The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-05-17

mistaken q commonplace intrigue for
murderous conspiracy. Certainly 1t wa
Encouraging. In his disappointment b
actually coIfided to the woman the oRjec
he had had In view; begged her par
don for his inQuisitive watch upon her
and assured her that her secret was SAT
with him. II will hardly DO credited, Blu
they actually parted on apparently friend
" terms. Mrs. Stein was too astute 4
quarrel with u man who could do her al
injury, and his cynical admiration Tor he
cool intrepidiIy made him careless Of heI
utter Indifference TO morality.
There remained one more person
against whom his suspicious were now
directed. Mr.. James Anderson hst
sworn that he was In his own room OF the
time Of his brothers death, and no one
had yet expressed the least suspicion thai
he was in any way connected with it
Mr.. Pryor, however, noted his exceeding
" devoted attentions to his brothers wife
and accepted as o possibility the theory
that he had killed the husband in order to
marry the wife. The fact that the will OIL
the deceased left the entire fortune 10 bis
wife, strengthened this theory. Then
too, the brother occupied room aojoin-
ing that in which the trsgedyOccurred.
Was there door between these rooms
This was a matter 10 be settled first OF all,
Mrs. Anderson never left the room
without locking the door, aud US her
meals were sent up to her, and she rarely
LEFT the house, Mr.. Pryor wasted some
time before he had an opportunity TO
make his desired investigation. At last,
however, Mrs. Anderson and her brother.
in.lSw went out together to church one
Sunday evening, aud Dir. Pryor, provid-
cd with a skeleton key, promptly entered
the room, and gave It thorough exGmi-
nation.
There was a door leading to the broth
er's room, but in front Of It stood huge
clothes. press. This must have been In
the same position at the time OF the muir
der, for there was ne other place In the
room for 1t. The clotbes.press annoyed
him, for 1t seemed out Of the question that
the door against which It stood could have
been used by stealthy assassin. How
ever, he undertook to move II, and ~ his
surprise found that It glIded easily and
on Its Well.oiled rollers The
door behind 1t was locked, but yielded TO
the skeleton key, and moved as nolselessly
as the most careful criminal could desire.
aere was the path which murderer
could have safely used, provided his vic
tim lay, as the murdered man doubtless
had lain, In q quiet sleep. A single dark
spot on the sill of the door caught his
attention. lie stopped down aud ex.
aimed 1t. Some one had evidently tried
10 scrape the place with knife, but the
stain was In too deep to he removed.
Was II bloody Could the murderer, re-
treating to his own room, have dropped
this trace OF his crime, and been unable 10
obliterate 1t? .s
Mr.. Pryor felt conviction that he was
right at last. lie cared TO make no fur
Their search. Replacing the clothes press,
he lett the room, aud went TO his own
room to ponder the discovery which he
had made. Was this cold, respectable,
and pious brother fratricidey II not,
who oiled the hinges and rollers SO that
noiselcss accesses could be had from his
room to that of the murdered man? lie
lid not intend to be led away o second
time by single suspicious circumstance,
but this time he could hardly doubt that
he had discovered the murderer.
Unfortunately he could not see his way
to his next step in the matter. With
neither the brother nor the still disconsO-
late widow could he hope 10 establish
anything like an intimate acquaintance.
He could not listen at their keyAoles with.
out the certainty Of detection, fact which
he greatly regretted; for, like most men
with a hobby, he acted upon the theory
that all means were justifable that con-
tributed 10 the success OF his plans. He
debated as 10 his proper course for day
or two, and then decided that he would
conhde his suspicious at once TO the pO-
lice, and content himself with the homer
Of having put the officers on the rignI
track. TO-.
1.-THE. superintendent heard him stten.
lively, and then summoning his best de-
tective asked Mr.. Pryor to repeat his In
formation. The detective. who, unlike
most Of his profession, was really a man
capable Of drawing intelligent differences,
was Inclined 10 take Mr.. Pryor's view Of
the matter, and recommended the arrest
OF James Anderson. The superinten-
dent concurred with him, and the proper
steps to procure a warrant were taken.
Mr.. Pryor went homo much elated with
the knowledge that the suspected muir:
derer would be arrested In the course of
the ensuing evening. The man was so
under the dominion OF his one
passion, the solution Of intricate criminal
puzzles, that he was needless Of the pain
and shame that were TO- be inflicted
through his agency.
Mr.. James Anderson was duly arrest
ed, and exhibited q GOODNESS which aston.
ished Mr.. Pryor. requested that the
matter be kept secret from his sister.in.
law II possible until the next day, and
then went quietly to the police station.
Here he asked to see the superintendent,
as he had q communication oil the utmost
Importance to make 10 him. From an
ordinary prisoner such request would
have been treated with no attention; but
the manner Of Mr.. James Anderson so
the captain in charge Of the
station that he consented 10 send word to
bis superior. The latter soon made his
appearance, and was closeted for few
moments with the prisoner. Next, to the
Of everybody, the two
drove together 10 the house Of the mAgis-
trate who granted the warrant Of arrest
Another conference followed, and at its
end, TO the unqualified anger and disap-
poIntment of Mr.. Pryor, the prisoner was
released and sent home In the superin-
tendents own carriage.
How had he secured his release? By
simply showing to the superintendent,
who was an old acquaintance Of the dead
man, and was perfectly familiar with his
handwriting, a letter which Mr.. Ander.
lon had written o few moments before his
leRth and the existence Of which his