River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-10-11


entrance ! found a square bit of paper,
on which the number 81, was written.
1t was yellowish from age, and seemed to
have been used as a label. More from
habit, than because l attached any i'm
portance to it, preserved the scrap. b.
this time the magistrates had arrived and
with them our chief. / could see in the
expression of his face that he reproved
himself keenly for his inattention to
Bratic's request Still it could not be
considered 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 conditionl You have
done your duty faithfully; it is foolish
for you to take the affair so to heart.
Now go home and keep quiet"
u 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, ~
entreat, sir, leave this to me. My honor
is concerned"
He was so determined, in spite of all
remonstrances, that the unraveling of the
mystery was committed to his charge. |
attempted to speak to him of the few
trifes which had come to my notice, but
with unusual abruptness he refused 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 ter
rible consequence of his giving way to so
slight an indisposition, and it was evil
dent that he would give his whole energy
to the discovery of the criminal.
Melcher's heir sent Brai!c handsome
sum in acknowledgment of his long
watch, but he refused to accept it saying
that he had in no way earned 1t.
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 we'll nigh impossi-
BILE.
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 another
police agent, visited 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
moral certainty. In spite of this mans
earnest asseveration, 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 Bratic, which was not over
heard by the other officer, but which
caused Bratic to start, and look at him
earnestly, and after a few moments, he
released him from custody. Of this he
gave no explanation, and his queer be-
havior in this and other matters was the
subject of considerable remark among the
force. Two weeks later, he handed in
his resignation, nor would he be pre-
vailed upon to withdraw it. The papers
in the Melcher case" were placed in my
hands, as a matter of fern, though we
had given up the nope 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 Mel
cher was discovered. Since nothing of
the kind had become known to us, who
were most concerned, l called on the edi-
to- for information. He referred me to
local reporter, who explained by saying
that he had been present at the arrest of
a 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
a 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 murder
ed he had climbed over the wall to sleep
under the trees. He had seen a 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 al
ready 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 it was probably true.
Soon after in digging cellar the men
came upon an iron chest, which resisted
all efforts to open it. | 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 l amused myself idly by looking
over the keys and found that they num-
bered from 10 to 40, only-the label,
number 81, was missing. In great ex-
citement | examined the papers in
Melcher's case, and found that the scrap
| had found in the park on that terrible
morning correspondent precisely with
the others. walked up and down, laid
down and arose again, bewildered and
surprised beyond measure. At this mo-
ment l received message desiring my
presence at the office of the director. He
met me at the door, scarcely more calm
than myself
"Seei See there. - he exclaimed, "See
what they have sent us from the Treas
uryr
lie pointed to some packages OF bonds
and took one in my hand.
Turn it round-look on the back y
There were three parcels, and on the
back of each was written in faded ink
"a Melcher," date following.