Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-07-26
A CLEVER TRICK.


srparatesi from the river Yagua by belt Of
trees, thers stood some Year, ago . long. low
cottage known a. Ia Boiza. The cottage con-
tainati four rooms, a kitchen and sitting room
On the ground for and two bs-droosils above
In osse II the latter SENIOR Rodriguez, tie &C
cppier u the cottage at the time are write,
slept In "a he,iroom Of the kitchen l,ndora
Nenez, a burorn willow Of Is and Rodriquezs
only servant, had her apartments.
Senior Roiriquez, Who vas . squarely built,
esean shaver man q about 20. with gray
hair. n,tistache and goatee, and with, nothing
remarkable about him except deep cut
over his right eyebrow, had now bern occu-
plying the cottage for a little over a year
Considerable speculation was indul'-ed in a.
to who Rodriguez and what b. dill for a
living He never volunteered any hIforma-
Zion on that score, but on ono occasion he
was beard 70 say something which iesi TO the
inference th-t be had been a SEA captain. and
on lie ssreng' h Il il the residents OF tho VIII
lage called him captain.
Curiosity about the captain had nearly sub
a1ed when an old gossip Of the place returned
from . visit and brought the rsws that
brother IL, law had told her that the captain
was formerly in the China trade, and the old
maid was full Of stories Of smuggling, and
evcu piracy, in which the captain had taken
a leading part. As she vas known To be an
incorrigibIe gossip, not much heed was taken
Of her stories and tho captain troubled him
self very little about the village talk. When
the buxom widow however, heard that the
old maid had said that she the widow was
more than "a servant to the captain, 1t looked
for a while rs though some one was going TO
b. rbbpned. About this time the captain
had got into trouble He owed his landlord
and tile. village tradesniei in the neightor-
hood Of 500, and the patience OF his creditors
was nearly exhausted, when one day they re-
ceive.i a letter from the captain in which he
wrote that he would satisfy their claims the
following Monday, as a legacy left by a dis
tant relative had been paid in TO lin account
at the village bank.
SATURDAY, the captain came into town, met
his landlords son, cbatted pleasantly with the
young man and invited him to accompany
him 10 the bank. He remained at the bank
about ten minntss, and came out at the end OF
that time buttoning into the breast pocket OF
his coat a fat looking pockstbook. He then
went straight home, after making few pur-
chnses and bidding the young man good day.
Sunday sirning the villagers we're startled
by the announcement made 10y the captains
servant at the police station that her master
bed The inspector and the whole available
poiics force OF the village, consisting OF two
policemen, set oil for La Bolss TO uneasth the
mystery
On reaching the building the windows and
doors in front wers closed and locked On
going round to the bssk the door leading
from the sitting room 10 the garden which
Stored down 10 the river wns found to he
open, nnd on erterin, the sitting room, drops
OF blood were seen along the carpet between
the staircase and the garden door. On the
saircas, Itself the drops OF blood were more
frequent. The he'd room, however, was
clearly the place where the murder had been
committed. The table by the window had
been pu.lled ont OF its place; the only two
chairs in the room were lying on the floor.
The bed, which had not been s,cH. in, was
delus-d with blood and in tho middle Of it
was a deep iuientation, as il heavy body
had been pressed down upon it. A large
clasp knife, stained with blood, was lying
the pillow, and by the door on tho floor was
an open pockotbook So much the Inspector
saw at glanoe as he entered. He took the
pocketDook and looked carefully through it;
it was emp y, but lying near it, and be
hind the door, was piece OF neatly
folded paper 1t had evidently fallen from
th- pockctbook while the murderer
was emptyng the contents. 1t was
a haif street of note paper folded in three,
and written on it were the numbers
and value OF fo,ty-two bank notes, the total
of which amounted to So, $50 Here was q
clsw at once An officer was immediately
dispatched to the village with the paper to
inquire of the brink authorities whether those
wero the numbers of the notes ~ hich had been
paid TO the captain the day before He also
received orders to await the arrival Of Capt.
Ssesria a well known and daring Mexican
dete =, We who was to arrive in the village at
noon That day 70 visit an old friend The
bank identified the numbers on the paper
those Of the bank notes paid the day before to
the captain The money had been paid him
by tho hank in pursuance OF an order con-
tanned in Il letter Saturday morning from one
OF its correspondents, Colez, Garcia & Co, a
larfH II 4 doing on immense business with
tho Cnited $, a,es. Further inquiries being
nna,io by the officer, it was asccrtainel that a
man who seemed to avoid observation was
seen driving along the road carly the morning
OF the murder in vehicle very much OF the
style usc.i in the country. The man who
drove the mysterious man to whers he could
obtain q .ta.c which ran on the cd Oposura
road showed the bank bill wlii h tie stranger
had gwen MA 10 cutillSe, AMI IL was lOtiIu
10 be one Of tliose stolen from the captain.
The buxom widow, who had partially re-
covered from her fright, was now taken to
the building She Identified the clasp knife,
pockctbook and various articles of clothing
which were lying about the captains room as
belonging to him She stated that she had
gone to bed at O'Clock the previous night;
tia, the captain then still in his room,
and that she hal heard no noise during the
night She Was positive that no one was in
the house when she went to bed except her
self and the captain.
But the garden door was often left uu-
locked ani could then be opened from the
outside. The inspector was satisfied. The
motive WINS clear enough; the police were
Close upon the murderer track; all that was
now wante,i was the body Of the murdered
man. which all search failed to discover.
From unlcninhle signs it was reasonably pre-
sumed that it had been removed from the
house From the Indications outside there
was no doubt hit that the murderer had gone
out Of the hitting room la kward, dragging
tho BODY Of his vi-tsm after him.
Across the small grass lot and half
wav through the l-lt Of tree. the
foue,tei- continued: thee. they ceased On
ih- soft m,,'l ami leaves was an impression as
near this impression, lying on the ground,
was spade. and at the distance Of few feet
the ground had been dug up, as il it had been
intended to bury the body there. The project,
however, had been given up. a. the murderer
had thought OF a better plan for disposing Of
the body. But wheref In the river, Of course!
Sure enough. in the river bank the footprints
were again found. The river had been
dragged up and down. and at sideways and
across and at every conceivable angle, but no
body had been found. The Inspector was get
ting inpatient. when a road wagon drove up,
and dapper little man. with . s~arthy COM
plexiou and . heavy black mustache jumped
out The stranger was none other than Capt
Sslsgria, the famous detective In few
minutes the detective had heard all that the
inspector had to tall.
Let me $50 said the detective. sAI the
village, you ay, knew the captain would
have nlonsv 30 pay bis debtsr
The Inspector nodded
which amounted in all to about 500,
more or lessF
The inspector nodded again.
And he drew out OF the bank g. 80. Was
that tbs whole legacyr
1T was"
He didn't want g, 80 TO pay $500. did her
This was new light 70 the inspector, who
shook his head cautiously.
From whom did tbs order to pay the
money conner
-Colez. Garcia & CO..
.Coles, Garcia & CO.. repeated saleSria,
referring 10 his note book; ~thc great Ameri-