Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 236, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 October 1911 — FOUR BITES OF A CHERRY. [ARTICLE]

FOUR BITES OF A CHERRY.

By George Folsom.

Hew a Henins Collected WMOO At the Bate es UM* • Clip —and Kept It.

Copyright, The Frank A. Munsey Co. o— — “If you are not the painter," spoke up Creel, “and you are looking for a man who, you say, came in here, who are you?” “I am Mr. Dempster, of the Detective Bureau,” said the detective. By this time he was in the room. There was no man in sight, no place where a man could hide. He looked at the bookcase. It reached to within six inches of the top of the door. No man could crawl through that narrow opening. The flat-top desks were open underneath. The marble wash-basin afforded no means of concealment. The detective, without asking permission, started to pull the bookcase away from the door.

“You can’t move that,” said Creel quietly. “It is fastened with a top clamp.” The detective climbed on a Chair and examined the clamp. As he did so he looked into the next room through the half-opened door. It seemed to be empty, and he could hear no sound.

“And there are two clamps on the other side,” went on Creel, “so you can see how difficult it would be to move it.” Dempster examined the sideclamps. He was at last convinced that no man could have moved tne case aside. Perhaps you are mistaken in the room,” said Creel. “The next room is ours, and empty as yet. Maybe the door is unlocked.” “We will see,” said Dempster grimly. “If he went in there he is there yet. I have a man watching that door.” Creel smiled faintly. “We will see about it.” Creel locked the door as they went out, and led the way to the second door. He fumbled his key in the lock, but at last opened the door. The room was perfectly empty of everything except a stationary washbasin. Dempster walked to the halfopen inner door and pulled it back, disclosing the polished back of the bookcase. “I ought to have a key for that door,” purred Creel. ’ “There are two,” he went on, raising his voice, “but,” and here his voice sank again, “they don’t always seem able to find them for tenants when wanted.” The detective now gave Creel a searching look. “We will go back to the little room,” he said, “if you don’t object.” They went out and Creel locked ‘.he door of the room after them. Then, before opening the door of the aiual: before opening the door of the small room, he said: “You are the man me a letter to a dealer in certain stocks?” “Yes,” said Dempster, “and you are Mr. Creel, and you gave a false address the night of the first Cossett robbery.” “That’s true,” said Creel calmly. “Now Mr. Dempsey, you haven’t as yet told me what the man you are looking for has done. Is it murder or robbery?” “I didn’t tell you, did I?” said the detective. “Well, then, he robbed Mr. Cossett. I saw him rush out with a package of bills in his hand, and as we have been told to watch Mr. Cossett’s visitors, I naturally came on after him when he ran away.” “But,” said Creel, “there doesn’t seem to be any commotion up Mr. Cossett’s way. Call your man to watch, and then see if Cossett has really been robbed. He may be chloroformed and in need of your help." “I’ll do it,” said Dempster. “McGill can watch this end, and you seem to be acting fair.” “Officer,” said Creel, impressively, “you must know that we have for some time been aware that your men were shadowing us. We have never complained about it, and you shall be able to say that I never put any obstacle in your way today. Find out about Mr. Cossett. Your man, if left here, will get the same consideration I gave you." “Thank you, Mr. Creel,” said the officer, a little bit overcome by the politeness of the dapper young man beside him. He called McGill to his side, and started up the corridor. When he had gone a short distance, Creel said to McGill, “Run after him, but don’t shout. Tell him that if anything is wrong to signal you quietly. We don’t want the whole building trooping around.” As McGill swung around the corner, Creel opened the door of the little room. Linden, all in gray, sat at his desk. He nodded, and Creel ran to the corner. “Come back a moment,” he cried to the men, who were only a

Jew feet apart; McGill on his way back, and Dempster moving toward Cossett’s. 7-4-“Mr. Linden has come in and he wants to know if he can help you?” Dempster rushed back with a muttered curse. He knew that a trick had been played, but he couldn’t see through it yet Linden had walked in from somewhere while McGill was in the side corridor, and they would never be able to say where he came from. Dempster walked into the room, glowering. “What’s up?” said Linden. “Enough!” cried Dempster, as he glanced at jthe gray-clad figure, and passed, uninvited, through the open gate. Then his eye caught a black coat where the gray one had been. He walked up to it. “Mr. Creel,” he said, “there was a gray coat there when I was here before.” “I have it on,” said Linden. “I have been out of the building in that black coat.”

Dempster had taken hold of the coat. As he did so he felt something in the pocket. He didn’t hesitate to pull it out. It was .the green eyeshade. “That does it,” murmured Creel under his breath. “There, at last, is the one fatal mistake.” He glanced at Linden. “I wear that shade,” said Linden calmly, “my eye is inflamed. You can see that for yourself.” “Plucky, but no use,” murmured Creel. “Mr. Linden,” cried the goaded detective, “I place you under arrest charged with three robberies.” “Three robberies,” said Linden. “I heard of one, but three —” “The second was not made public,” said Dempster, “and the third was committed twenty-five minutes ago by a man,in a dark coat, with a green shade over his left eye.” “The coat is not important,” murmured Creel to himself,, “but that green shade— Oh! my.” “And now, if you don’t object, you will come quietly with me to Mr. Cossett’s. And you, McGill, take care of Mr. Creel. We want him, too,” went on Dempster. “We give you our words not to run,” said Linden easily. “And I will wear the green shade,” taking it from the hand of the detective and putting it on. “Is my face clean. Creel?” Creel looked at his friend’s face closely. “Clean, indeed, and you have quite a color.” All traces of the grease paint had vanished. The little party walked along the hall and entered Mr. Cossett’s office. The detained men were ushered in first. How it happened Dempster never knew, but before they faced Mr. Cossett Linden had removed and hidden the green shade. Mr. Cossett,” said the detective, “I have brought Mr. Linden. Twentyfive minutes ago a man with a green shade rushed out of your office with a package of bills in his hand. I traced him to Mr. Linden’s office, but lost track of him. But I found the green shade in Mr. Linden’s coat —” “Mr. Dempster,” interrupted Mr. Cossett, “I thank jtau for your zeal. Twenty-five minutes ago Mr. Linden came in here, and I gave him a package of bills. It was the final payment of an account between my niece and myself. And, by tbe way, Mr. Linden, you did not give me a receipt. Will you do so now ” He pushed a writing pad toward the young man. Linden was a bit befuddled, but he wrote a- suitable receipt in his best hand. “Now, Mr. Dempster,” said Mr. Cossett, as he took up the receipt, “I have thought all along that Captain Chesley was confining his efforts and yours to a very narrow line of inquiry I asked you to find the man who wrote the Delaine address. This writing does not resemble it at all, does it ” r* “But Mr. Creel’s does,” blurted out the detective, turning to Creel. “So this is Mr. Creel,” said Cossett, “and his writing resembles that on the card. Now, Mr. Creel, would you mind writing ‘Louis Delaine’ on this paper?” “I guess we win out,” said Creel to himself, “but I am in a deep fog.” Then he wrote as requested, and Dempster produced the torn card. “Very, very similar," said Mr. Cossett, “but I saw that first one written, and -by a man nothing like Mr. Creel. I never- saw Mr. Creel but once before, and then he had a wheel —and some crackers. . <r “But, to get down to facts, Mr. Dempster, you bring one man who looks somewhat like my second robber, but who doesn’t write like him, and you bring me another man who writes like the robber, but doesn’t look like him. We want the man'who wrote that card, not a man who writes like the man who wrote that card!”

“W|bll, all I can say Is this," cried the detective, losing his temper,, "you three gentlemen ought to be ashamed of yourselves. There’s certainly something back ofdll this, but you've tied my hands.” And he dashed out with McGill at his heels. “You are cousins, I believe,” said Mr. Cossett suavely. At this moment Sneed returned. “Please come down to my office on the next corridor,” whispered Linden. “We will have it out there." Mr. Cossett made no comment, but walked down to the small room with them. They entered aifd locked the door. Then Mr. Cossett said, “How did you escape him after running in here?” Linden pushed the spring and turned the bookcase. "Ah!" said the financier, "very ingenious. Into that next room and back into this. And now," he went on, “let me talk—l suspected you from the first, because I found Nellie’s picture on my door step” (both Linden and Creel opened their eyes at this) “when I ran out after—well, we will pass that.” “Then came the second affair, and the Delaine card, which was the other half of Nellie’s picture. Your letter followed, and then, in anger, I gave the police the card, given me in the restaurant. I am still giving my despoiler a long chance, because I gave no names. “When Nellie came down, and in her innocence told me that you had a ‘beautiful scheme for righting uncle’s wrongs’ I began to see through the matter. I then gave Nellie her legal share of the estate to make things more easy for the collector who was running me down. “I am, perhaps, to blame for the wholes thing. Old Cossett goaded me. and I got a better brand of legal advice than he did and beat him. Nellie would, before long, have got enough to satisfy them all. But I am glad it is all over. Marry Nellie, but don’t for mercy’s sake, fail to see me if you need money. You went into a most Quixotic enterprise, and your Sancho Panza here followed you faithfully, but —well suppose we lunch together?” (The End.)