The Poisoned Pen(Fiscle Part-3) - Arthur B. Reeve (best detective novels of all time TXT) 📗

Have To Be Told That He Was

Using A Microscope To Discover Any Erasures And That Photography

Both Direct And By Transmitted Light Might Show Something.

 

"I Can't See Anything Wrong With These Documents," He Remarked At

Length. "They Show No Erasures Or Alterations. On Their Face They

Look As Good As The Real Article. Even If They Are Tracings They

Are Remarkably Fine Work. It Certainly Is A Fact,  However,  That

They Superimpose. They Might All Have Been Made From The Same Pair

Of Signatures Of The President And Treasurer.

 

"I Need Hardly To Say To You,  Walter,  That The Microscope In Its

Various Forms And With Its Various Attachments Is Of Great

Assistance To The Document Examiner. Even A Low Magnification

Frequently Reveals A Drawing,  Hesitating Method Of Production,  Or

Patched And Reinforced Strokes As Well As Erasures By Chemicals Or

By Abrasion. The Stereoscopic Microscope,  Which Is Of Value In

Studying Abrasions And Alterations Since It Gives Depth,  In This

Case Tells Me That There Has Been Nothing Of That Sort Practised.

My Colour Comparison Microscope,  Which Permits The Comparison Of

The Ink On Two Different Documents Or Two Places On One Document

At The Same Time,  Tells Me Something. This Instrument With New And

Accurately Coloured Glasses Enables Me To Measure The Tints Of The

Ink Of These Signatures With The Greatest Accuracy And I Can Do

What Was Hitherto Impossible--Determine How Long The Writing Has

Been On The Paper. I Should Say It Was All Very Recent,

Approximately Within The Last Two Months Or Six Weeks,  And I

Believe That Whenever The Stock May Have Been Issued It At Least

Was All Forged At The Same Time.

 

"There Isn't Time Now To Go Into The Thing More Deeply,  But If It

Becomes Necessary I Can Go Back To It With The Aid Of The Camera

Lucida And The Microscopic Enlarger,  As Well As This Specially

Constructed Document Camera With Lenses Certified By The

Government. If It Comes To A Show-Down I Suppose I Shall Have To

Prove My Point With The Micrometer Measurements Down To The Fifty-

Thousandth Part Of An Inch.

 

"There Is Certainly Something Very Curious About These

Signatures," He Concluded. "I Don't Know What Measurements Would

Show,  But They Are Really Too Good. You Know A Forged Signature

May Be Of Two Kinds--Too Bad Or Too Good. These Are,  I Believe,

Tracings. If They Were Your Signature And Mine,  Walter,  I

Shouldn't Hesitate To Pronounce Them Tracings. But There Is Always

Some Slight Room For Doubt In These Special Cases Where A Man Sits

Down And Is In The Habit Of Writing His Signature Over And Over

Again On One Stock Or Bond After Another. He May Get So Used To It

Part 3 Chapter 8 (The Forger) Pg 91

That He Does It Automatically And His Signatures May Come Pretty

Close To Superimposing. If I Had Time,  Though,  I Think I Could

Demonstrate That There Are Altogether Too Many Points Of

Similarity For These To Be Genuine Signatures. But We've Got To

Act Quickly In This Case Or Not At All,  And I See That If I Am To

Get To Atlantic City To-Night I Can't Waste Much More Time Here. I

Wish You Would Keep An Eye On The Hotel Amsterdam While I Am Gone,

Walter,  And Meet Me Here,  To-Morrow. I'll Wire When I'll Be Back.

Good-Bye."

 

It Was Well Along In The Afternoon When Kennedy Took A Train For

The Famous Seaside Resort,  Leaving Me In New York With A Roving

Commission To Do Nothing. All That I Was Able To Learn At The

Hotel Amsterdam Was That A Man With A Van Dyke Beard Had Stung The

Office With A Bogus Check,  Although He Had Seemed To Come Well

Recommended. The Description Of The Woman With Him Who Seemed To

Be His Wife Might Have Fitted Either Mrs. Dawson Or Adele Demott.

The Only Person Who Had Called Had Been A Man Who Said He

Represented The By-Products Company And Was The Treasurer. He Had

Questioned The Hotel People Rather Closely About The Whereabouts

Of The Couple Who Had Paid Their Expenses With The Worthless Slip

Of Paper. It Was Not Difficult To Infer That This Man Was Carroll

Who Had Been Hot On The Trail,  Especially As He Said That He

Personally Would See The Check Paid If The Hotel People Would Keep

A Sharp Watch For The Return Of The Man Who Had Swindled Them.

 

Kennedy Wired As He Promised And Returned By An Early Train The

Next Day.

 

He Seemed Bursting With News. "I Think I'm On The Trail," He

Cried,  Throwing His Grip Into A Corner And Not Waiting For Me To

Ask Him What Success He Had Had. "I Went Directly To The Lorraine

And Began Frankly By Telling Them That I Represented The By-

Products Company In New York And Was Authorised To Investigate The

Bad Check Which They Had Received. They Couldn't Describe Dawson

Very Well--At Least Their Description Would Have Fitted Almost Any

One. One Thing I Think I Did Learn And That Was That His Disguise

Must Include A Van Dyke Beard. He Would Scarcely Have Had Time To

Grow One Of His Own And I Believe When He Was Last Seen In Chicago

He Was Clean-Shaven."

 

"But," I Objected,  "Men With Van Dyke Beards Are Common Enough."

Then I Related My Experience At The Amsterdam.

 

"The Same Fellow," Ejaculated Kennedy. "The Beard Seems To Have

Covered A Multitude Of Sins,  For While Every One Could Recall

That,  No One Had A Word To Say About His Features. However,

Walter,  There's Just One Chance Of Making His Identification Sure,

And A Peculiar Coincidence It Is,  Too. It Seems That One Night

This Man And A Lady Who May Have Been The Former Miss Sanderson,

Though The Description Of Her Like Most Amateur Descriptions

Wasn't Very Accurate,  Were Dining At The Lorraine. The Lorraine Is

Getting Up A New Booklet About Its Accommodations And A

Photographer Had Been Engaged To Take A Flashlight Of The Dining-

Room For The Booklet.

 

"No Sooner Had The Flash Been Lighted And The Picture Taken Than A

Man With A Van Dyke Beard--Your Friend Of The Amsterdam,  No Doubt,

Walter,--Rushed Up To The Photographer And Offered Him Fifty

Dollars For The Plate. The Photographer Thought At First It Was

Some Sport Who Had Reasons For Not Wishing To Appear In Print In

Atlantic City,  As Many Have. The Man Seemed To Notice That The

Photographer Was A Little Suspicious And He Hastened To Make Some

Kind Of Excuse About 'Wanting The Home Folks To See How Swell He

And His Wife Were Dining In Evening Dress.' It Was A Rather Lame

Excuse,  But The Fifty Dollars Looked Good To The Photographer And

He Agreed To Develop The Plate And Turn It Over With Some Prints

All Ready For Mailing The Next Day. The Man Seemed Satisfied And

The Photographer Took Another Flashlight,  This Time With One Of

The Tables Vacant.

 

Part 3 Chapter 8 (The Forger) Pg 92

Sure Enough,  The Next Day The Man With A Beard Turned Up For The

Plate. The Photographer Tells Me That He Had It All Wrapped Up

Ready To Mail,  Just To Call The Fellow's Bluff. The Man Was Equal

To The Occasion,  Paid The Money,  Wrote An Address On The Package

Which The Photographer Did Not See,  And As There Was A Box For

Mailing Packages Right At The Door On The Boardwalk There Was No

Excuse For Not Mailing It Directly. Now If I Could Get Hold Of

That Plate Or A Print From It I Could Identify Dawson In His

Disguise In A Moment. I've Started The Post-Office Trying To Trace

That Package Both At Atlantic City And In Chicago,  Where I Think

It Must Have Been Mailed. I May Hear From Them At Any Moment--At

Least,  I Hope."

 

The Rest Of The Afternoon We Spent In Canvassing The Drug Stores

In The Vicinity Of The Amsterdam,  Kennedy's Idea Being That If

Dawson Was A Habitual Morphine Fiend He Must Have Replenished His

Supply Of The Drug In New York,  Particularly If He Was

Contemplating A Long Journey Where It Might Be Difficult To

Obtain.

 

After Many Disappointments We Finally Succeeded In Finding A Shop

Where A Man Posing As A Doctor Had Made A Rather Large Purchase.

The Name He Gave Was Of Course Of No Importance. What Did Interest

Us Was That Again We Crossed The Trail Of A Man With A Van Dyke

Beard. He Had Been Accompanied By A Woman Whom The Druggist

Described As Rather Flashily Dressed,  Though Her Face Was Hidden

Under A Huge Hat And A Veil. "Looked Very Attractive," As The

Druggist Put It,  "But She Might Have Been A Negress For All I

Could Tell You Of Her Face."

 

"Humph," Grunted Kennedy,  As We Were Leaving The Store. "You

Wouldn't Believe It,  But It Is The Hardest Thing In The World To

Get An Accurate Description Of Any One. The Psychologists Have

Said Enough About It,  But You Don't Realise It Until You Are Up

Against It. Why,  That Might Have Been The Demott Woman Just As

Well As The Former Miss Sanderson,  And The Man Might Have Been

Bolton Brown As Well As Dawson,  For All We Know. They've Both

Disappeared Now. I Wish We Could Get Some Word About That

Photograph. That Would Settle It."

 

In The Last Mail That Night Kennedy Received Back The Letter Which

He Had Addressed To Michael Dawson. On It Was Stamped "Returned To

Sender. Owner Not Found."

 

Kennedy Turned The Letter Over Slowly And Looked At The Back Of It

Carefully.

 

"On The Contrary," He Remarked,  Half To Himself,  "The Owner Was

Found. Only He Returned The Letter Back To The Postman After He

Had Opened It And Found That It Was Just A Note Of No Importance

Which I Scribbled Just To See If He Was Keeping In Touch With

Things From His Hiding-Place,  Wherever It Is."

 

"How Do You Know He Opened It?" I Asked.

 

"Do You See Those Blots On The Back? I Had Several Of These

Envelopes Prepared Ready For Use When I Needed Them. I Had Some

Tannin Placed On The Flap And Then Covered Thickly With Gum. On

The Envelope Itself Was Some Iron Sulphate Under More Gum. I

Carefully Sealed The Letter,  Using Very Little Moisture. The Gum

Then Separated The Two Prepared Parts. Now If That Letter Were

Steamed Open The Tannin And The Sulphate Would Come Together,  Run,

And Leave A Smudge. You See The Blots? The Inference Is Obvious."

 

Clearly,  Then,  Our Chase Was Getting Warmer. Dawson Had Been In

Atlantic City At Least Within A Few Days. The Fruit Company

Steamer To South America On Which Carroll Believed He Was Booked

To Sail Under An Assumed Name And With An Assumed Face Was To Sail

The Following Noon. And Still We Had No Word From Chicago As To

The Destination Of The Photograph,  Or The Identity Of The Man In

The Van Dyke Beard Who Had Been So Particular To Disarm Suspicion