"Of course," the detective went on, "the evening has not been entirely
wasted. We know the woman by sight, and that is a great deal. As for her
name, I have made a careful study of this card, and assuming it to have
been of the usual length in comparison to its width, the name following
the 'Miss,' if it was a first name, points to a very short one, such as
Mary, and not a long one, such as Margaret."
"How do you make that out?"
"Simply enough. The entire name would of course have been placed in the
center of the card, which was, it appears, torn almost exactly in half.
On the left-hand side, which we have in our possession, there are, in
the word 'Miss,' four letters, and in 'Mar' three, or seven in all. We
should correspondingly expect to find seven letters on the right or
missing half of the card. But were the first name Margaret, or Marcella,
which each contain eight letters, or five to be added to the 'Mar' we
already have, it would leave but two letters for the woman's last name,
and names of that length, or rather shortness, are so rare as to be
negligible. It is far more probable that we have but to add a 'y' to the
'Mar,' or one letter, leaving six for the last name. This would give us
'Miss Mar-y Gordon,' with the name evenly divided by the tear. Or, if by
chance, the first name is such a one as Marian, containing six letters,
we need add but the 'ian,' or three letters, to the left-hand side of
our card, leaving us four letters for the last name. Thus, Miss Marian
Kent. The full name on the card should have just fourteen letters,
provided the card is, as I conclude, torn exactly in half."
"Why do you conclude that?"
"Because visiting cards of this sort are usually made in standard sizes.
I happen to have a woman's card--Miss Morton's, in fact, in my pocket.
Its width is the same as that of the torn card, and if the latter was of
the same length, you can readily see that it was torn exactly in half."
He took a card from his wallet and laid the torn bit of pasteboard upon
it. Their widths were identical. The whole card was just twice the
length of the torn one.
"That is a most interesting deduction," Baker exclaimed. "What use can
we make of it?"
"I will tell you. You have your car here, have you not?"
"Yes."
"Then I suggest that we run down to the studio at once, get your list of
employees, examine the name of every woman upon it, and see if we cannot
find one of fourteen letters, including the 'Miss,' of which the first
name begins with 'Mar.' The chances are that we will be able to locate
the name immediately."
"Yes," Mr. Baker exclaimed, rising in some excitement, "but, as you have
before said, the woman, if she works for us, will not dare to appear in
the morning, for fear that she will be recognized at once."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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