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Show 11911. by W. G. Chapman in d Slates nnd Grout Britain.) many probloms which wens ;d through tlic aid of Peter re, I think tlj.il which involved :apturc of Rowell. the dofauli-jank dofauli-jank cnsliier. was the most rc-Crewe's rc-Crewe's skill rested In the i certain optical gift by virtue was enabled at any time 10 jrc lils mental vision the pie-person pie-person or thing that he had ted, and that complete and in : perfect. But while this fac-argelv fac-argelv instrumental in Row-s, Row-s, this case- Involved besides 1 close a piece of mathemat-ng mathemat-ng that it deserves to be sol j of tho masterpieces of detec-d detec-d 1 were in England upon iss at tho time when the rob-c rob-c Penny and Shilling bank country Rowell. the eash-lehow eash-lehow managed to obtain pos-io pos-io less a sum than 100.000 In American money. He had etcd this In his suit case, of the bank on Saturday at ompictclv disappeared by the covery of the theft was made :d no relatives and no close i had no tics, no acqualn-ng acqualn-ng the criminal class. 1-Ic manv another young English-middle English-middle classes: Of medium ivart, alert, aggressive, clean, photograph behind. There e no way in. which he could rlntcndent of Scotland Yard jpy suggestion to tho bank had been called into consul -e bank's attorney, and I had we to the conference with h strongly approved the plan, ngllshman who has comnilt-makes comnilt-makes tho United States his octlve," the superintendent ' this should be so I do not mow. I do not mean to cast your country. Still, the fact t, when he thinks tho hue died away, he takes ship for proposition is to herd him will call a rut trap. So long low in England he is never discovered. But If wo make ot at every polnl except I he s, if wo publish items in the stating that no guard Is be-. be-. Liverpool or Southampton, fugitive Is believed to be in tve do this, he will be tempt. -nvcstlgate to dlHeover'whcth-rue; dlHeover'whcth-rue; llnally, emboldened, he In for New York." ?" asked Crewe, t him as he disembarks." was carried out and worked . Although Rowell could not r identified, there was every illeve In a cabled statement jtain of the Pentannic to the tho fugitive had taken pas-ship. pas-ship. The information was to New York and a couple were detailed to uitosI Row-ent Row-ent that he landed. :ely the plan miscarried- As afterward. Rowell had sonic-sd sonic-sd himself of the uniform of :er. and attired in this guiso, d boldly ashore tinder the ; doiectives and disappeared jur million Inhabitants of the urged me to hasten to Amcr-to Amcr-to assist In the work of rc-had, rc-had, however, interested the Crewe by recounting some Lnlon's former successes, and, .tlon, I brought my friend to the robbery, you ha.ve no photograph of asKed Crewe, when he heard )f the story, atever. And I fancv," said r, "that you will not obtain much of a clue by examining his stool and counter." "I hope you are mistaken." answered Crewe, laughing. "May 1 ask you a few questions?" "With pleasure." "What was Howell's salary?" "Two hundred pounds." answered tho manager with some hesitancy. "We Uii Intended to Increase It on the first of tno year." "Still, a single man could live well on that." said Crewe. "Did he dress well?" "Not extravagantly, but neatly. "He usually wore a suit of blue serge, a collar col-lar of moderate height., and a gray tie." "That Is very important," said Crewe. "But here Is a more Important matter still. Has tho height of this stool been changed since Rowel! vacated It?" "No. It Is nn immovable seat, as you will see, and nicely apportioned to the height of the counter." ' "In that case," said Crewe, "I think that we shall catch your man. By the way. did he ever wear anything but blue serge?" "Rarely. That was his office coal and he also wore It. upon the streets. As you know, Mr- Crewe, the habit of the silk hat and morning coat Is not Insisted upon now by many places of business." "And one more question you have had an unusually sunshiny summer, I believe?" be-lieve?" ' - "They say so," answered tho manager suavely, but looking at me as though to ask. "Is the fellow a dangerous lunatic?" luna-tic?" Without further remark Crewe seated himself upon the stool and leaned over the desk. Tho sunlight streamed through the grille In front of the desk and In upon Crewe. He adjusted his position until he was seated exactly In the center of the stool: then, after an Instant's sllenco, as though he were lost in meditation, lie slipped down to the ground. "Good morning. Mr. Simpson," ho said, extending his hand to the bank manager. "If we get to New York before the police po-lice capture him. I hope to have the pleasure pleas-ure of presenting Mr. Rowell to you. "And that," he added, "Is probable enough, since the police are dealing with an extremely astute gentleman," We made our way to New York and had an Interview with the head of tho police department. lie informed me of the situation In regard to the missing man. That he was In the city was a certainty. Had any authentic portrait of him existed, ex-isted, he would undoubtedlhavo been captured long before. At present it seemed almost Impossible to lake him. But If Rowell was immune from arrest, he, in turn, could not leave New York. Detectives were watching every road, every railroad station, every ferry house from which boats loft for the New Jersey shore. Rowell's only possible point of escape was Long Island. Ho could doubtless evade the detectives and cross the Brooklyn brldgo during the rush hour. But that would bo a risky proceeding, proceed-ing, for, though Brooklyn lay open to him, he could not cross from any point of Long Island to the Connecticut shore, while his return to New York itself would be fraught with dangers. It was highly probable, therefore, that Rowell was still within the limits of the borough of Manhattan. "Where are you searching?" Crewe asked tho police chief. "We have two dozen men looking through the whole city," said the latter. lat-ter. "We're raking it as fine as though we used a lootheomb. Sooner or later he must be found." "Tho only drawback to that scheme !s that while you arc raking one district Rowell Is likely to bo in another." "Well, how would you do better?" asked the polico chief, nettled. "Why." said Crewe, "search all districts dis-tricts simultaneously." "Let me tell you," said the chief of police, "that, the number of detectives at my disposal for this case Is twentv-four, twentv-four, not twenty-four thousand." "Nevertheless, If you will place four of your two dozen at my disposal for a week 1 will guarantee to find Rowell if r ' . We wanl Mr. B ho is within the limits of Manhattan borough." said Crewe. "And the glory's yours." he added. The police chief looked at me. lie knew Crewe and his work, but his pride . i was hurt. IIo would, liavc liked to sec him for once misucccssfuir 1 noddodT "1 say nothing for the nowspaperH," I announced. "You stand to win either way. EUther you score off Crewe or you I get the credit for the capture." The police chief pressed a hell. "Send ; Cohen, O'Rourke, Murphy and Kelly here at once." lie said to the messenger. Almost at once the, four policemen came In and saluted. "You will place yourselves under the orders of this gentleman." said tho chief, Indicating Crowe. "It's -the Rowell case, and ho thinks ho can work on it better than I can." "Report lo mc here tomorrow morning" morn-ing" at 9." said Crowe. "You may take tho day off. 1 want to think. I suppose you're all proficient In simple arithmetic arith-metic '!" lie added. "I'm glad to hoar it. You may have a little adding to do." 1 did not sco Crewe- again until tho second afternoon, when wu met by appointment ap-pointment and lunched together. After the meal I asked him how ho was progressing pro-gressing with his case. "I've got tho town staked out," Crewe answered, "and I think that the fourth day will witness Mr. Rowell's arrcsU Of course, I could take him earlier by haphazard hap-hazard means, but I prefer to utilize tho scientific method." "Will you Inform me how, with four detectives. you can possibly have staked out' the town, as you phraso it?" 1 asked, a little exasperated. "It Is a matter of pure mathomallcs. Langton." Crewe answered, a slight amusement disclosing Itself In his voice. "But come with me and you shall sco for yourself." Wo took I ho elevated to Forty-second street and walked to Broadway. On the southwest corner one of the detectives, in plain clothes, whom I recognized as Murphy, was lazily scanning the passers-by. passers-by. "How many,- Murphy?" Crewo asked him. "Two hundred and seventy-throe, sir," Murphy responded. "Seventy-four," he added, as a man hurried by, almost brushing Into us. 'You are keeping tho throe parts of tho day separate, Murphy?" asked Crewo. "Good. Keep up your count and report to mc tomorrow morning at five. At the stroke of midnight you vacate your post." "Flvo o'clock till midnight scorns long hours, Crewe," I said. "It lc But it Is only for throe days, and tho men aro trained to such periods of work. Bcsldos, they understand that thoy share In the reward and, somehow or other, T have been able to persuade them that they can trust in me. I happened to know something of tho past history of each," he added, smiling. fYou remember them all?" "Assuredly. I told Murphy that In 1909 he was on duty at the InterHcclion of Eighty-first street and Broadway when the explosion occurred In tho subway and that he helped to carry up the victims. vic-tims. I rominded him of an unpleasant llttlt! incident connected with a fruit peddler's ped-dler's license last year. Langton. it Is a fine thing to remember faces. I have convinced nil four men. I believe, that I havo some aupcrnatural knowledge about, t.hein and merely because, In my strolls about the city. I havo encountered almost al-most all tho police force at some tlmo or another, and remembered them. But lot us hurry southward. Our next' objcctlvo Is the Brooklyn bridge." We emerged at the brldgo subway station, sta-tion, In front of which, leaning against the railings of the city hall park. I recognized rec-ognized O'Rourke. He straightened himself him-self up to us. "Eighty-seven this morning and thirly-nlno thirly-nlno up to this moment." he said. "I sec you know your business," Crewe rcsnondod. "Don't let any one pass. O'llourke, Remember your share of the reward will pav .the mortgage on that house of yours." O'Rourke leaped back in astonishment. His mouth opened and he looked at Crowe In amazement. "Don't lump like that," said Crew "You frlcrhten me. T mean the house l-.lamalca." l-.lamalca." Then, as we turned nw he added: "I saw him talking lo his wly one afternoon two yenrs ago when l was off duty. It was a long shot, though --the house might havn been paid for. Now for our other two." Wo took tho elevated lo Sixth avenue and Twonty-third street, where wc found 2XnsJ?kZvren,tur& of Peter (reive life H jan jvfifffie Camera, Jref H rJ3y TGitoIcI Cartel? H Kelly looking ostentatiously into a show window. "Very good," said Crewe, slapping him upon the back. "You saw us coming? Some men arc too dense to know that one can sec the passersby just as well stunt, sir,' said Kelly, and we moved away. A cross-town car and a brisk walk soon landed us at tho Fourteenth street subway sub-way entrance, whero Cohen was seated In a shoeblack's chair gottlng a polish. "Sixty-eight and twenty-seven, sir," lie whispered as wo passed by. Crewe nodded nod-ded almost Imperceptibly and we turned back Into Union park. At Crewe's Invitation Invi-tation we took our seats upon a bench. "And now, Langton," he said, "you want to know what this apparently unintelligible un-intelligible process means and I will let you into the secret. You may have observed ob-served that I chose four points In New York at which to station my detectives. The selection of those points was influenced in-fluenced by two causes. In the first place they arc the four chief places where men walk, by preference, on one side of tho street alono. and consequently It is easier to count the passersby than If my men had to watch both sides of the street. At the Juncture of Broadway and Forty-second street everybody who is not bent upon business and Rowell Is distinctly dis-tinctly a pleasure-seeker In these days walks on tho west side of tho street, because be-cause extensive building operations are In process upon the east side. At our southern polnl, the subway entrance to the Brooklyn bridge, ulmost cvory one enters and emerges on the city hall side. At Sixth avenue- and Twenty-third streat our populuce. walk on the south side, because be-cause that ulde of tho thoroughfare Is devoted de-voted to larwc stoVes whoso windows hold a tempting arraj of goods. And on Fourteenth Four-teenth street ovorybody walks on the south side In order to pass the numerous moving picture shows, which afford a spectacle of some interest, externally, ovon to tho man who affects to despise them. "So much for the minor reason of my selection. Now for the major reason. These four points embrace practically the entire amusement and Hhopplng district dis-trict of the city. Where would a stranger strang-er go, an Englishman without a friend In town, but In this region? Would ho seek his amusement In the dreary wastes of Ilarlemg Would ho moon all day In Central park, a prey to hla thoughts? No, Langton, It Is tho surest prophecy in tho world that Rowell, a victim of a bad conscience and an overfull purse, spends all his waking llfo within this region. re-gion. And It is safe to say that he alternates alter-nates between the Fourteenth street region re-gion and Broadway, with tho preference for Broadway. Now 1 have told you enough for the present. Dino with me on Friday evening at 7. I will be In tho lobby of tho Hotel Memphis and I think I shnll bo able lo afford you an evening's even-ing's entertainment." I knew better than to attempt to question ques-tion rny companion furthor, but 1 was in a fever of anxiety during tho throe ensuing en-suing days to understand Crowe's purpose. pur-pose. Ills reasoning was excellent upon an abstract piano. But how did this counting of faces go toward the capture of Rowell? It was not until after dinner that my curiosity was gratified. Crewe rinsed his fingers In the silver dinner bowl, folded his napkin leisurely, nnd took from his pocket a pad of papor upon which wore jotted several series of tlgures. "Do you believe In statistics, Lang-ford?" Lang-ford?" lie asked abruptly. "I have heard it said that they can prove anything." "They can: but not in the derogatory sense you mean. Are you aware that, while small numbers are apt. to fluctuate In tho aggregate they are practically unvarying? un-varying? "For Instance In the gambling palace at Monte Carlo, red may turn up fifty times more than black during a single day. I'.ut in a week the rclatlvo numbers num-bers will be almost equal. In a month they will be practically equal; at tho end of a yoar there is usually hardly a sen-slblo sen-slblo difference between Uso number of times that each has to its credit. "Take life Insurance. Individually a human life Is a most uncertain thing, hit when you take ten thousand lives ou can state with mathematical predion pred-ion that a dofinltc number of, these ten thousand persons will die at thirty, a certain number at forty, increasing number num-ber at fifty, and so on, until at the age of ninety-six the last survivor perishes. "Langton, I havo simply applied this fact to tho search for KawolL when they arc reflected in a plato glass window. Happily tho .precaution is unnecessary, un-necessary, but I am glad to sec so much .intelligent zeal in your work, Kellj'i You are keeping tho numbers separate?" "Seventy and thirty thirty-one this in- "What do we know of him? That he Is an average-appearing Englishman and wears a blue serge suit. Undoubtedly he possesses other suits: but equally surely he will be astute enough to wear blue as differentiating him less than a suit with a check, stripe, or patterns. Thus his own cleverness assists In his undoing. "My orders to those detectives were to count all the men in blue serge suits who passed them, excluding Ihoso whoso age obviously excluded the possibility of their being Rowell. I ordered each man to make throe lists one for the morning morn-ing hours, one for the aftornoon. and one for the evening, up to 12 o'clock, after which the number of men In blue serge suits abroad is too limited for us to draw deductions from it. Here are the results: "Passing Forty-second street: Morning, 15C; afternoon, 112; evening, 177. Total, "Passing the Brooklyn brldgo subway entrance: Morning. 84; nfternoon, 46; evening. 88. Total, 218. "Passing Twenty-third street and Sixth avenue: Morning. 72; afternoon, 2S; evening. even-ing. 70. Total. 170. "Passing tho subway entrance on Fourteenth street: Morning, SO; afternoon. after-noon. 29; evening, 85. Total. 191. "What do you deduce from these figures. fig-ures. Langton?" "That a surprisingly small number of men wearing bluo sorgo suits emerge from the entrance to the Brooklyn bridge during the rush hours," I answered. "My dear Langton, you are flying off at a tangent. That Is not relative to the matter at all. Many take surface cars from Brooklyn and never pass the subway sub-way entrance. And Brooklyn is barred from our consideration. No', do you not see that at three points the .morning and evening trafric Is astonishingly even? At Twenty-third street 72 men pass In the morning and 70 in the evening. At tho Fourteenth street subway 80 pass In the morning and 85 in tho evening. At the Brooklyn bridge subway entrance 81 fiass In the morning and 88 in the even-ng. even-ng. "Therefore we can proceed by striking out like figures on either side of our equation. These men in bluo serge suits are office workers: thoy go and return by the same routes morning and evening. Emphatically Rowell Is not to be found among this lot. "At our northern point, Forty-second street, tho conditions arc not quite so oven. The men who pass In the morning morn-ing number 15S; In the evening. 177 a difference of twenty-one. Now we begin be-gin to 'see daylight at last after working out those figures. We havo to postulate the average man, the average unemployed unem-ployed man. Let us discover him from among tho figures that we have left. "Passing Twenty-third street In tho afternoon, 28. Passing Fourteenth street In the afternoon, 29. Passing the Brook-l5'n Brook-l5'n bridge subway entrance in the afternoon. after-noon. 46. But these latter wc must disregard, dis-regard, for that Is In the offlco district and these 46 aro probably all workers. "Our final statement, therefore, is that 28 men stroll of an afternoon from Twenty-third street to Fourteenth street, whero tholr numbers are augmented to 29. During the same period of the day 112 men stroll up Broadway to Forty-second Forty-second street, where, bv nightfall, their numbers have Increased to 177. "Therefore our average man will most assuredly be found somewhere In the theater district after the lights are lit. Rowell will be there tonight. I have demonstrated this Infallibly. Come, Langton, we arc going to arrest him." I rose In bewilderment. Crewe's figures fig-ures were " falling over one another in mv brain, and only one clear Impression remained to mo. That Rowell was obllg-lnglv obllg-lnglv walling to tumble Into our arms at the Juncture of Forty-second street H and Broadway. But surely this was a iH case in which one could not predicate tho individual from the universal. Sup- IH pose he had decided to vary his Ulncrarv M for that evening, suppose he had gone B home. Suppose he were sick, or at a H theater, or in a 'taxlcab. or restaurant. IH Suppose he had taken a fancy to sit in Central park until the hour of midnight- IH Suppose he had escaped from the city 1 and were at that moment speeding west- H ward. I glanced at Crewe. Ills face was IH resolute, set Into Its usual decisive lines. I had known him to solve greater mvs- H teries but always . by his optical gift. never by pure induction. And I could not help feeling that, there was a sad H disillusionment in store for him. 1 At Forty-second street and Broadwav H wo found Murphy on duty. Crewe drew H hirn aside. I saw him whisper and saw H Murphy touch the pocket of his coat. I H heard the clink of steel. Then we three H posted ourselves immediately beneath a. H bright olcctrlc light and, engaged In trivial H conversation, as of three ploasuro-seek- H Half an hour must have gone by. At H least fifty men in blue suits had passed ll us. a good half of whom might havo been fH the missing cashier. AH at once I ;aw ll Crewe touch Murphy's arm. and the two swung round and walked leisurely after H a good-looking young fellow who was H passing briskly up the thoroughfare. At IH the Forty-second Btreet crossing he he'sl- H tated a moment, pulled out his cigarette H case, and began to smoke. An electric H light beat down full upon his face and shoulders IH Crowe went up to him, fixed his eyes IH on his collar, signalled Murphy, and HH touched his captive on the nhouldor. The IH man started violently and let his cigarette "Wc want you. Mr. Rowell," 'Bald fl Crewe. At the same Instant . Murphy .H snapped the handcuffs upon; the cashier's M wrists. IH "I can understand that your mathe- 8H matlcal reasoning would, as you said, IH enable you to postulate the average jH man," I remarked to Crewe subsequent- ly. "But how could you positively 'Iden- IH Ufy Rowell among your 117 men in blue serge? And how could you know for sure that he was strolling up Broad-way?" Broad-way?" "I didn't. It was not until I got nlm under the electric light that I was able jH to pronounce him Rowell with certl- Pl tudc." fl "But how?" jl "Do you remember tho cashier's scat ftH at the London bank, with its projecting iH grille?" ''Do you remember that the. manager told us they had had an unusual quantity of sunshine In London?" "Do you remember that "Rowell woro a bluo serge suit?" IH "Well, what of it?" jH 'Don't you know blue serge fades?" "In sunlight?" "Precisely. And In consequence, since he sat always In the same spot and bent H over his counter at the same elevation, the bars of the grille would leave thin stripes of unfadod material in the dis- 'H colored cloth. Langton, to your eyes Kl Rowell's suit may have looked like any RH other man's, but to mine his breast and shoulders were . striped like a ze- bra's." "Mow did you know he would not order a new suit?" ilH "He had no time. The tailors are rushed tl nt this season." "But he might have bought one ready- tH made." ''The ready-made clothing trade is ex"- rluslvely an American institution." hH Crewe answered suavely. "No English-man English-man can ever be persuaded that he will look like anything but a tramp In a suit IH of ready-made clothes." (Next week: "The Crooked Seam.") |