Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1883-10-05
IIRDD 10 ELS, DOOM
BY AN EHtlLIsH DETEfTISrF. Il

va
D 10 HIS DOOM. .
by AN ENGLISH DETECTIVE. s # So
. It was 3 very singular, N 3sterious and
4 complicated case.
Ina bare room Of an old house in the
vicinity Of London Bridge Railway Sta
ton man wasfound dead, hanging by
q small cord to a hook driven into the
wall, his feet resting On the floor.
s He was discovered some days after his
death, and by reason Of the strong smell
from his deeomp posing body. .*
He was a stranger, whom no one
knew, and why he should have come to
that place to commit suicide was mys-
terry. s* @'E
He was Well-dressed, had gold watch
in his pocket, to which was attached q
heavy gold Chain; he had diamond
stud in his shirt-front, and cluster ring
ofdiamonds on one finger; he had also
q pocket. book on his person containing
: oyer two hundred pounds in bank notes
TWAS therefore evident that he had
not committed suicide ON account Of pov-
erty, nor murdered for his money.
Was it suicide. or was it murder? e..
There was 20 scrap of paper on hi,
person to tell who the stranger was, nor
his motive for the mnrderous deed, if
he did it. 49,. H4.& y = a:.rt .*-
The room, which was an upper story
Of an old building, the lower portion Of
which was occupied by comm ission
y1f tiolo r>F
1t had been rented about ten days
previous to a rather notwithstanding
1nan, who walked little lame and wore
goggles, who said he wanted it for an
office for the sale of q patent that would
soon become very popular with sea-go-
ing people. - ~, ,4... ) y, -.
When questioned about the patent,
ne said he would not then explain it,
out would have some things on hand for
exhibition in the course of ten days or
two weeks
The dead man was not the man who
had taken the room, however, and how
and when he had got access to the
apartment no one knew.
There WIS an old fashioned fireplace
in the room and some paper ashes in
this Attracted the attention of a detect
i've, who happened to be no other than
my humble self.
In turning over these ashes I discov-
entirely consumed, and they had these
words written on them, though now
barely distinguishable:
found her and locked
private room
- meet you : station G.
Now, after reading these disjointed
sentences, | began to study and ponder
them.
Might not this be port on of the
message sent to the dead man, to lure
him to the city for the purpose of put
ting him out Of the way?
But for what motive?
All: that indeed could not know
that was something to .e found out after
u serious investigation, in case one
should be made.
/ examined the charred papers as
we'll as I could, and reached the conclu-
sion that what had read was a part of
81 telegram which had been sent by
some body from London and received by
somebody at a distance, and that either
the sender or receiver intended to de-
stroy it.
Now, If the deceased had received it,
it must have been sent to him by some
body, and that somebody intended to
meet him, and probably did meet, him,
at the railway station.
Well, then, where was that somebody
and why had ne allowed his correspon-
dent to visit that ont-of. the-way room
alone and commit suicide, without ever
going near him afterward?
And why should the man come 70
such a place to kill himself?
And could he have found the room
without a guide, and got access to it un-
known to any one, If ne were not the
1nan who had rented it in the first place?
But then it was certain that he was
not that man unless he was disguised
when he hired it; and why had he gone
to all that trouble merely to hang him
self, when he could have done it quite
as efectually in ten thousand better
places?
No look on treason as I might-I
could not bring myself to believe that
the stranger hanging in that bare room
had put the rope around his own neck.
told the coroner Of my belief; but
whether he coinclded with me or not, it
is certain his jury did not, for they
brought in verdict of suicide.
The body was placed in the mortuary
for recognition and I requested that it
should be kent there as long as possible,
for had desire to see what could do
in working TIP the case.
started out with the bits of paper I
had secured, to see if could find at any
telegraph office any message recently
sent off, embodying the words I had
transcribed in their consecutive order.
I was soon fortunate in getting pos
session of what believed to be the or
lginal message.
It was addressed to Horace Granger,
l67----street, Mancheste r, and read
as foliows--the words found among the
pager ashes / enclose in Brackets:
have found her and locked] her up
in a[priyate room.] Come on and use
parents authority. Take the last day
train, and will [meat you'll at London
Bridge station] -.
Judging from this, it was case of a
runaway daughter, whom s'G." had fol-
lowed and captured in London, and
whom the anxious father had come on
to see and probably take back with him.
AS the dead man appeared to be not
far from five-and-thirty years Of
age, it. was natural to suppose that no
daughter Of his could be beyond her
teens
A school girl, perhaps, who had
played truant and ran away. VS..
But, then, if she had been caught and
locked up, It was not reasonable to sup
pose if had been in that bare room in
] g mercantile building that contained no
other lndgers.. .s IA. .$ 4, ~: ~. S @.*
And then again, if the father had
come ON and found her, what had be-
come Of her, and of &C.," who had sent
the message? and why. had the father
4TFH.r,y I. H. A~ L L. =