Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-08-21


 IS dead" carelessly replied.
 "How-how should know itl' he ex. clrlmcd, turning very white.
 Well, She is dead, poor thing"
 And do they charge nG, with ita''
 ''With whatr'
 "Her murder!"
 'l hadn't said she was murdered. I told you simply that she was dead. How did you know she had been nlurderedp'
 He saw the trap he had fallen into, and he gasped and stammered and did his best to smooth it over. Ipretended not to lay 1t up as point against him, and speedily arranged that he should return in my ve- hicle and leave tho cooper's rig where it was. After the first shock he bracsd up wonderfully, and his demeanor on the way home was entirely that of an innocent man. He expressd great willingness to give us all possible information, but at the same time advanced and clung to the theory that no one but 0 tramp could have been guilty of the crime. Upon reaching homo he displayed considerable grief and emotion. In fact, he rather overdid it. It was morelike acting out a part The peo- pie were indignant that he should be sus- pected, and he was not put under restraint. Indeed, no warrant had been issued for him.
 Early the ext morning, satisfied in my own mind that Fergus was tho murderer, drove out to his aunt's. Hound that he arrived there at seven o'clock Saturday nigbt. Half an hour later he complained of headache and went to bed, saying he would be down again by nine o'clock. As he did not keep his promise, the hired girl knocked on his door at that hour, but receiving no re- ply, was told not to disturb him. He was not seen by the inmates of the house until seven o'clock Sunday morning. The girl was up at five, and as she crossAd the yard she saw that his window was up, and some of his clothing was hang ing in the sun. At the barn found the cooper's buggy washed clean. Fergus had done this Sunday forenoon. He had not made good job on the horse, however, and I found plenty of mud on his fetlocks. As it was dusty Saturday night when he was driven over, this mud must have been picked up after the storm. found the harness stiff and damp from being wet, and the cloth cushion of the buggy was still damp. Hunting further, found the fresh tracks of horse and buggy turning into the barn-yard after the rain. The window of the room occupied by Fergus opened on the roof of the shed. At the lower edge of the roof stood leach. On the edges of this leach and on the roof l found mud. On the carpet in Fergus room found moro of it. He had scraped and cleaned his boots and flung the dirt into stove, whence got half a pound.
 All this got without the aunt suspectinR that was after proofs then returned to the scene of the murder, and after an hours search discovered the place where a horse had been hitchcd for some time. It was in the rear Of the house, on an open space and under a tree, and the horse had paved up the ground and gnawed the bark of the tree. The footprints of a man could be faintly traced across the garden, and I had no doubt that Fergus came and went this way On the fourth day after the funeral l learned from the insurance man what he had seen during the storm, and then war rant was issued and Fergus was taken into custody. By this time the townspeople had begun to think it queer case Fergus had gone over tho house and declared that noth- ing had been taken. No suspicious charac- ters had been noticed in the nclghborhood Jewelry and money had been left lying on the bureau, showing that the object could not have been plunder. Did the woman have an enemy? No, not one, as far as we could learn. Who could profit by her death? No one but Fergus. and yet this was one of the strong points he brought forward. It was known to score of people that she had made her will in his favor. Would not every thing be his at her dcathi
 To clinch our case and make circumstan- tial evidence good we must show motive. This seemed hopeless, but I went at the task, hoping evidence might aid me if Fer gus was guilty. examined his personal effects over and over again in search of 8 hint, but for two weeks after he had been sent to jail I discovered nothing. Then got the clue where ought to have secured it before. In drawer ID his desk found o1v arfi fiSoy ,aa,to n1a in ninto est of swindlers. One of them read:
 "A steady young man with S1O.OOO cash cap ital can double it in one year in legitimate enterprise. For particulars address Box s9l" etc.
 Another read:
 mako you n millionaire in one year. We per init the fullest investigation before invest ment. Write for particulars"
 A third just hit his case:
 "Are you young and ambitious man, feel ing that you could get ahead If properly backed and encouraged? Have you any moneyf Can you get from 900 to ga OOof If so we will pos. itively guarantee you s100 in return for every dollar, and inside of year."
 I felt sure he had written some of these parties, but as I could not find any letters from them set out to hunt them up in per- son. They were bold-faced swindlers, and they bothered me some, but in the end
 
 of them he stated that he would soon have money to invest, and expressed his satis- faction at the particulars of the speculation aB far as given Aim. The greed of gain, then, was his incentive. The woman who had been mother and sister to hlm came of 8 long-lived race, and was in good health, and a month before her death was told by . doctor in the hearing of Fergus that She was likely to live to be ninety or one hun dred years old. Until her death the young man could hope for little or nothing, as she was obliged to make the interest of her cap. ital support her.
 Murderer or not, the boy was the legal herr, and he employed the best legal talent in the West to defend him. The lawyers might take every dollar if they could but clear him. It was veritable fight for life with all the money and most of the talent on one side, but that web of circumstantial evidence kept drawing closer and closer, and it could neither be broken nor explained away. Had Fergus beon innocent frank reply to each question would have explained it. Being guilty, his evasions only made matters worse. The jury were out fourteen >2