The facts upon which the detective based his conclusion that Brian Kent
was dead, were, first of all, the man's general character, temperament,
habits, and ambitions,--aside from his thefts from the bank,--prior to
the time of his exposure and flight, and his known mental and physical
condition at the time he disappeared from the hotel in the little river
town of Borden.
The detective reasoned (and there are thousands of cases that could
be cited to support his contention) that by such a man as Brian
Kent,--knowing, as he must have known, the comparative certainty of
his ultimate arrest and conviction, and being in a mental and nervous
condition bordering on insanity, as a result of his constant brooding
over his crime and the excessive drinking to which he had resorted for
relief,--by such a man, death would almost inevitably be chosen rather
than a life of humiliation and disgrace and imprisonment.
Acting upon the supposition, however, that the man had gone down the
river in that missing boat, and that the appearance of suicide
was planned by the fugitive to trick his pursuers, the detectives
ascertained that he had provided no supplies for a trip down the river.
The man would be compelled to seek food. The mountain country through
which he must pass was sparsely settled, and for a distance that would
have taken a boat many days to cover, the officers visited every house
and cabin and camp on either side of the river without finding a trace
of the hunted man.
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