Litchfield enquirer., 1876-01-27
aH 18fsI -shW 2 I95E sVss.5tf Ine THEsLAWYER. DETEcTlNE.
iA fefaA S7a4f - " E5fs Ef A- oi-sA CLIENT SAVED.


 ness, and was sitting m my office trying to keep comfortable, the clock already pointing to 10:30, when the door opened and the keeperOf the county jail entered:
 s'We have a gnest at our house who is quite anxious to see you, and requested me to bring you up to hlm if you had not retired" a-.~ TT @"l-e- @Hf It was not far to the jail. and we soon arrived there. After unlocking the usual number of iron doors, the jailer admitted me to the prisoners cell, and remarked that when was ready to go he would come and let me out. The huge iron door closed with clang, the bolt was sprung, andlI was alone with my wonld-be client. As had supposed, as soon as the iailer was out of hearing the prisoner came for ward He was young, gentlemanly- appearing fellow, apparently about twen- ty-four years of age: Extending his hand to. me he said
 II am glad to see you, Mn, you are indeed kind to come to me at this un- timely hour, but wanted to talk to some one, and feel that you will take an in- terest in my case. have been arrested for the murder of MT. Richards, the pres ident of the Farmers bank of K, and for the robbery of the bank. Will you not lend me your assistance ?"
 assured him that would do all ;n my power for him, if he deslred to retain me. He suddenly interrupted me by saying
 'I beg your pardon, SIT, do wish to retain you to defend me in my trial and trial must of course take place" saying which he handed me five double eagles
 'I have heard but few of the circum- stances of the tragedy, and I fear that there are some things that will appear to be against me, but trust that you will bring me out all right. Do all you can, sir; employ more counsel, if necessary, for am innocent"
 .''Tell me what you know of the case, and the circumstances that you think ap- pear against you"
 "Well, had quarrel with MT. Rich ards last evening, but it did not last long. I will tell you the whole story, sir. I am 8 clerk in the Farmers bank of K., of which Mir. Richards was president. Now, MT. Richards. you must understand, has a daughter several years younger than I am, a lady with whom have not only be- come intimately acquainted, but for whom I have conceived a strong attachment. Her father discovered that was deeply in love with Clara Richards, and saw, I presume, that she was not wholly indiffer- ent to me. Last Sunday dined at their house by invitation of MT. Richards, and during the evening told Clara the state of my feelings, and was overjoyed to learn that she reciprocated my love- We agreed that should ask her fathers con- sent to our marriage as soon as l should be able to support wife. ....
 q called on Mir. Richards, and boldly asked his consent to our engagement. He was very angry, said was an impudent fellow. declared I should never again speak to Clara, and, in short, he insulted me, accusing me of taking advantage of his kindness to ingratiate myself into the heart of his only child. At last, too got angry, and can hardly remember now what 1 said-onlyI I know did not threat. en him. At the close of our conversation he left the room, and I went directly to my room and to bed. In the morning I went. as usual, to the bank, and, as soon as MT. Richards came down he took me into his private office, and said to me that most men would discharge a clerk from their employ under similar circumstances, but he would keep me on condition that would forget my presumptuous fancy. :" Why said he, Clara has more for pin money than your salary And then, after informing me that I would no longer be received at his house, he told me to return to my desk. Nothing unusual oc- cured during the day until just before we closed. when we received an unusually large cash deposit AS l was on the point of leaving the bank Mir. Richards called me and said
 {" Here is a package containing $9, 900, I wish you to take to Mr. Martin, cashier of the City bank of C.. :; you can explain to him about our vaults not being any too seenre, and apologize for coming at such an unreasonable hour, and ask him as a personal favor to me to receive the funds on deposit Take receipt and return ia the morning; you can take the six o'clock train this evening",
 ''I took the package containing the nine thousand dollars, and after receiving some money for my expenses, l started. ar- rived at my destination about half past six o'clock, and went directly to MT. Mar tins house, but found that he had gone mp town, and later was going to the theater. Whereupon sought the prin- cipal hotel. thinking might see him there, but was disappointed here and there. walked around where thought 1 would be most likely to meet him, until about half-past nine, and then returned to the hotel, took supper, and engaged a room, to which went. sat down and read tbe evening paper until half-past ten. when started for Mir. Martins house. As came down stairs and opened the door, burly fellow touched me on the shoulder, and whispered : -,.
 '' I arrest you for the robbery of the hor rf .1~.. aR MT. Richards
 and escorted me here and now 1 have told you all I know of my case, and it is the truth. My name is Howard Burton :; have no parents. ..-
 This is the substance of what Howard Burton related to me in his cell in the iail at c. had not interrupted him during his recital, but had listened attentively to every word. l was much interested in the young man. who was about my own age, and who felt was innocent of the horrible crime with which he was charged. remained with him until long after mid night, and then, charging him to converse with no one on the subject of the murder, left him. knew nothing of the circum- stances or the murder as yet, but I thought l would go to K. and learn what I could
 On my arrival at K went directly to the bank, and found two or three detec- tives there and some officers of the bank. Nothing had been moved except the body of the murdered man. He was found ly- ing of the floor, with his skull crushed and his throat cut from ear to ear. Some of the drawers had been rifed, ? but aside from this there was nothing to indicate robbery. There was missing from the safe $9, GOO, but the locks afforded no ev- idence of having seen tampered with. I found that belief in Burton d guilt was quite general. yi1-;1u ..a1 -n-.e .,s..,. sEa
 I stood at the window in the presidents office, staring vacantly out, hard at work, thinking, when my eye noticed on the sash of the window of the lawyers office just across the 1passage-way little scrap of paper with the word "'paint' written on it. A suggestive thought flashed my mind as. walked out of the bank and stepped into the law office door.
 l wa, slightly acquainted with it's occu- pant, who welcomed me and invited me to seat. We talked of the frichtful ooour.