The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1877-09-06

single exception. Whether anything
had been taken, | of course could not
know; if there were anything missing,
why had considerable amount of money
been ~? The whole affair seemed to
me mysterious and unaccountable.
| locked the door of the room, TO
await the arrival of the magistrates, and
began an investigation with the object
of ascertaining in what manner the muir
derer had obtained entrance to the house.
1t seemed impossible that any of the SER
wants could be implicated in the murder,
all being elderly, and in Melcher's ser
vice for length of time varying from
fifteen to twenty-five years None of
them had heard any disturbance during
the night, not even a sound from the
watchdog, and the gates of the park
were all properly fastened. | made a
careful examination of the freshly gray
eled walks, but found only large oval
impression, in no way resembling foot
print, except in its frequency. Near the
entrance | found a square bit of paper,
on which the number 81, was written.
1t was yellowish from age, and seemed t o
have been used as label. More from
habit, than because / attached any i'm
portance to it, preserved the scrap. BY
this time the magistrates had arrived and
with them our chief / could see in the
expression of his face that he reproached
himself keenly for his inattention to
Bratic's request. Still it could not be
considered a fault ON his part; it is not
the business of the police to keep special
guard over each house, and that it had
been granted to Mr. Melcher, was an ex-
ception to the rule.
The investigation had scarcely been
begun when Bratic appeared, pale and
weak.
"For heavens sake" exclaimed the
chief, what possesses you to come here
in your present condition? You have
done your duty faithfully; it is foolish
for you to take the affair so to heart.
Now go home and keep quiet
Z" am not Sick answered Bratic, " it
is my wish to attend to my duty"
The director opened his mouth to re-
/ ply, but Bratic said with Impotence,
al entreat, sir, leave this to me. My
honor is concerned"
He was so determined, in spite of all
circumstances, that the unraveling of
/ the mystery was committed to his
charge. attempted to speak to him of
! the few trifies which had come to my no.
! tice, but with unusual abruptness he re-
fused all assistance, and declared that
discovery should be brought about by
! his efforts alone. 1t seemed as though
he was half beside himself at the thought
! of the terrible consequence of his giving
way to so slight an lndisposition, and it
was evident that he would give his whole
energy to the discovery of the criminal
! Melcher's heir sent Bratic a handsome
sum in acknowledgement of his long
watch, but he refused to accept it, saying
that he had in no way earned it,
| From the accounts, it appeared that a
sum of $4,000 in bonds was missing, but
strangely enough, no record could be
found of the numbers, so that to trace
them would be well nigh impossible.
Some weeks passed during which
nothing new was discovered, and at last
! the mention of the case in Bratic's pres
ence was sufficient to drive him from the
room.
/ One day Bratic, in company with an
other police agent, visited a notorious
alehouse, and met there a man who was
especially marked for observation by the
police. Cunning and cautious, he had
many times been arrested, but always
/ discharged for want of evidence, though
his guilt was a moral certainty. In
/ spite of this mans earnest asseverations,
that no one could lay anything to his
charge, Bratic took him along to make
him give an account of himself On the
way he said something suddenly to
Z NH oh II IL
other officer, but which caused Bratic to
start, and look at him earnestly, and
after Il few moments, he released him
I from custody. Of this he gave no ex-
PLANTATION, and his queer behavior in this
and other matters was the subject of con-
siderable remark among the force. Two
weeks later, he handed in his resgna-
ton, nor would he be prevailed upon to
withdraw it. The papers in the
Melcher case" were placed in my
hands, as a matter of form, though we
had given up the hope of unearthing the
murderer, unless through fortunate
accident.
1t may have been a year later that |
read with the utmost establishment an
item stating that the murderer of
Melcher was discovered. Since nothing
of the kind had become known to us,
who were most concerned, | called on
the editor for information. He referred
me to local reporter, who explained by
saying that he had been present at the
arrest of Z man who cried out that he
knew the man who murdered Melcher.
and he would let the world know it, too.
The reporter acknowledged that he took
those words for mere rawlings, but wrote
it out to fill his notes. | dismissed him
with reproof, and sought out the man
who had made use of those words. He
was the same whom have before spoken
Of as being under police supervision, and
had been arrested on suspicion in some
more recent trouble. He stated that on
the night in which Melcher was muir
dered he had climbed over the wall to
sleep under the trees. He had seen
man pass through the gate and approach
the house with great caution. 1t was
too dark to distinguish the features, but
he had seen the man enter the house and
leave it again in the same stealthy man.
ner after about half an hour He had
then climbed over the wall with the in |
tention of following him, but he had |
already disappeared. He had told Bratic |
what he had seen, but as he could not
identify the person, it had amounted to
nothing, except cause of suspicion !
against himself; whereas if he had been |
the guilty one, he would certainly have
said nothing about it. | could not but
admit that that was probably true.
Soon after in digging a cellar the men
came upon an iron chest, which resisted
all efforts to open it. l remembered !
Bratic's collection of keys, and called |
upon him in hope of finding one that
would serve. He readily placed his
whole collection at my disposal. / took
some two dozen of those that seemed to
fit, and was rewarded by finding the
chest empty. | amused myself idly by
looking over the keys, and found that
they numbered from Is to 80, only-the |
label, number q, was missing. In great
excitement | examined the papers in
Melcher's case, and found that the scrap
| had found in the park on that terrible /
mprpiur correSnop6ad rrac;Sal,- rr;,l, /