The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-02-02 00:00:00


[ALL RIGHTS RHSHRVED.3
A CRIME IN AN OMNIBUS.

A STORY OF PARISIAN LIFE.

BY FORTUNE DU BOISGOBEY

Why? Virus the brute too cowardly to do it
nim self f:"

"-/-\;'o,- but he calculated that the woman would
attract less attention among the other passengers.
They would have thought it odd for a girl to rest
her head on a strange man's shoulder, but a woman's
shoulder was a different matter."
"Then he gucssed she would sink like that?"
" Certainly, my dear fellow. The effect of curari
is as well known as that of arsenic. Hundreds of
experiments have been tried with it at the Coll6ge
de France. The creature that is pricked stops short,
leans to ono side or the other, and falls if no one is
by to offer support. The plan then was to support
the dead girl until an opportunity should occur for
slipping away from her without danger. It would
have been impossible to leave her at once; she would
have fallen headlong, a scene would have ensued,
and the murderess would have found herself in an
awkward predicament."
"Then you think the man kept her place for her
in the omnibus ?"

6' I not only think so, I am sure of it."
" Were you in the omnibus before him? Did you
see him get in ?"
"I was one of.the firstpassengers to arrive. The
girl was already there and I had scarcely seated
myself opposite to her, when the man got in."
'"Ah, of course; and he settled himself beside
her ?"

"Yes, although he could have satesewhere. For
an instant I almost thought he knew her, but 1 soon
6aw they did not speak to each other."
"Well the villain managed this; he watched her
come to the station, and his accomplice, who had
her orders, kept a little further off."
" You think they knew the girl would take that
omnibus"

" Probably ; but how they knew, is a point I can
only clear up when I have traced the wretches."
, "Then you do hope to trace them ?"
" Parbleu! Yes. I tell you the man only got in
so as to occupy the seat next the girl. His accom-
plice waited till the omnibus was full; then they
played their little pre concerted comedy ; the woman
was in despair at not being able to go; the man
gallantly offered her his place, and I bet you she
hEsitated to aced t it ?"
"Yes, at first for form's sake. A few compli-
ments passed before Ehe climbed in— She even
accepted his aid, and put her hand in his—a pretty
hand, I swear, and neatly gloved. I fancy she left
it lcnger.in his clasp than was necessary."

" Coed! lam sitisfied."
"You mean that proves they understood each
other? Well it is very likely."
"It is certain; especially as they left the omnibus
almost at the same moment. The man got down at
Rue-de-la-Tour-d'Auvergne, and the woman at the
Rue de Laval. But the hand shaking proves one
thing more, my friend."
What I.l'
The man also had gloves, had he not ?"
"Yes, thick gloves lined with fur. He must have
bought them in some English shop. I remember
thinking so as I remarked the circumstance."
" You might well, for those gloves are dear, and
you say the man did not look opulent."
" Not so very poor, neither."
"Never mind. He wore those gloves for fear of
getting pricked."
" -Why `r"
"Because he held the pin, stupid, and he passed it
on to the woman in pretending to press her hand.
They both knew the least scratch would be fatal."
"Then, according to your notion, the woman re-
ceived the pin and used it ?"
"Yes, and very skilfully, as no one noticed '
di
any-
e•e waited for an opportunity, and it came
near the Pont Neuf. There was a jolt. he was
thrown against her neighbour, who seized the
moment to prick her in the arm."
"True," murmured Freneuse ; "all these facts
appear to follow naturally, or else you have the
knack of stringing them together."
"It is no knack ; it is reasoning."
"Then just exp'ain how this horrible woman came
to forget her poisoned pin."
"You may depend she did not forget it. The pin
must have sipped out of her hand, and she dared
not stoop to pick it up—first for fear of pricking her-
self; and, secondly, be(ause she had to support her
victim. When it was time to get down she longed
to escape, and went off as they say without asking
for her change."
"But she must have foreseen that this tangible
proof of her guilt would be found."
" I ah! She hoped the man who swept out the
omnibus would throw it away—she did not care for
conse‘luences. What did it :matter to her if the pin
killed half a dozen other people? A fiend of that
dye does not stick at a death more or less."
"rho fact is, the woman is a monster; to kill a
poor child she did not know; to commit a murder in
cold blood without provocation —"
" What ! " cried Eines. "You fancy she killed her
for the pleasure of killing, or perhaps to make a trial
of her pretty plaything ? In fttct much in the same
way that the Marquise do Brinvilliers distributed
poisoned cakes to the poor who begged for bread,
just to try the effect of the various poisons she
employed."
" Preneuse, my friend, you are going too far.
That sort of thing is out of fashion—it was foiled
too dangerous. This creature knew very well what
she was about. She wished to put an end to that
particular girl, and to no one else."
"lint why—what can the poor thing have done ?"
"I am not prepared to answer that question. It
will take time to find out, but I will get at it. For
the present I can:only assert thit the crime was not
without a motive. There is always some reason for
getting rid of a woman vengeance, jealousy,
cupidity--"
"But this crime—why should it be committed in
an omnibus before fifteen people, instead of----"
"Instead of waylaying the victim at a street
collier, or going to kill her at home, or enticing her
into some house to strangle her? It does seem
queer at first, but admits of easy explanation. A.
murder in a house is a perilous performance. Sup-
pose this woman, or her accomplice, had gone to the
girl's lodgings, the concierge or the neighbours would
have been sure to remark it—a risk they would not
have cared to run. Suppose on the contrary that the
girl had gone to them and not reappeared. That would
have been worse. What would they have done with
the corpse—the stumbling-block with all assassins?
To manage the business in the street was simpler,
provided it was under cover of darkness. But pro-
bably the victim „seldom went out at night. Again,
she would have to be alone, and the street de,erted.
How do we know that the girl was not accompanied
to the omnibus station by some friend F It was no
doubt then that the two wretches, who bad probably
followed and certainly watched her, resolved to make
the omnibus the scene of their operations. Given
the ingenious instrument with which they had pro-
vided themselves, and nothing was easier. The diffi-
culty would be in quitting the vehicle before anyone
saw that she was dead—and you kno how success-
fully they manceuvred. But you might search Paris
over and you would scarcely know them again if you
saw them."

"I might perhaps recognise the man," answered
Freneuse ; "and yet I saw so little of him; but the
woman: I saw nothing of her but her eyes through
a veil."

".That is not enough to go by. It is true you
heard her voice ?

" Yes ; a nicely-modulated voice, rather deep-toned,
with a pure Parisian accent as far as I could make
out; but if I could scarcely recognise them, I should
like to know how you, who have never seen them,
flatter yourself you can put your hand on them ? "
"Oh, I have my system. I proceed from the
known to the unknown, like the mathematicians.
When I am certain who the girl was, I shall find
out her most intimate friends, and those she visited,
and I shall be very dull if I don't discover to whose
interest it would be to do away with her."
4, "Yo forget that the man and woman were un..
known to her, as she did not address them so she
would not have visited either of their houses."

"They were acting for others."
"That is a rash supposition, and the very founda-
tion of your plan is weak; for the name and
dwelling of the dead girl are undiscovered."
"Pardon me. She is exposed at the Morgue,
4 ) •
"That only shows that nothing is known of
her."

_
"True. I inquired of the superintendent and I
was going to relate my conversation witk that
functionary when you thought fit to interrupt me
on the pretext that I was frightening Pia. Ile told
me they onlyfound in her pocket a worn purse, con-
taining fourteen sous, and a little bunch of keys on a
steel ring. There was no mark on her linen, and no
visiting cards—which is not astonishing—nor a
scrap of writing of any sort."
" Writing ! Ah, that reminds me I picked up an
end of paper in the omnibus."
"You found a paper, and have said nothing
about it?"

"Upon my word, I did not think of it."
"What have you been thinking of, then ? "
"Of my picture, and you ought to think of yours;
that is to say, of the one you are always planning
and never beginning."
"Be quiet, do! You are always talking shop. I
possess the genius of discovery, which is altogether
wanting in you."
"Yes, altogether."
"So I shall go to work single-handed. If you help
me, it will be without knowing it. Now, what have
you done with this paper? You havb not burnt it,
I hope f "
" No • but I may have lost it."
g. " Where did you put it ? "
"In the pocket of my overcoat with the pin."
And the punter sighed as he looked at his unfortu-
nate cat.

Bin-es—still had the dangerous implement in his
hand, and as he gesticulated much in speaking,
Freneuse watched him with some uneasiness.
"Oblige me by putting down that horrid thing,:'
said he," or we shall have some other accident. llt is
bad enough that you have killed a poor innocent
beast."

"Do not be alarmed; I know what I am about,"
replied the young hare-brain; but nevertheless, he
thought it as well to comply with his friend's
. 6
request.'--" -
Ho placed it carefully on the top of the stove,
and went to where the overcoat hung. He plunged
his hand into the open pocket and brought out a
crumpled paper. ITo costintod.)