Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-08-20


ing under the seats, but all in vain;
nothing was found.
"Do you suspect any one ?" asked the
officer at last
Suspect Merciful heavens have no
idea. The windows were closed and |
was alone.
Hal" cried the officer, striking his
forehead triumphantly. 81 can put my
finger on the robber."
"You can! Who is he?"
"The conductor"
"lmpossible," cried the station mas
ter.
Nothing is impossible when money is
stolen, cried the officer. Let the fell
low he brought here"
1t was quickly done, for he was still
on the platform and he became as pale
as death when the officer said to him as
he put his hand on his shoulder:
"Where are the 1000 florins you have
stoleny"
81 know nothing about Them" the con-
ductor answered. tremblingly; his teeth
chartered; his knees shook. II am inno-
cent"
$50 all thieves say" replied the
officer. You will have to come with
me. The judge will take care of your
case"
But. demonstrated the station mas
ter, this mans conduct has always been
exemplary"
Exemplary conduct counts for moth
ing in "a case of stolen money said the
officer. March on. my friend
But first these witnesses must sign
their testimony that have been robbed,
or shall not leave the carriage" said
Monsieur Cato.
Light came to the officers brain; not
releasing his hold Of the conductor, he
grasped Monsieur Cato who, owing to
his weight and the unexpectedness of
the invitation to alight almost fell out
on the platform, but the officers grasp
did not relax.
and you also must come with me"
said he
II am willing; but release me, gasped
NJ. Cato, somewhat aStOnished at the
turn things were taking.
Robbers should not be released"
you may tell that to the Judge"
But assure you that l have been
robbed"
Did the money belong to you: :" asked
the officer, smiling contidentially.
mo; l have already told you it be-
longed to"
with money belonging to others in
I ho
my friends, time presses; let US be off,
Matthias Heveder was a Judge with
modern ide as. In all branches of his
judicial career he was governed by fixed
principles; he believed in utilizing the
experience of foreign countries and
would occasionally remark
The Frenchmen say when facing a
mysterious crime Look for the wOmanN
l go further; say, Find the woman!
and will find her" said he, referring to
the Cato case, for every crime has a
woman into it, and as yet, have never
failed to find her
He began by placing Cato and the
conductor in solitary confinement of the
strictest kind. 1t was in vain that Cato
begged him, with tears in his eyes. at
least to notify his employer who was
waiting the 10000 ilorins and who would
certainly mislnterpret his stewards
silence.
/ a woman is mixed up in the affair"
said NJ. Hoveder 10 himself; that Is GER
/ tain, without doubt. i'll connection with
! the guilty man, whichever he may be.
1t appears from the statement Of Der
nard C2atu that he is a married man
| have telegraphed orders "a have his
wife arrested and brought here, and l
/ shall have her at hand tomorrow. Since
| the conductor Is not married, perhaps
/ he has mistress. II we can discover
| her we shall have the two Women one
of whom is necessary to the solution OF
the problem.
He studied the dispatches received
from all the stations of the hIl-. but
only two of them especially attracted
/ his attention. From one he learned that
"a switchman, as the train rushed by, had
seen woman'S hand thrust out If the
window of second-class carriage ana
had seen some dark object fall from It,.
he had even searched for the ohia~t. bat
had found nothing in the lonL grass.
The second telegram was of a stu, more
serious nature. Another sWltchlnan had
noticed the conductor, rs the train was
flying along AT full speed, talking with IA
woman who was leaning out of third
class carriage; the witness had even re-
marked that some object passed from
one to the other, but was not sure
whether the woman handed something
to the conductor. or the conductor some
thing to the woman.
THE case is clear" cried VI. Heveler,
VIGOROUSLY. "Czato is guilty or the CON
ductor is guilty. Ii the conductor, his
accomplice is the unknown woman with
whom he was seen talking, and at the
moment the switchman's eyes were upon
him he handed her the leather case. We
must find the woman. If on the other
hand Cato is the culprit, he gave the
money either to his wife or some other
woman and then cleverly played the
role of an injured man 10 divert sus-
picion from himself In this case his
IL