The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1876-06-07

over the leaves, the following pencil
marks were found in the white space
at the head of the article:
% L. T., Gt.sQ. st., L. IF.
After long and patient bordering
over these characters, Lambert the
great London detective, interpreted
them thus:
q Little Turnstile, Great Queen
street, Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Ina few minutes by the aid of the
telegraph, that place in London was
under police surveillance. 1t was
an ordinary looking building in
habited by two families, one of them
a widow and her three children, and
the other tailor and his wife and five
grown up children three sons and two
daughters.
In the meantime the local authori-
ties OF Doncaster had captured four
men whom they found lurking near
the residence of Sir William Brooke,
about a mile from the residence of Mr..
Duncomb. They were identified as
notorious London cracksmen, and the
belief of the authorities was that they
were the murderers of Mr.. Duncomb.
ThelrrendezvOus was discovered and on
searching the place several articles of
jewelry belonging to Mrs. Duncomb,
were discovered. This seemed to
place the guilt of the four men beyond
doubt, and they were committed for
trial on capital charge.
In the meantime a detective and
his wife had taken lodgings Immediate
ly opposite the house No. % Little
Turnstile, Great Queen street, Lincoln's
Inn Fields, and had carefully watched
the actions of the inmates. Detective
Lambert, who had charge of the mat
ter, was not satisfied that the four men
captured in Doncaster were the par
ties engaged in the crime at Mr.. Dun
combs residence, for reasons already
known to the reader, and he was i'm
pressed with the feeling that the clew
to the murder was to be found at ssNO.
23."
Careful inquiries showed that the
tailor and his family had resided there
for years, and that, though poor, they
were of good character. AS to the
widow, she had lived there over a
year, and her neighbors spoke of her
as a woman Of very industrial habits.
She was accustomed, almost daily, to
leave her children in the care of the
tailor's wife and 60 out to wash. She
paid her rent regularly, and her gro
Ger and baker gave her a good name.
After several days had elapsed the
detective suggested that his wife
should call on the widow after she re-
turned in the evening, on pretense of
employing her to do some light wash
ing, but in reality to look around and
note anything that was unusual in her
abode. The officers wife acted on
this suggestion, and on her return
brought with her what proved a very
Important piece of information. It
was this:
The widow, when the officers wife
entered, was cooking ham for supper,
and the ham lay on the table, resting
on the part of a newspaper, which
bore the words, t'Doncaster i Gazette. -
To describe the delight of the detec-
tive when he received this news
would be impossible. When the wild
ow departed for her days work next
morning she was tracked by the Off
Ger. He followed her to Holborn,
thence down Chancery lane, and
thence to Newcastle street, in the
Strand. There she entered a low
pawnbroker' shop, and remained until
late in the afternoon. :
That same evening the officer knock
ed at the door Of the widows apart
ments, and asked for Mrs. Prosser.
''That's me, SIR said the woman.
''Y0uiWere recommended to me-
the officer said, casa person whom
could trust to take charge of my house
during my ABSENCE
II hope I'm an honest woman, SIR
the, widow said, with a curtsey.
81 shall be absent three or four
months, as l m going to settle up the
the affairs of an uncle, Mr.. Duncomb,
who was recently murdered in Dom
CASTER - j
The officer was looking directly at
Mrs. PrOsser, and, as he uttered these
words, she gave gasp and caught at
the table. Her face was deadly white,
and her limbs quaked.
s'What's the matter 7" the officer
asked. -
/. I'm sick, the widow said, drop
ing into a chair.
SO ..'Mrs. Duncomb may come to stay at
my house during my ABSENCE the Of
ticer said calmly, with his eyes on Mrs.
PrOsser, land you would have to see
that she had everything she DESIRED"
..5ts':No, no, no for Gods sake, no!''
the woman cried, putting her hands to
her face and beginning to sob wildly.
;'.There is a mystery here,' the Off.
Ger said: ''do you know Mrs. Dun
comb!''
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