San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-10-28

destitute Of the Slil lteSt information re-
garding the tragedy
II beg your pardon" she said. This
trouble seems to have turned my poor
head You shall hear all know about
the wretched affair Then you can tell
me what ought to do
repeat the story so far as possible
in Mrs. Melville's own words;
The murder was committed early in
the evening Not earlier than seven, for
the coachman left the kitchen about that
hour, and not later than eight, for the
body was found about that time. From
the kitchen the unfortunate man went
directly to his room on the second floor
Of the carriage house. The coachman's
room opens from Il hall which occupies
portion of the second floor of the laundry
building. At the other end of the hall
way are the stairs leading to the kitchen.
Tie coachman's door i, the only one open
ing from this hall. There is no door at
the top of the kitchen stairs.
From the kitchen the coaChman'S
room can be reached only by means of
the stairway and the hallway | have
mentioned. From the carriage floor be-
low, the room is reached by a narrow
stairway, terminating at Il stout door
opening into the room. This door is in
variable kept locked. The only person
allowed to have 4 key to either Of the
doors opening into the cOachman'S room
was the coachman himself. This pre-
caution was taken to prevent the kitchen
being entered by means of the carriage
house door and the hallway over the
laundry
The murder took place in the coach
mans room. The body was found in "a
pool of blood in the center of the apart
ment. There had been no struggle.
Nothing III the room had been displaced.
The poor man must have been stricken
down as he sat tilying some portion of
the harness. Straps and buckles lay scat
tered about the floor, just as they had
fallen when the unsuspecting man fell
from his chair. stunned and bleeding by
blow dealt from behind with some
blunt instrument.
ne StINtIliS GAME " ult the lIlSldlI
the body was discovered and | FASTENED
to the spot. The sight of. the dead man
| and the blood overcame me. sank. half
fainting, into chair Standing against
the door opening from the stairway lead
ing from the carriage floor. For several
minutes | was too weak to follow my in
clinations and leave the room, and in the
condition ! remained there, with the
back Of my chair resting against the
door, until the arrival of the police.
Guided b. a servant who had been
dispatched to the nearest station house,
the police officers entered the building
by the carriage door. knew of their
presence only when they demanded ad-
mission from the opposite sile Of the
door where sat. Before | could gather
sufficient stTylEth 10 rise to my feet the
door was thrust rudely upon me. The
officers HAD discovered the key in the
lock on the outside. and had opened the
door without the assistance Of those in
the room. My inability to move OBJ
struCtcd their entrance, and a servant
taken to my room, and only know from
the servants what followed.
A rigid examination Of the premises
was made by the police officers. All the
servants in the house were summoned
and questioned. The officer in charge
Kept his conclusions to himself until the
last moment, when the chambermaid
fD l,At ortiz On If
the house to be searched. The assassin,
she urged, might be seCreted in some of
the upper rooms, with the intention of
doing further mischief in the dead of
night.
The officer calmly referred her to the
cooks statement that no one had passed
through the kitchen either to or from the
passage after seven o'clock.
LIT is all clear enough, he said in con-
clusion. The person who murdered the
coachman entered the building by the
carriage door. You saw that we found
the key in the door when we arrived.
The murderer passed through the car
rage house when it was unoccupied. If
the door opening into the coachman's
room was locked when the murderer
reached the head of the stairway, he
found the key Oh the outside-just as
we did. The chances are, however, he
went on, that the door was open. The
assassin came upon his victim unawares.
The opening of door would have at
tracted attention. After committing the
deed the murderer departed by the same
route. taking the precaution to delay
possible pursuit by locking the door after
him. The only wonder is that he did not
remove the key