Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1882-09-14
HIDDEN BY A STATUE.

HIDDEN BY A STATUE.
In Paris, in the Rue Marais, No. u.
is an old house, two stories, built of
brick, and by no means inviting in out
ward appearance The interior is no
less unpleasant to the sight The paint
ed walls are cracked, the ceilings, once
beautiful in their frescocd ornamental
ton, are now smoked, yellow and brok-
en-, In niche at the head of the first
flight of stairs still stands u marble
statue of Minerva, but it is hcadlcss,
IN arm is missing, and the toes chip
ped off.
At the time of the Franco -PruSsian
war, when the Germans entered Paris
this house was occupied by three or
four families, little dreaming, any Of
them, that their place of abode was
once the scene of tragedy as appall-
ing as singular.
In the year 1857 this house was the
residence of file Ccrisc Gaultier and
her lover Jean PcnOt Mile Ccrise
was young, vivacious, capricious, yet
luxurious in her taste and cXtravagant
in the use of money. The house was
furnished with the magniliccncc OF Il
palace, and its appointments from the
kitchen to attic, we've costly and rich.
Jean Penot paid for all this display;
his bank account was the mine whose
products of coin nwas always at the dis
poSal of his mistress, whom he adOrCd
with the blind infatuation of Il mad
.ove. They had lived together thus for
two years, Il long time for the continu-
ance of Il haiSOn of this sort in Paris.
Jean Penot met her one day in the
JaritR dcS Plants. She fancicd him; she
discovered that he was rich, living up
on an ample income, Il man of the
world and not yet Jlasc to the allure
mcnts of its follics. He was man of
strong passions, determined, and as
implacablc in his hate as he was gen
crous in his love.
On the 18th of August NJ. Penot an
nOunced to Cerisc his intention of visit
ing an old friend at Versailles, that he
might probably not return before the
following Saturday, three days after.
They parted with Il loving embrace, and
the lingering kisses of passion, the last
they were ever to enjoy together.
Next day, according to the record of
the case made by Prefect D'Allicrs, at
noon NJ. Penot, much sooner than he
anticipated, returned. To his surprise
the house was closed as if deserted.
He tried his key, the door yielded. He
entered. No servants, of whom there
were two, were visible. He threw
open the shutters of the various win
dows below stairs, but the bright sun
light only cleaned in upon deserted
rooms.
He called for the servants. Only the
echoes of his own voice answered him.
He asccnded the stairs, passed the
statue of Minerva, and crossed the
threshold of Mile Cerise's boudoir
Only the lace curtains were down, so
the light was ample. As his eyes
swept the room they caught sight Of
ghastly spectacle upon the thick, dark,
narrow carpet. There lay, stone dead,
as cold and lifcess as the statue of Mi
nerva in the stairway niche, the form
of Mile Cerise. She was stripped of
every particle of clothing save a single
undcr-garment, and the shapcly Limos,
white, beautiful and rigid, looked as
if they were fresh from the chiscl of
CanOva. Her throat had been cut so
deeply that the head was almost sever
ed from the body. The blood had
poured out in torrent and dried, and
partly crusted in flakes and pools over
her heart and portion of her arms, as
if il were crimson mantle serving as u |
shroud.
Penot, Mortified, stood trembling pale
and voicelcss for an instant. Then,
partially recovering himself, he ran
from the scene of death into the street,
found sergeant de vile, and gave the
alarm. 1t was to him, and afterward to
the Commissaire that he gave the state
ment of which what has been related is
the substance.
The police entered the house. Ten
derly and carefully the body of the
murdered girl was conveyed to the
Morguc. Where were the two servants?
Their names were Francois Arpiel and
Lena Duchet. They were gone. In
the kitchen the fires were out, the range
cold, showing that no fire had been
there since the previous night. The
clothing of the servants was found in
their rooms, but their beds had evident
ly not been made up earlier than the
previous night, or else had been made
up earlier than usual in the morning.
Mile Ccrise was not known to have
had any callers of either sex holding
any relations to her more intimate
than that of the ordinary acquaintance
ship of women of her social position.
If she had any other lover than M.
Penot, the intimacy must have been in
dulged in in the most profound secrecy
She and M. Penot had never quarreled.
The house was searched minutely. No
trace of the murderer was found. The
police were baflled and confessed their
inability to solve the mystery.
M. Penot was closely held in surveil-
ance for some time, then even this Off
cial precaution, barren of results, was
abandoned, and finally when October
came, the case of the frightful assassi-
nation of Mile Cerise Gaultier was al
most forgotten. Strange to say NJ.
Penot still, despite its awful memories,
remained in occupancy of the house;
still passed and repassed the statue of
Minerva, still occasionally slept in the
bed-chamber, the door of which opened
into the boudoir of his dead mistress,
where the dark carpet with its still
darker stains of her life-blood dried in
and stiffened, lay there glued it tc the
floor.
Adjoining the bed-chamber on the ,
other side was the sitting-room of M.
Penot. In this the CRATE, long disused,
had been replaced with fancifully-
shaped stove in front Of It. The pipe I