Nebraska advertiser. [volume] (Brownville, Nemaha County, N.T. [Neb.]) 1856-1882, 1867-03-07
s elect gt0rg.
DETECTION OF CRIME
By A FRENCH DETECTIVE.

DETECTION OF CRIME
pYA FRENCH DETECTIVE.
I had some renown as a successful
rogue.catcher and had some experience
too. MY field of operations, as a usua
thing, Law within the confines OF Ihe De.
partment or the Lower Alps; and though
| / served under the Sub Prefect of the
third ACCOMPLISHMENT, yet the Prefect ol
the Department called upon me when be
chose. One morning-lt was in the lat.
ter part of May-I received a note from
the Prefect, ordering me to come. lc
Dinge and see him, with all possible dis.
patch. The missive came through the
office of our Sub Prefeet so that | had
nothing to do but to get ready and start
| took an early dinner, assumed the dress
of a peasant, Drowned my face and hands
and set forth. l reached Dlnge Just al
nightfall, and soon as it was dark | wal
ted on the Prefect. He seemed to be re-
lieved when he saw me, and took me to
his private closet.
Now" said l, "have you got work for
me ?''
yes" he replied "sit down and listen.
We sat down, and he proceeded :
"Wilhin few months past there have
been some of the most mysterious mur.
ders committed in this Department, and
the Department of Var, that ever come
under my notice. They are done mostly
on the road from Castellane 10 Aups.
The first victim was a Marseilles mer
chant, who had come up to Caslellane to
purchase preserved fruits. His bod y was
found by the roadside, near the line be-
tween the two Departments, and at first
it was supposed that be must have fallen
and died in fit, as no marks or violence
could be found npon him. HIS pockets
had been rlfed however. The next one
was found near Annot, and under the
same circumstances. He was a merchant
also, and from Nice. Since then, five or
six more have died upon the same road,
in the same mysterious way, and no mark
of i'll usage have been found upon any of
them, but they all have been robbed"
Have most cf them stopped ip Cas-
teIlane %
The Prefest tel ne hey bad
tsAhd Z SUPPOSED thos nsI hsayb pat
I'D Al th6 same inn then IremaTked.
Eyes, !" said the Frefect.
/ then supposed that some of the land
lords must be concerned. But my COM
panion informed me that they had been
narrowly watched, and that no shadow
of evidence rested against them.
"Bul," said /, us there no poison in
this matter! Some innkeeper may ad-
minister the poison, and then send an ac-
complice after the victim"
NO." returned The Prefect, with a
shake of the head. Experienced ply
sicians have examined the stomachs Of
the dead men, but no traces of poison
have been found. 1t is a mysterious aft
air. The Sub Prefect has done all he
could. but without effect. and. now we
mean TO give the whole thing into your
hands. You must go to Castelane at
once, and there you can get such further
reformation as the Sub Prefect can give
you"
After comforting awhile longer with
the Prefect. he lei me have a suit of or
binary tradesman's clothing, and thus
hablIated | went TO a hotel and put up for
the night. In the morning procured
horse and set out, reaching Castellane
before noon. During the day l preten-
ded to be doing business. | went 10 the
woolen factory and examined a lot of
stuff, and also visited several places
where preserved fruits were put up
learned that some of the people that came
there on business, put up at an inn kept
by man named Juan Fontaix SD left
NY horse there and engaged lodging
After dark | called upon the Sub Pre-.
feet. He told me he had used all the
means in his power, but had been able to
obtain no clue to the guilty party. Mos;
of the murdered victims had been from
Marseilles. and the excitement in that
city was intense Gendarmes had been
sent out upon all the roads, and secret po-
lice had also been upon the watch. The
last victim had fallen only four or five
days before, and the deed was done in
fifteen minutes after the policeman had
passed the spot.
asked the Sub Prefect if he had any
suspicious. He answered that all the
suspicious be had was fastened upon Juan
FonIalx, the innkeeper. Nearly all the
murdered men had stopped at his house,
and he must have known something of
their business.
bade the officer keep perfectly quiet,
not even to lei one of his own men know
my presence. Then | returned to the ian,
aud finally entered into a conversation
with my host upon the subject of the mys-
terious deaths. He pronounced it won
derful, and assured me that It had iniur.
cd him more than he could tell.
d" 'sParbleu ~ be muttered, "they'll be
suspecling me next, if they have moi done
so already"
/ was soon satisfied that Juan Fontaix
knew nothing of the guilty party. He
was very fearful, and sometimes blanched
and trembeled at the thought. Most peo-
pie would have seen in this signs of guilt,
but thought differently.
] spent all the next day in town, osten-
sibly engaged in business with the facto-
ries, but in reality hunting after some
clue to my mission. Night came again,
bat had found nothing new. was per-
fectly satisfied that the murderer had laid
bis plans so deeply tia. no eireOmsiantial