NOT A TERRIBLE CRIME--A SERIES OF SHARP QUESTIONS--A
DETECTIVE AT HIS BEST--STARTLING DEVELOPMENTS OF A
LOGICAL MYSTERY SOLVER--REPRODUCING AN IMAGE AFTER
FORTY YEARS--A GREAT DIALOGUE.
When Mr. Townsend said "Here comes in my criminality," as intimated,
Jack expected a weird confession and he remained silent, determined to
permit the banker to declare his crime in his own way, and after a
little the latter said:
"The money and securities I held intact; the letter I put away in my
safe, and as instructed I tried to forget all about it. The years
passed; I became very successful in business--indeed, a rich man, and
still there came no word from the party who placed the fortune in my
hands under such strange conditions, and one morning, ten years later, I
came down to my office and there had been a great fire. The building in
which my office was located was totally destroyed, and the letter was in
a safe. I was very much disturbed; the safe was fireproof and I hoped to
find the letters, but, alas! the safe and all its contents were
destroyed--" The banker stopped short; he had made the last statement
with startling distinctness.
"The letter was lost?" suggested Jack.
"Yes."
"But where does your criminality come in? You could not help the fire,
and you had taken all due precautions."
"Yes, I had, but there I was with this vast fortune, and as it appeared,
no way of finding out the owner of it. The ten years passed following
the fire, completing the twenty. I never heard from the individual who
had deposited the money with me, nor did any one else make a claim; and
so twenty years more have passed and no claimant has appeared, and I am
in possession of the fortune."
"It is certainly all very strange," said Jack, "but I cannot see where
you are in any way to blame."
"I am, though."
"How?"
"I feel that I am to blame, however."
"How?"
"I knew of the possibility of fire and _I should not have left the
letter in my safe down at the office_."
"There was the same chance of fire in your residence."
"No, you see, my house is well guarded against fire. I am a bachelor,
and the ordinary chances of a fire in a private residence do not equal
those in a public building where there are thousands of tenants. Yes, I
feel that at the end of twenty years I should have made an effort to
find the real owners without the aid of a letter."
"And did you not do so?"
"No; I was engaged in large transactions, and the fact that the twenty
years had expired escaped my memory, and five years or more elapsed
before I recalled the fact of the letter; then I placed the matter in
the hands of a detective. He advertised and made search. He questioned
as concerned the appearance of the man who deposited the fortune with
me, but I could give him no more information than I have given you."
"I think, sir, you have been faithful to your trust."
"It is very kind of you to say so, but I cannot agree with you. I blame
myself, and if the owner of the fortune is not found, I always shall
blame myself."
"What more could you have done?"
"Had I started in immediately after the expiration of the twenty years I
might have been successful. The real owners of the fortune might have
known something about the affair and have been on the lookout for
information, but after five years they may have given up in despair."
"And you want me to find the owner of the fortune?"
"Yes."
"I certainly will perform a great detective feat if I succeed."
"Yes, you will."
"Accident may aid me; I owe a great deal to accident in my past
investigations."
"I will tell you one thing: it is worth your while to succeed."
"I do not doubt that."
"You will earn more money for this one success than you could possibly
earn in many years--indeed, I can promise you twenty-five thousand
dollars in case you discover the real heir and furnish absolute proofs
as to identity."
"But remember, I have not a single clue. Forty years have elapsed since
the fortune was placed in your hands. The chances are that all the heirs
are dead."
"That is true," said Mr. Townsend.
"True practically, and yet there is a possibility that an heir lives,
and is ignorant of a fortune which would be his or hers in case of
identification."
"Again, that is true."
"How long since any one was engaged on the case?"
"It is fourteen or fifteen years. After the failure of the detective I
employed, at the end of twenty-five years I made no further efforts;
that man devoted a whole year to the case."
"Where is he now? He must have secured some data."
"He is dead."
"And did he never give you any data?"
"He never did; on the contrary, he informed me that it was a hopeless
case unless accident should open up the mystery."
Jack, as our readers know who have read of his previous exploits,
possessed a wonderful faculty of discernment and a very clear and
penetrating astuteness. He was a born detective, and this natural gift
in the direction of solving mysteries had led him to become one. As
stated, he became very thoughtful--indeed, he said to the banker:
"Excuse me, sir, but let me think a few moments--yes, think while the
incidents of your remarkable narrative are fresh in my mind."
"Certainly," said the banker; "and let me tell you I have hopes that you
will succeed."
"You have?"
"Yes."
"What leads you to hope?"
"The gentleman who referred me to you said, 'If any man on earth can
solve the mystery, Jack Alvarez is the man.'"
"He was very kind to speak so highly of me."
Jack fell into silence, and his active mind was performing wonders of
detective investigation, and after a season he asked:
"How long was the man in your presence who confided this fortune to
you."
"He was with me over an hour."
"Do you recall his appearance?"
"As well as though it were yesterday that he stood in my presence--yes,
I possess a wonderful memory."
"How old are you, sir?"
"I am seventy."
"How old was the man who called on you?"
"He was a man between fifty and sixty, I should say."
"He had gray hair?"
"Yes, gray hair."
"The color of his eyes was black."
"No, sir."
"Oh, yes."
"No, sir, they were clear blue eyes; I remember that well. Why did you
say they were black?"
Jack laughed and answered:
"I was only aiding you to remember--working on the plan of a detective
I've read about, who always worked on the negative track, when trying to
develop positive facts from witnesses."
"By ginger! I never should have recalled the color of his eyes if you
had not positively stated that they were black."
"Then we have verified the theory?"
"Yes, indeed."
"He wore a high beaver hat, I am sure?"
"No, he did not; he wore a wide-brimmed slouch hat, what they used to
call a Kossuth hat."
"Oh, I see; but he wore low shoes?"
"No, he didn't; he wore boots. I remember that; he sat opposite me and
his pants were drawn up, exposing the leg of his boots."
"I see; and those boots were covered with black mud?"
"No, they were not," laughingly exclaimed Mr. Townsend. "They were
covered with the _red mud of New Jersey_."
"Nonsense, sir."
"I'll swear to that," cried Mr. Townsend, and there came a look of
wonderment to his face as he added:
"Young man, you'll win, you'll solve the mystery."
"I will?"
"Yes."'
"Why do you say so?"
"I can see that you will."
"You can?"
"Yes."
Jack laughed and said:
"What encourages you to think so?"
"You are going to work the right way. By ginger! you already have a
clue; hang me, if you are not a mind reader! You have a clue--yes,
you've established the fact that the man who deposited the fortune with
me _came from New Jersey_."
"New Jersey must be red," said Jack, as a smile overspread his handsome
face.
"Yes, and I'll swear that man came from Jersey."
"The man, you mean, with heavy plow boots on."
"Hang me! now I recall that is a fact."
"He wore very plain clothes?"
"Yes."
"He had a sort of twang in his pronunciation," said Jack, leaning
forward in an eager manner.
"Young man," cried Mr. Townsend, "you have raised up the figure of forty
years ago. You have described the man exactly--yes, I have been blind;
you are inspired. Now I recall the man must have come to me off a farm."
Jack was delighted, and we will here state that subsequent incidents
suggested the idea that he was almost inspired, for like lightning a
theory had formed in his mind, and stranger still, his theory led him to
ask a remarkable question which drew forth an answer astoundingly
suggestive.
Jack had been thoughtful awhile, but at length he asked:
"Did it not enter your mind that there might be a claimant for that
fortune before the expiration of the twenty years?"
"Great Scott! young man, are you a mind reader?"
"No, I am merely a logical student of possibilities. Answer my
question."
"Your question has recalled a part of my conversation with that strange
man which had really escaped my memory."
"Oh, yes, I may lead you to recall considerable."
"How fortunate it would have been had I met and employed you fifteen
years ago."
"Yes, it might have been better for us both, but I may work up a clue
yet, and as you will admit I start out on a very slight basis."
"You do; I called you into this case as a last resort without any idea
even that you would attempt to solve the mystery."
"I shall attempt to solve it; but you have not answered my question."
"I did speak of a possibility of there appearing a claimant. His answer
was that 'If there did arise a claimant who founded his claim on a basis
that appeared reasonable to me, to _open the letter at once_.'"
"Aha! you recall that now?"
"I do."
"And you are not mistaken?"
"I am not."
"Then he did admit the possibility that there might arise a claimant ere
the expiration of the twenty years?"
"He did practically, when he answered my question as I have stated."