5. They finally track the car to the O'Brien Furniture Company, who had a boxcar present at five robbery locations, and then they find that the car always returned to San Francisco after the robberies were completed. Cussler says, "Boxcar serial number 15758 was present in Virginia City and Bisbee during the robberies. In Virginia City, its cargo manifest was listed as fifty bales of barbed wire to be transported to a ranch in Southern California" (Cussler 150).

6. San Francisco turns up again when the man who tries to murder Bell turns out to be from San Francisco, too. They now know that the Bandit is probably based somewhere in San Francisco, and that his family and friends have no idea he is the Butcher Bandit, so they go to San Francisco to check out leads. Another tie-in to the Bay Area is that thanks to some serial numbers that were recorded, they know some stolen money from at least one of the robberies turned up at the Cromwell bank, also located in San Francisco.

7. Bell, by chance, discovers the "Rose" he met in Denver is actually Margaret Cromwell, the sister of the Butcher Bandit. Cussler shows the chance encounter, "Forgive me,' said Bell, certain now from her reaction that she was the woman he knew as Rose Manteca. 'It must be a case of mistaken identity'" (Cussler 170). This is a close tie-in, and he knows she was there to gain information about him, so he begins to seriously...

After close investigation, they come up with a bullet casings from a thirty-eight Colt automatic. Bell says, "We now know the Butcher Bandit uses a thirty-eight-caliber Colt automatic. This shell casing was found under a carpet. The killer somehow missed it & #8230;" (Cussler 148). Now, a clearer picture of the Bandit is starting to emerge, and they are becoming ever more certain they will learn his identity.
9. Because of the way he methodically plans his robberies and executes his victims, they know he is egotistical and will fall for the ruse of the bank payroll in Telluride. Bell says, "I'm certain he will take the bait and attempt to rob the bank in Telluride. The challenge is too mighty for him to ignore'" (Cussler 190). Bell is right, and this is when the story all comes together, because Bell sees him, and knows it is Cromwell. They also discover that his private boxcar has been camouflaged, and that he has a private train or charters a train, and they have a complete picture of the robber and killer.

The use of inductive reasoning leads us to Cromwell, and we have used expertise to create a reliable profile of him that led us to him. We utilize evidence to build a case and catch Cromwell, and inductive reasoning helped us figure out clues that led us to the killer.

References

Cussler, Clive.…