Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1885-08-26

" oCtuCb VI CilLuc anu DtOOuoutus was
greatly Mortified at what he saw, aud
catching Jules, who was about to
swoon, hurried out into the street, and,
locking the shop-door behind him. has
/, tened to the Police Bureau of the Ar
rondisement. The facts were at once
; impaired to the COMMISSIONERS in
charge and he dispatched platoon of
men and one of his most expert de-
tectives 10 take charge of the premises
in which the murdered man had been
found. Arrived there, the shutters were
taken down, and when the light of day
was admitted careful search resulted
in the discovery that nothing was
missing and that there were no signs of
struggle of any kind. BY this time
the Commissionaire had arrived and,
after viewing the body of Pierre La
brichon, pronounced that death had
been caused by blows from hammer.
| In the mean time the detective had not
been idle. He was carefully searching
| every room in the premises. Turning
to Jules, whom he had been told was
| the clerk of the murdered man, he
asked sharply;
"How do you account for the front
door being unlocked?'
Easily enough" answered Jules.
1T was always my duty to lock the
door at night, and Monsieur Pierre
must have forgotten to do so."
why did you not lock it last
nightP"
because spent the night with my
sister Clairette, who lives five miles
from here"
The detective looked at him sus-
piciously, but said nothing. At this
time he was carefully scrutinizin g
everything in the sitting-room. Sud-
denly his eye fell upon scrap of pa
per, which had been thrown carelessly
under the table. He picked it up, and
seeing writing upon it. was down on
his knees in a moment searching for
the other pieces of what were evidently
portions of letter At last he seemed
to be satisfied with his search. and
sitting down at the table, commenced
to put the pieces together, unmindful
of all around him. AT length he looked
up, with an expression of triumph.
This Is what he had read:
AUGUST Q, 1s-.
NJ. JULES RoScEAU: After tomorrow can
no longer retain you in my service. You
have betrayed the confidence of an old man
who trusted you, and who would have ad-
vancod your interests. For the past two
months have noticed a deficiency In my
cash. This deficiency has now reached the
sum OF three hundred and fifty francs, and,
as you are the only person beside myself
who ha. access to the cash drawer, must
believe that you have robbed me. All, jules,
you need not have become a thief, for i had
learned to love you. l have no relatives. l
am old, and had intended to leave you my
business. This Is not all. From time to time
n Anxr -laa- No. - e...l..
a brac. and tonight, when went to look for
the old battle hammer-the only genuine one
on sale in Paris, and which was worth almost
It's weight In gold-I found that il was miss
ing. Why you have done all this | do not
know. ! have boen u kind and indulgent
master to you, and, In my. loneliness had
my own son. l had promised to advance
your wages, thus hoping to stop your pecula-
tons, but they continued. We must part.
done me, and lead you TO an honest life in
the future. PIERRE LABRICHoN.
All was now clear to the detective.
Jules excuse to go to his sisters house
on the previous night had been ruse
to put his master of his guard and es-
tablish an alib. He felt, perhaps, that
his thefts had been discovered and by
getting rid of the old man, would
silence his only accuser and succeed to
the property, as he had been told he
would some day.
The letter spoke of missing ham,
mer. The COMMISSIONER had decided
that Pierre Labrichon died from effects
of blows from such an instrument.
Could Jules Ronceau establish his
alibip If not, every link in the chain
of evidence was complete, and he was
the murderer of Pierre Labrichon.
Under these circumstances. the detec-
tive ordered his arrest, and Jules, pro-
testing his innocence, was cast into
prison to await trial.
When the day of the trial came
everything went against the unfortu-
nate clerk. The letter written by
Pierre Labrichon was offered in evil
dence for the motive of the crime, the
mention in it of the missing hammer,
and the fact that the old shop-keeper
had been murdered by blows from
hammer proving circumstantial evil
dencc that the counsel for the defense
could not break down. Then, again,
Jules was unable to establish his albi.
In a paroXysm of tears his sister had
testified that on the night of the
fatal Sd of August her brother had left
her house at nine o'clock. Jules con-
fronted this evidence that he had
passed the remainder of the night in
question with one Toinette Deligne,
but when the officers of the law went
in search of the woman no such per-
son could be found at the address
given by the accused Clearly, Jules
Ronccau had murdered his master to
secure his wealth. He was speedily
found guilty, condemned to the guillo-
tine. and all Paris brcathed freely that
it was soon to be rid of such monster
ofSingrattude.
In The meantime strange things
were in progress in the old curiosity
shop in Rue Lafitte. 1t had been
closed and unoccupied since the
discovery of the murder; but the
neighbors declared that strange
noises were heard there at night,
and the more superstitious of them did
not hesitate to say that the place was
haunted. 1t will be remembered that
on the morning of the 4th of August,
when Jules Ronceau had stood knock
ing at the door of the shop fer admit
lance, he had been joined by gen.
darmc, who had entered the place with
him. This gendarme, Jacques Del
mont, was man of great strength
and powerful will. When ne heard
the stories of the strange noises in the
deserted building he determined to
investigate them for himself Stating
his purpose to his superior officer, he
obtained leave of absence for the night,
and quietly let himself into the build
ing, armed with revolver and carry
ing dark lantern and strong rope.
He took up his position in the shop, but
left the doors Of the sitting room and
sleeping apartments open, so that he
could command a view of them,
the bed upon which Pierre Labrichon
had been murdered standing out white
and Uhastly in tho MOONLIGHT that