The Red Cloud chief., 1889-06-14
CHAPTER ".

As time wore on the situation Of the &C
cused became more serious. It was more
and more impossible 70 believe that Mrs.
Browulow had left the house Of her own
free will. After discussion Of all the the
cries they could possibly evolve, the report
ers, in order to keep the matter well before
the public in an attractive shape, origin
ated this theory: That Mrs. Brownlow had
simply gone with her husbands consent to
take . journey, the object Of which they did
not care to reveal. Although this theory
gained credit in the papers, especially be-
cause of efforts on the part Of some Of Mr..
Brownlow's friends to s~ubstantiate 1t, the
detectives paid little attention to it. It Wa
50 evident that Mrs. Brownlow, had such
been the case, would have returned as soon
a. she had heard the accusations directed
against her husband, that the theory seemed
to be Of no importance. Day after day, Of
course, the detectives gave Nj. Brownlow
every opportunity to talk and state his
side Of the case, but he ~obstinately re-
NAMED silent. 1t was Disappointing to the
detectives engaged upon the casa that they
could not get direct and incO~ntrOvertible
evidence of the fundamental fact in the
case, namely, that Mrs. Brownlow was
dead The fact Of her disappearance need
ed no proof; the object Of the accused in
committing the crime was established; he
had refused to account for the time passed.
where and how no one knew, during the
evening and part of the night OF Tuesday,
the l4th. And his attitude from the time
Of his arrest had been compromising in the
extreme; but there was still no evidence
that seemed 70 justify conviction. One day
the detectives found just the clew that they
seemed to have been waiting for so long.
1t came partly As chance and partly As
the result of keen detective work. Seth
Ketcham had reasoned with himself that as
Mrs. Brownlow had left the house, or had
at al events been last seen in evening
dress, and - those garments were not
found in the house 1t the time Of thes search.
she must have had them OF whenever the
deed Iva committed Next to the dif6culty
Of hiding the body would be the difaculty Of
disposing Of this peculiar clothing. He had
made tireless searches among the second
hand clothing stores and pswn-shops Of the
city to seei il therein might not be found some
Of the garments which Mrs. Br0wnlOw had
worn. his idea being the vague q that
perhaps Mr.. Brownlow had taken that
means to disguise any trace Of the crime
that might be found On the clothing. Hav-
ing found nothing in any Of those places
that he ven through, he thought over the
possible ways in which the crime might
have been committed. Any noisy violence
in the city would be liable to attract atten-
ton; therefore he concluded that tho deed
must have been done some other way. In
the course Of his investigations he found that
the deck hand Of . ferry-boat that had been
crossing the North river upon that night
about ten o'clock had zen . man and WON
IN quarreling in low tones upon the after
part Of the boat.
He had pad but little attention to them,
although he confessed that hrs post OF duty
should have been ut that end Of b boat.
He went forward to the engine-room for .
| moment, and when he returned he SAW the
man standing BY the rail alone. A he ap.
preached the stranger the man turned
| abruptly and walked into the gentlemeu's
cabin. The deck hand had paid no atten-
| ton 70 it. because circumstances OF that
nature arc % common where crowds assem-
be, and bad thought nothing further q