Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-06-14
A DETECTIVES STORY,

pot to the hotel came across n proup
oil women mt the 2ntc of fine old man
sion which stood bnck several rods from
the street. They were nervous and fear
full. The house WIS the residence of n
Mrs. Brush and her son, she widow 60
years OF age, and he young man of 22.
The hour was ! l o'clock, and they were
alarmed because there wn' no stir about
the house. 1t was known that the son,
james, had gone 10 Providence the
evening before, but the mothe7-wns an
carly riser, and the-housc should have
been oEc;h By! y o'clock. The millkman
had been there, ms also the butcher hoy
and laborcr, but their knocks had been
unanswered. The ncighbors had II. last
come to have dreadful suspicion, IL, j
a constable had already been sent for to
mike an investigation.
Ii was in M line to be interested and
% remain. When the CA table came
Nc found That we had me, before. and
nc asked me ms II fnv0r to assist him.
lie was icrvous and excited. and we
both had the same feeling before the
h"usc was entered. would hnyc lie,
my life that the old woman was dead,
and he was just rs sure We Knocked
at the Kitchen door until ANY living pcr-
son would have been aroused, and then
VIC broke il opcn and entered. Every
thing in the kitchen was in order. aud
The same was true of the sitting room
and mrlor. NJ thcr and son occupicd
rooms up stairs. One of the women
plotted us directly to her room.
ohe lay on the floor in her
night clo;hes in II pool of blood,
stabbed IN five places. Foul murder had
been done. The first thing WAS TO send
Tor the coroner, the next 10 turn every
body out of doors. The murdered wo.
man had relatives in the town, and MS
soon ms they got the news and reached
the spot l was engaged to take charge of
the case. telegraphcd 10 my chief nj
Providence and was told to 90 ahead.
and half an hour later I was Mt work.
Before any persons were admitted took
the coroner and constable through the
houie to look for clues, and here Is
what found:
1. The key of the back door was
missing. There was heavy bolt on the
inside, but the bolt was not spruno
Therefore some one had passed out by
this door and locked it from the out
side.
q. There was a stand i'll the kitchen.
and on this stand n pitcher of water and
washbowl, while a roller towel hung
near by. There were damp spots OH
this towel. The pitcher was on the
floor, half its contents gone, while Il
gill of blood stained water remained in
the bowl. Conclusion: tho murderer had
washed his hands hero.
.. a hall ran through the house up.
stairs. AT the rear end of this hall was
window, and beginning two feet be-
low the sill was the long sloping roof of
the kitchen and woodshed. The lower
sash was raised. The sash had been
fastened with nails. These nails had
been pulled out. found one of them
on tho floor close to the Dashboard. They
could only have been pulled from the
inside. The sash bore no marks Ct vio-
lence. There was snow on the roof
and it showed no tracks. Conclusion :
the murderer had raised this window as
q blind, but had Numbered.
4. The bureau in the old lady's room
had been overhaulcd, as if in search of
plumber. Here and there an article
showed blood stain. The articles had
been flung out in such q way that even a
novice could see the idea was not plum
der. A watch, several rings, dozen
gold pieces, and roll Of bank bill,
were in the heap. A robber would have
taken them. Plumber would have been
his motive and object. Conclusion: it
was another blind.
There were several other things, tri-
fling to an outsider, but having bear.
ing to mo, and as soon as the Coroner's
jury had been admitted to Wow the body
began to make inquiries about the son.
no soon appeared to answer for himself,
having returned from Providence on the
o'clock train, There wasn't man.
woman, or child in the village who had
the least suspicion of him. Hc seemed
stunned and overcome by the news, but
while his demeinor satisfied all others it
looked to me as if he was playing part.
His lamentations were overdone. sat
down with him after while and told
him it would BIO necessary for him to ac-
count for his own time the previous