Mexico weekly ledger., 1878-04-11
TIE DETECTIVES @ R

T5Fe he5 aa q person }illed r.
dIsdal c.une lad bese.
t.i1ro ssa-eud ]
q dsn a'g7 wax (
aase
II ws gyol ss,on then
-amting dowu thieves and assas-
sins, AID 1 hid been SO long at the
business that & telegram announcing
any such case was taken rs c0oIly as
1.-THE dispatch had related to some
ordinary affair.
Before noon / was at Colville. 1t
was a little hamlet about twenty miles
from New York, and three miles away
from the railroad. / had answered
the telegram before leaving New
York, and people were therefore ex-
pecting me. As l stepped on the
platform a farmer came up and in
qulred my name, and ] was requested
to take a seat in his one-horse pheton
for a drive tofthe village. He was
greatly excited, and We had scarcely
started when lie commenced talking.
i o learned that a lady was the
victim-a rich oil! spinster, named
Miss Williams. She was a woman
about ffty-fve years old, living in
the best house in the village, and
was possessed of some fortune. She
had never been married, but years
before had adopted a boy, who was
now a young man of twenty. These
two, with a couple Of servants, made
up the family
i learned that the family always re-
tired at nine O'Clock. If Tom, the
adopted, was out, as was frequently
the case, the front door was left I'M
locked fol- him to come in. He was
not considered a bad young man, bnt
he drank a little, smoked a good deal,
wore good clothes, and might be
classed under the head of fast"
AS for servants, l had seen them, ana
that was enough. Without asking
them a word | would have taken my
oath that they were innocent.
In working up n case / always had
a theory, and l worked to prove that
my theory was right. In this ease it
was that Tom was guilty, and l start
ed to prove it. Going down stairs /
entered the bedroom. The dead
body was still there. The blows had
been dealt with terrible force, aud
any one of the four or five wounds
would have been fatal The deceas-
ed was in her night-dress lying on
the bed, and l was not long i'll ascer-
tanning that she had been placed there
after death, or after insensibilitv.
There were stf rs on the bel, on
the wall, and on tie carpet tat the fur
ther end of the room, Getting down
on my hands and huees, l found that
a corner OF the carret had been loos-
! cod turning il back 1 discover
!. ,,vo = : E;e bank notes on the
.Hg#0@-
Ioor. This, then, had q cfii' hiolls
lace for her money, OF which, she
supposed to have . re sum-. a
i decided that the assa in crept re
D., iore up the carpet asd was dis q,
oveied as he was seiz.ng the money. m
he old lady had get out of bed and ~
p~proached him, and was struck a.
own as they stood together in the IL
This was very strong evil
ence against Tom. Had she awoke
discover a stranger in the room =,
le would not have left her bed-or
e chances were against it-and she
rtainly would have been struck
'wn near it, instead of after reach.
g the corner. She had been killed .-
the corner-and then her BODY :,
iced on the bed was sure of If.
Ii L had wanted any further evil
nee against Tom, / found it about "ii
corpse. From the finger nail of TUG
index of the right hand waved ""'
or four blue threads-tiny lit VI
things, which a hundred pair OF VI"
8 would have passed over. There u
a slit in the nail, and it haG L
ght a coat sleeve and torn the lii Tor
out. They told ne tina, hot
n had a blue blouse coat, and then Lon
new she had torn the threads out couI
he clutched him in her dying ing
ggles. mat
Well, what do you think?' in 1t
ed the constable. as 1 finished nv o'clc
nination. for q
want to see Tom" I answered. L SUI
Why, surely you don't suspect the v
" arouI
certainly not. I want TO hear door
tatement," l replied. tur
OF them went and brought came
4 saw from the first glimpse night
ne had made up his mind to ing il
zen it out" He was a GOOD show,
ng young fellow, face pale and moon
JUS, and ! saw by his set teeth was c
was bracing himself UP to repres
me. rear O
gu will please give me a plain the Xxi
nent of the affair, SO far as Won glass
l said, as he took solved
Parsol
all sat looking at him, and he The
make an effort to start off. He die in
mat he cane in at half-past his he.
went to bed, and about dav. abont