Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-06-21
The Secret Closet.
A DETECTIVES STORY.

/ Wiiiful murder of Henry Thompson
kThe case was one of most extraOrdi
mary nature, and the interest excited b,
1t was almost unparalleled. The accus
Ted was gentleman Of considerable
property, residing upon his own estate
i A person, supposed to be an entirestr
ger to him, had late in q summers day
requested and obtained shelter and hos
| pitality for the night. He had, 1t wa
tsupposed, after taking some light re
Efreshment, retired to bed in perfec
health, requesting to be awakened a
an early hour the following morning
When the servant appointed to call hin
entered the room for that purpose, b.
| was found perfectly dead and from tn
appearance of the body it was obviou
fthat he had been SO for many hours
There was not the slightest mark o
violence upon his person and the coun.
ftenance retained the same expression
had during life.
| Days and weeks passed on, and littl'
further was discovered. In the mean
time rumor had not been idle. Suspi
cions were vague indeed and underlined
and were at first whispered and after
terward boldly expressed. The precis,
object of these suspicious was not clear
ly indicated; some implicated one per
son and some another; but they al
pointed to Smith, the master of the
house, as concerned in the death of the
stranger and, in fine, the magistrates
were induced to commit Mr.. Smith tc
Jail to await his trial for the willful mur.
der of Henry Thompson. As it was
deemed essential to the attainment oil
justice to keep secret the examination
of the witnesses before the magistrates,
all the information of which the public
were in possession before the trial took
place was that which I have narrated.
Such was the state of things upon the
morning of the trial.
The counsel for the prosecution OPEN
ed his case to the jury in manner that
indicated very little expectation of a
conviction. He began by imploring
them to divest their minds of all that
they had heard before coming into the
box. He entreated them to attend to
the evidence, and judge from that alone.
It would be proved beyond the posi-
bility of q doubt that the deceased died
from poisOn-poison of most subtle
nature, most active operation. and pos.
sessing the wonderful and dreadful quail
ity of leaving no external mark by
which its presence could be detected
The Ingredients of which it was COM
instead of the body on which it had been
used exhibiting any contortions or
marks of suffering, it left upon the fea-
lures nothing but the calm and placid
appearance OF repose.
The prisoners family consisted only
of himself, q housekeeper and one man
servant. The man servant slept in an
clubhouse adjoining the stable, and did
so on the night of Thompson's death
The prisoner slept at one end of the
house and the housekeeper at the other.
and the deceased had been put into .
room adjoining the housekeeps. S.
1t would be proved by q person who
happened to be passing by the house On
the night in question, about three hours
after midnight, that he had been in
duced to remain and watch from having
his attention excited by the circum-
stance, then very unusual, of q
light moving about the house at
that late hour. The person would
state positively that he could dis
tinctly see figure, holding a light, go
from the room in which the prisoner
slept to the housekeeper's room that
two persons then came out of the house,
keepers room, and the light disappear
ed for q minute. Whether the two per.
sons went into Thompson's room he
could not see, as the window of that
room looked another way but in about
q minute they returned, passing quietly
along the house to Smiths room again.
and in about five minutes the light was
extinguished, and he saw it no more.
Such was the evidence upon which
the magistrate committed Smith and
singularly enough, since his committal
the housekeeper had disappeared, nor
could any trace of her be discovered.
Within the last week the witness who
saw the light had been more particular.
Iy examined, and in order to refresh his
memory had been placed at dark in the
very spot where he had stood that night,
and another person was placed with
him. The whole scene, as he had des-
cribed it, was acted over again, but it
was impossible, from the cause above
mentioned, to assert, when the light dis
appeared. whether the parties had gone
into Thompson's room. AS if, hoWev-
er, to throw still deeper mystery over
this extraordinary transaction, the wit
ness persisted in adding new feature
to his former statement-that after the
persons returned with the light into
Smiths room, and before it was extin-
gHished, he had twice perceived some
dark object to intervence between the
light and the window, almost as large
as the surface of the window itself, and
which he described by saying it appear
ed as if a door had been placed before
the light
Now, in Smiths room there was moth
ing which could account for this ap-
pearance. His bed was in q different
part, and there was neither cupboard
nor press in the room, which, but for
the bed, was entirely empty, the room
in which he dressed being at distance
beyond.
He would state only one fact more,
{said the learned counsel,) and having
done his duty, it would be for the jury
to perform theirs.
Within few days there had been
found in the prisoners house the stop
per of email bottle, of very singular
appearance; it was apparently of foreign
manufacture, and was described by the
medical men as being used by chemists
to preserve those liquids which are most
likely to lose their virtues by exposure
to the air. To whom it belonged, or to
WuoG uS0 II Aou OoCA oPY44cUs tu0E0 WAS
no evidence to show.
Such was the address Of the counsel
for the prosecution and during it's de-
livery had earnestly watched the coun.
tenance of the prisoner, who had listen.
ed, too, with deep attention. Twice on
ly did I.perceive that it produced In him
the slightest emotion. When the dis
appearance of the housekeeper was
mentioned smile, as of scorn, passed
over his lips, and the notice of the dis
covery of the stopper obviously excited
an interest, and, I thought, an appre-
hension, but it quickly subsided. I
need not detail the evidence that was
given for the prosecution it amounted
In substance to that which the counsel
sta.e nor was 1t varied in any partic-
ular. The stopper was produced and
proved to have been found in the house;
but no attempt was made to trace it to
the prisoners possession or even knowl-
edge.
When the case was closed the learned
Judge, addressing the counsel for the
prosecution, said he thought there was
hardly sufficient evidence to call upon
the prisoner for his defense, and If the
jury were of that opinion they would at
once stop the case. Upon this observa-