“It must do, since we can do no better; but he has his trunk curled up
and tucked into his mouth. That is unfortunate, and is calculated to
mislead, for of course he does not usually have it in that position.” He
touched his bell.
“Alaric, have fifty thousand copies of this photograph made the first
thing in the morning, and mail them with the descriptive circulars.”
Alaric retired to execute his orders. The inspector said:
“It will be necessary to offer a reward, of course. Now as to the
amount?”
“What sum would you suggest?”
“To begin with, I should say--well, twenty-five thousand dollars. It
is an intricate and difficult business; there are a thousand avenues of
escape and opportunities of concealment. These thieves have friends and
pals everywhere--”
“Bless me, do you know who they are?”
The wary face, practised in concealing the thoughts and feelings within,
gave me no token, nor yet the replying words, so quietly uttered:
“Never mind about that. I may, and I may not. We generally gather a
pretty shrewd inkling of who our man is by the manner of his work and
the size of the game he goes after. We are not dealing with a pickpocket
or a hall thief now, make up your mind to that. This property was not
'lifted' by a novice. But, as I was saying, considering the amount of
travel which will have to be done, and the diligence with which the
thieves will cover up their traces as they move along, twenty-five
thousand may be too small a sum to offer, yet I think it worth while to
start with that.”
So we determined upon that figure as a beginning. Then this man, whom
nothing escaped which could by any possibility be made to serve as a
clue, said:
“There are cases in detective history to show that criminals have been
detected through peculiarities, in their appetites. Now, what does this
elephant eat, and how much?”
“Well, as to what he eats--he will eat anything. He will eat a man, he
will eat a Bible--he will eat anything between a man and a Bible.”
“Good very good, indeed, but too general. Details are necessary--details
are the only valuable things in our trade. Very well--as to men. At one
meal--or, if you prefer, during one day--how man men will he eat, if
fresh?”
“He would not care whether they were fresh or not; at a single meal he
would eat five ordinary men.”
“Very good; five men; we will put that down. What nationalities would he
prefer?”
“He is indifferent about nationalities. He prefers acquaintances, but is
not prejudiced against strangers.”
“Very good. Now, as to Bibles. How many Bibles would he eat at a meal?”
“He would eat an entire edition.”
“It is hardly succinct enough. Do you mean the ordinary octavo, or the
family illustrated?”
“I think he would be indifferent to illustrations that is, I think he
would not value illustrations above simple letterpress.”
“No, you do not get my idea. I refer to bulk. The ordinary octavo Bible
weighs about two pounds and a half, while the great quarto with the
illustrations weighs ten or twelve. How many Dore Bibles would he eat at
a meal?”
“If you knew this elephant, you could not ask. He would take what they
had.”
“Well, put it in dollars and cents, then. We must get at it somehow. The
Dore costs a hundred dollars a copy, Russia leather, beveled.”
“He would require about fifty thousand dollars worth--say an edition of
five hundred copies.”
“Now that is more exact. I will put that down. Very well; he likes men
and Bibles; so far, so good. What else will he eat? I want particulars.”
“He will leave Bibles to eat bricks, he will leave bricks to eat
bottles, he will leave bottles to eat clothing, he will leave clothing
to eat cats, he will leave cats to eat oysters, he will leave oysters to
eat ham, he will leave ham to eat sugar, he will leave sugar to eat pie,
he will leave pie to eat potatoes, he will leave potatoes to eat bran;
he will leave bran to eat hay, he will leave hay to eat oats, he will
leave oats to eat rice, for he was mainly raised on it. There is nothing
whatever that he will not eat but European butter, and he would eat that
if he could taste it.”
“Very good. General quantity at a meal--say about--”
“Well, anywhere from a quarter to half a ton.”
“And he drinks--”
“Everything that is fluid. Milk, water, whisky, molasses, castor oil,
camphene, carbolic acid--it is no use to go into particulars; whatever
fluid occurs to you set it down. He will drink anything that is fluid,
except European coffee.”
“Very good. As to quantity?”
“Put it down five to fifteen barrels--his thirst varies; his other
appetites do not.”
“These things are unusual. They ought to furnish quite good clues toward
tracing him.”
He touched the bell.
“Alaric; summon Captain Burns.”
Burns appeared. Inspector Blunt unfolded the whole matter to him, detail
by detail. Then he said in the clear, decisive tones of a man whose
plans are clearly defined in his head and who is accustomed to command:
“Captain Burns, detail Detectives Jones, Davis, Halsey, Bates, and
Hackett to shadow the elephant.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Detail Detectives Moses, Dakin, Murphy, Rogers, Tupper, Higgins, and
Bartholomew to shadow the thieves.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Place a strong guard--A guard of thirty picked men, with a relief of
thirty--over the place from whence the elephant was stolen, to keep
strict watch there night and day, and allow none to approach--except
reporters--without written authority from me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Place detectives in plain clothes in the railway; steamship, and ferry
depots, and upon all roadways leading out of Jersey City, with orders to
search all suspicious persons.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Furnish all these men with photograph and accompanying description
of the elephant, and instruct them to search all trains and outgoing
ferryboats and other vessels.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If the elephant should be found, let him be seized, and the information
forwarded to me by telegraph.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let me be informed at once if any clues should be found--footprints of
the animal, or anything of that kind.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Get an order commanding the harbor police to patrol the frontages
vigilantly.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Despatch detectives in plain clothes over all the railways, north as
far as Canada, west as far as Ohio, south as far as Washington.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Place experts in all the telegraph offices to listen to all messages;
and let them require that all cipher despatches be interpreted to them.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let all these things be done with the utmost's secrecy--mind, the most
impenetrable secrecy.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Report to me promptly at the usual hour.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Go!”
“Yes, sir.”
He was gone.
Inspector Blunt was silent and thoughtful a moment, while the fire in
his eye cooled down and faded out. Then he turned to me and said in a
placid voice:
“I am not given to boasting, it is not my habit; but--we shall find the
elephant.”
I shook him warmly by the hand and thanked him; and I FELT my thanks,
too. The more I had seen of the man the more I liked him and the more I
admired him and marveled over the mysterious wonders of his profession.
Then we parted for the night, and I went home with a far happier heart
than I had carried with me to his office.