West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-11-06

bNAAA i1iillllNN VIII Alt uOlfls Il
crossed the street, went in. and was
twenty-one, from whose window tho
paper had Just blown.
Come in" said n voice.
l opened the door and recognized.
still seated by the window, the man /
had seen packing the ~valise, "A task he
had completed. He was a muscular
man of forty, with a c~lean-shaven face
that wore an expression of craftiness.
He seemed confused when | entered,
and said:
"Ah, i thought it was the porter.
Haven't you made a mistaken"
Without replying | deliberately locked
the door and put the key in my pocket,
while he stared ~amazedly.
Il see you are getting ready to
leave" | remarked sarcastic2lly.
Yes"
Suppose you stay in New York a
little longer l said.
why, what do you mcan2" he ex-
claimed, rising from his chair.
Oh, nothing Of consequence l re-
piled, coolly.
Perhaps you wouldn't object TO my
taking n look into that valise, eh?"
Perhaps you will do me tho kind
ness to get out of my ROOM" he re-
torted.
lie had taken the valisc from the
hoor and quickly snatched it from
him. had hardly done so when he
dealt me a blow near the temple. send
ing me reeling eros the room, where
! brought up against the door. He
thou threw the valise on the bed and
angrily exclaimed:
Look here, sir. are YOU drunk or
crazyP Now hand me that key and get
out of my room, or I'll throw you out
of the window"
Not so fast" said /, drawing my
revolver. Il am an officer, and here
TO arrest you for the murder you com
mitted last night"
lie stared a moment, then a change
came over his c~ountenance. and he sat
down and fairly roared with laughter.
Come, you can't play that" said /.
This Is no laughing matter. Where
are the money and silverware you took
from Bradley's housc?"
Are You really an oficerp" he
asked, growing serious again.
Certainly / am. Perhaps you never
saw this bit of paper, sir" said |, dis
playing the piece that had blown from
the window.
'My friend, he replied, Il admire
the earnestness with which YOU 90
about your business as detective. but
you have got on the wrong track. !
am sorry struck you i'm Il M of
anger, and hope you will pardon me.
| am Charley NJ, a Boston de-
%tective, of whom you have probably
heard. ! arrived at daylight this morn
ing. and have been taking a good sleep
before attending to some business i'm
Brooklyn. ! registered as j. Brown,
for a reason you viii readily compre-
bend. Here is my card, and here are
some slight evidences of my occupa-
ton Here he took two. pairs of hand
cuffs out of his pocket and jinglcd them
before my astonished gaze. ''By the
way, il that is the piece Of newspaper
that fell from my window, and you
think 1t has any connection with the
affair YOU speak of, it will probably af-
ford you an important c!ew. | found
1t here, where it was probably left by a
former ledger. / think You will find a
name on the margin"
| examined The margin over the
title of the paper, and to my astonish-
ment found written in pencil the name
and residence of Henry Collins. Ii was
a weekly paper, which ] observed was
published in n city he had formerly
lived in, and its date was so recent that
he must have received it on the dav
preceding the murder. 1 immediately
took leave of Mr.. NJ sayino /
thought | knew where the paper had
come from, and, begging his pardon for
having been so rude TO him, i fastened
down TO the office Of the hotel, where I
examined the register, finding the name
of j. Brown. with room u assigned.
knew the clerk, and / inquired:
when did Mr., Brown take room
PIP"
Early this morning, when I va, not
on duty
Did any one occupy the room dur
ing the evening
mo -yes-let me see" he replied.
glancing over the rcg,ster-''hcrc is the
name Of Harvey Elton. / remember
now. He was without baggage and
paid for the i'm advance, say;ng he
wanted To be called at three O'Clock.
The porter went up at that hour. but
the door was open and the bed had not
been slept in. The other clerk told me
he gave the same room to Mr.. Brown
because he wanted a front room
DO you remember the appearance
Of Elton?'
Yes rather small man, with q very
full black beard
Henry Collins was q small man. but
had no beard. OF course. my susp.c ons
were fixed on him a soon as di,cov-
cred his name on the margin Of The
newspaper, vet ] never dreamed that
he was capable OF committing a crime.
My mind underwent q series Of rapid
changes. One moment ! regarded III
as almost certain that Henry Collins
had something 90 do W Oh the murder.
the next moment I would say 10 myself
30 IS prepO,tcrOUs hr i- no such mar.
There are many ways by which this pa-
per might have got into other hands
He maF have lent i' 90 Bradley. or 10
may have fallen from hi. window. or
he may have lost it from hi pocket
Why should he have called nv at en-
lion 20 Bradlcy S house, BE iIc.. hc
has no beard.
On the subject Of lh', beard. 10 Dr..
not first occur 20 M that hc might have
worn q false one. bat DO did finally. and
J realized, very soon aitcrward. what /
now regarded ~ "a very su-ptcious cr-
cum-tauco
10 was about M duIgbt chat Henry
Collins told mo Cha. Mr. T. adlo, had
been DOB Uui 70 very few minute. now
remembered that Che body was cold.
La.N H..a. ..|-- L a