves' dresses. This compelled me to go around speaking to every one so disguised, and to my satisfaction, by their voices, I discovered my man and also Mr. Barnes. In the final tableau Mr. Barnes, who evidently was watching Ali Baba, attempted to get near him, and by chance was immediately behind my man. Fearing that he would interfere with my plans, I fell in just behind him. My design was to tempt the fellow to steal the ruby, which, if he did, would satisfy at least myself that my suspicions were correct. It was perhaps a mad scheme, but it succeeded. I had so arranged that every one should pass the sultan and make obeisance. In doing this, as my fiancee was seated on the floor, the ruby in her hair would be just at hand, and one who knew its high value could easily take it. I fully expected my man to do this, and I saw him gently withdraw it. Immediately Mr. Barnes stepped forward to seize him, but I had the detective from behind, then there him into the advancing crowd, and, in the confusion, escaped from the house."

   Mr. Mitchel paused, and silence prevailed. All felt, rather than knew, that a tragedy might be at hand. Mr. Thauret, however, in a moment said:

   "Are you not going to tell us the name of this sneak thief?"

   "No," quickly responded Mr. Mitchel. "But you are wrong to call my suspect a sneak thief. If crime were a recognized business, as gambling in Wall street is now considered, this man would be counted 'a bold operator.' I confess that I admire him for his courage. But it would scarcely do for me to mention his name, when I am not in the position to prove that he is the guilty man."

   "I thought you said that you saw him steal the ruby?" said Mr. Thauret.

   "I did, but as I myself had been suspected of that my unsupported word would be inadequate. Let me tell you what I have done in the matter since. The most important step for me perhaps was to prevent the sale of the gem. This was not difficult, as it is known the world over. I warned all dealers and let my man know that I had done so. Next, I wished to delay a denouement until tonight, the time when my wager with Mr. Randolph would be settled. I soon discovered that my suspect would not be averse to a marriage with a rich American girl. He questioned me adroitly ad to the fortune which would come to my little sister-in-law, and I replied in such a way that I knew he would bend his energies to that direction. Then I did that which perhaps I should not have done, but I felt myself mater of the situation and able to control events. I made a wager with Dora that she would not remain unengaged until tonight, and I stipulated that should she have offers she neither accept nor reject a suitor. I also told her, thought I declined to fully explain how, that she would materially assist me in winning my wager."

   This explains what Dora meant when she asked Mr. Randolph if money would count with him against her love. When she accepted the wager with Mr. Mitchel, she had been feeling resentful toward Mr. Randolph, who, as long as he suspected his friend of the graver crimes, hesitated to become connected with him by marriage. This made him less attentive to Dora, so that she had not thought of him as a suitor when making the bet. When he declared himself, she recognized her predicament and was correspondingly troubled, yet determined to win, and so acted as related.

   By this time, though Mr. Mitchel had not mentioned the name of the criminal, several present knew to who he was alluding. Mr. Randolph said impetuously:

   "Then that explains" – Here he stopped, confused.

   "Yes," said Mr. Mitchel, smiling, "that explains everything that has perplexed you. Be reconciled for the time you have been made to wait, for you will now not only win the lady, but will recover this check, for I must pass it over to her as a forfeit. Gentlemen, shall we drink to the health and success of Mr. Randolph?"

   This was done in silence. The guests felt a constraint. They knew that more was yet to come and anxiously waited for it.

   Mr. Mitchel continued: "Gentlemen, that ends my story, except that I engaged Mr. Barnes to take up the threads of evidence which I gave him and to disentangle them if he could. Shall we hear his report?"

   "There was a curious which I found in the room where the murder was committed, and which matched a set owned by Mr. Mitchel so closely that it seemed to me to point to him as one who had a guilty knowledge. I spent much time following the clues that turned up in that conception, all of which, however, was not entirely misspent, for I discovered the true name of the dead woman to be Rose Montalbon, and that aided me greatly in my later work. At last, then, I abandoned the idea that Mr. Mitchel was guilty and frankly admitted this. He then told me the name of the jeweler from which the buttons had been ordered, and I went across the Atlantic.

(To be continued)

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A BICYCLE COLLLISION

A BAD COLLISION ON THE WHITMORE LAKE ROAD.

A Summer School Student Was Knocked Senseless and His Bicycle Completely Wrecked.

   A bad collision between two bicycle riders, occurred on the Whitmore Lake road last evening, about three miles north of the city. A young man, believed to be a summer school student, and of the name of Rex, was badly hurt about the knee and head. A tooth was knocked out and another broken. He was knocked senseless and it was more than half an hour before he could be brought to. The man who ran into the student was from Whitmore Lake and also hurt, but only slightly. The students' bicycle was a complete wreck. He was brought to the city by Elmer Steffist who was passing just as the student had been brought out of his faint. He says the young man seemed in great pain and in a dazed condition on their way home.

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POLES AND CONDUIT

DELAY THE PAVING OF WASHINGTON ST.

Promises of Immediate Work Removing the Poles and Building the Conduit are Made.

   Wasington st. is torn up, but the poles are still there and hence the business men and aldermen are kicking. So are the contractors. It's fashionable to kick. The Electric Light companies new poles are not here yet but they are expected tomorrow. There will have to be shaved and painted and the company promised this afternoon to hustle them in. W. E. Thompson, the attorney of the telephone company is here today and says that the construction gang of the company will be here to put in the conduit tomorrow or at latests Wednesday morning, and says they will make a short job of putting in the conduit. The material is all here on the tack and Mr. Thompson says he supposed that the construction gang would be here last week. Contractor Clanney says he can't do anything more until the poles are out and the conduit laid.

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A MOST WONDERFUL CURES

Eminent Physicians Pronounced it Consumption.

Dr. C. D. Warner, Coldwater, Mich.

   Dear Sir: – I have received great benefit from your White Wine of Tar Syrup. I had a cough and the doctor gave up all hopes of my recovery and pronounced it consumption; I thought that it was death for me. I tried everything that we could hear of. Finally one of my friends prevailed upon me to use your White Wine of Tar Syrup. I took 1 [fraction illegible] bottles and am cured entirely. Such medicine I can recommend to those who are afflicted as I was.

Very Resp'y Yours,

JOSEPH R. UNDERHILL,

Doland, South Dakota.

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Torpedo Boats Under Fire.

   The average distance of discovery of a torpedo-boat by the searchlight from a battleship has been calculated to be 781 yards and the greatest distance 2,000 yards. Thus, taking the distance at which the torpedo can be fired with effect at 500 yards, it will be generally found that a torpedo-boat will have to cross about 800 yard under fire from the ship she is attacking and it will take the little craft about half a minute to do this.

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Bohemia's Strange Minerals

   Not far from Trebitsch, in Bohemia, are found many glassy-looking objects of a bottle-green color, and tending, when unbroken, to an egg shape, which the name moldavites has been given. Dr. Suess of Vienna, from recent study of these curious minerals, concludes that they are really meteorites, and should be added to the list of foreign bodies that have found their way to the earth's surface by falling from space.