The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1873-06-10


deed. The reason he did not enter the
house and do the deed while the servants
were rendered insensible, was probably
owing to the fact that Mr.. Simonds invari-
ably barred the library door when he re-
tired at night. The fact must have been
known to the assassin, hence the mode
adopted to accomplish his object.
obtained no further clue; in fact,
thought had sufficient for my purpose.
/ came to the following conclusions, and
contemplated acting upon them;
Some intelligent person, who desired re-
venge ON Mr.. Simonds, had hired another
person and his wife to do the deed he prob
ably shrank from. had every reason to
the affair, and it was my object, first, to
find out where he resided in London, and
then to take measures to ferret out this
left-handed murderer
The reason ] wished to see Morris
Opdyke was to discover whether he was
minus finger on the other hand / fore
bore questioning the servants on this sub
ject Probably they might have informed
me correctly, but then servants will talk,
and my secret would have been thrown to
the winds, which might have waited my
suspicious into the ears of the culprit. To
avoid these contretemps held my tongue,
and started for London.
called upon the apothecary, and, hand
ing him the bottle, l asked him if he rec
objected to whom he had sold the chloro-
form. He at once replied in the affirma-
native, and gave the name of Opdyke.
| was quite surprised at the information,
and could not speak for a moment, so unex-
pected was it. had only hoped to get
partial description of the purchaser, and
intended to compare it with that of OPP
dyke, description of whom had obtain
ed of the legal adviser of the late Charles
Simonds.
care you acquainted with Mr.. opdyke?"
l asked
/" No, sir.''
How, then, do you know it was he who
purchased the drug?"
Because, just as he paid for it, anoth-
er gentleman entered the shop and called
him by name"
here made the apothecary describe the
personal appearance of Opdyke, and it
Tailed with that given me by Mr.. Yates,
the attorney at Ipswich
had an advertisement inserted in the
principal papers, by which means ascer-
tanned the residence of Morris Opdyke. He
lived in fine style, and was presumed to be
a gamester by vocation. He was unmar-
ried but entertained his acquaintances in
a superb manner. He had some half doz-
en- servants to minister to his wishes
managed to become acquainted with
person who had the entree of his house,
and had the satisfaction of accompanying
him one day to one of Morris Opdyke's re-
gal entertainments.
To all casual observers, entered upon
the enjoyments of the hour with great zest,
but nevertheless kept a keen eye upon
everything that transpired around me.
soon convinced myself that Opdyke
was not left-handed, nor had lost one of
his fingers. 1t was then certain that he
was not the actual perpetrator of the
deed.
examined the hands of every guest,
but could not discover my man. One, it is
true, took TO be left-handed, from the
fact that he always took up his glass with
that hand; but then, that was nothing, for
I knew right-handed folks to do the same
thing.
l, however, looked at his right hand.
The fingers were all there, or at least, ap-
peared to be, for the man wore kid gloves.
Suddenly bright idea entered my brain
and resolved to carry it out. provided
myself with pin, and watched for an OPP
portunity when he would lay his hand on
chair or table. In the meantime, had
been introduced to him, he called himself
David Jarret, and was married man.
The opportunity presented itself; he
rested his right hand on the table, when
directed his attention to distant part of
the room, and while he looked drove the
pin into his index finger, just above the
first joint
He did not move his hand. Withdrew
the pin. II came out as easily as it had
entered--it was not flesh, but cotton.
beheld the assassin of Charles Simonds Of
that was firmly convinced. I resolved
TO try another test. ! had the letter found
in the valise in my possession. l went
home, took an exact copy from II, then
sent copy in an envelope to Mr.. Opdyke