Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-12-27
4 PARIS MYSTERY.
BY the author of My DucGf> and M
DduqhtCr.'
CHAPTER V.

uht VI INV Nl>al &c tue hoiEut Inc JuiSt
Of instruction in this case was NJ Robert
koguet, q man Of high reputation in the mag
lstraey. From NJ. Sapinaud, advocste, anc
a friend OF mine, | obtained a copy Of the
judges poteS later on in the case; give then
here.
The inquiry was held ION the spot"-that is
in the very room II the houSe No. Is PasSag,
de Mszarin, whsre joseph Meissner had beer
murdered
Jean Mouton jantor. interrogatei, CAV,
evidence: That he had held his present situ-
alton for more than IA years and that the
numbered man, Meissner, had occupied that
rom and cabinet for at least ten years In,
terroeaied as To the habits Of JOSEPH Meiss
uer. declarsl that these were regular in the
extreme; that he always breakfasted III his
room: On three days Of the week went out at
noon. returning at 4, and gning out again al
q to dine: On the other days remained in his
rom till d. his invariable hour for dinner
returning every night, without exception,
Oh th. stroke If g. Had returned at !.
O'Clock on the night of Monday. Tuesday
being one of the days on which he never
stirred out of doors till &, he, Moutun. had
not been surprised or alarmed by his non-ap-
pearapce up 10 that hour. Stated that Meiss-
ner had repeatedly cnloined him "a force ar
entrance into his room any day thst he did
not appear at o'clock. 1ntcrroca;ed as Il
whether be knew what motive MelSSDer could
have for giving singular an order, replied
that he was unable 10 guess unless IL were q
fear of what had actually hapIenei-nsnely,
Of being mupiertsl in his room
Francois Bastoul, publican. gave evidence
- to the finding Of the body in exact agree
useut with Muuton's statement TO the police
Lssm Leiru, superintendent OF the bureau
Of police, Rue des Saints Peres, stated thai
at twenty minutes past seven on Tuesday
evening Jean Mouton, janitor, presentes
himself at the bureau and gave information
Il the murder. He, Lsiru, taking with him
he of'iC,sr> Lambert and RsGnaud, thereon
,cconpanied the janitor, Moutnn, 10 the
louse No. I3 Passage de Mazarin. where they
'ound the sirIr Francois RaStoul awaiting
hem outside the door Of this room. Rastnui
assured them that the door hal been un-
,pened prev iouS Ia their arrival. On open
ng the door, they found the dead bnty OF
Meissner living close by his writing chair, as
he hal fallen from it on ieing struck The
1oiy WAS cold and rigid. Beside it was taind
dagger Of foreign manufacture. stained
sith blod, and a wrist stud of ivory.
with the initial G.. on it. TheSe articles
acre now at the Morgue. Had ex-
.mined the various lcck-fast places IN
he room Nearly all Of these We've open; one
Or two had their locks forced; the most had
apparently been opened by their proper keys.
q bunch of which WAS found hanging in one
# the locks Most Of the drawers. strong
aoneS etc bore evidence of having bsu ram
sacked tn the bottom; but il any valuahles
lad b,en removed, treasure Ia a very large
amount had t--n left hehind He. the suiern-
tepient, bad drawn up an inventory IF articles
II value found in the several lock-fast places
before sealing up these receptacles. This iu-
Sentory comprised drafts to a large amount
m the Bank of France and the Credit Lyon
aais: rent4s, three and five per cents; the
titles of r-al estate in Paris, Amisns and Pro
wins; railway and mining script; number of
gold watches, articles Of jewelry, and precious
stnnes cut and uncut; and sums Of money in
French and foreign gold, sstimstei at not
k>sS than &',00 francs. This inventory Su
l--rintendent I,-iru handed in to the judge of
instruction, together with a sesls-i parcel
>untaining the books and paIsrs Il the muT-
lered man.
The offi >ers Lambert and ReSnaud corrob
,rated the testimony Of their chief as 10 the
inding Of the tssiy Both agreed in the opin-
On that Meissner had been stahhed while
itting at his writing table, and had then
allen from his chair TO the ground. Lam
,art stafe.i further that, having been ordered
20 examine the cabinet or small bed closet of
he sitting room, he had found the window
aide open; also that the marks Of muddy
sppts could he traced on the floors of both
osinS
IN. C1rse stated that, at the request of Super
ntendent of Police Ledru, he had visited this
pla.,. last night, and made an examination Of
he cnrpse Of Joseph Meissner Death had
otsuit..i from stab under the right shoulder
blade, which bad perforated the lung and
ausi a copious hemorThage. The rush Of
blood to the mouth would doubtless choke
he unfortunate man, and prevent his utter
ng eny cry. Death. if not instantaneous
would Immediately follow the infection OF
the wound Had been shown the foreign
kppking dagger found beside the corpse, aIai
bad sstistisi himself that with this WeaF.n,
and 10 other. the mortal blow mist
hsve been struck The blade of the dagger
was thres-edgei, exactly fittin, the orif1e in
the clothes and in the body of the deces,sd
Interrrgate,! as to the hour when he had seen
the curpse, DR.. Cosse stated that be had ar
rived on the spot at about s:l5 O'Clock.
Asked as t. whether he could form an opinion
rs to the time when the murder had been
committed. replied that, from the appear
ance of the body, he should suppose life to
have been extinct for at least Il hours. The
fact that the blood from the wuInd had COM
pletelv soaked into the w"od Of the floor
made "A hours still more likely period
DR.. A de Bourbon, surgeon at the Hotel
Dieu, concurred in the evidence of DR.. Cosse.
....l.. Il
with tine dagger found beside the corpse. II
was a flesh wound. inflicted at a distance Of
an inch and half below the right clavicie,
and avoiding all contact with the dorsal
vertebra Death from such a wound. in the
case of an old man like the decea-i, would
probably ensIe in about five minutes time.
From the appearance of the body and the
coagulatei blood, had little hesitation in say
ing that the wosInd bad been inflicted late on
Monday night OF early on Tuesday morning.
Tho janitnr, Moutnn. re,all-d and re-
examined. answered as follows:
=. Your rpom opens from the passage lead
ing into the courtyard Of this hcu~'!
4 Yes.
Q. Your room has glazed door.
A Yes
O. So that one can .es, from the janitor's
every Isi~n " no tIlltI~ iil''
fIom the PaSSagp de Mazarin or vice versai
4. Yes, if on. is locking out.
y. Naturally. You have already stated
that MeiS~ners habit was to return home
punciuallv at nine O'Clock Did Won observe
him pass your door at that hour Monday
nightf
A. He came into the room on Monday night
Q: that hour a. take his KEY and his candle
before going upstairs.
Q As all your tenants are in the habit Of
dotngi
A Certainly.
O. And this was the last occasion on which
you saw Joseph MeiSSner alive
A. The last.
@ Now, can YOU tell me with any certaint :
what persons paSss-! your door going into the
court between nine and ten o'cl"k.
A. am certain that no one paS-.,d between