The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1891-05-23

suspicion to him.
When it came my turn to ask
questions | found out that he was a
very sound sleeper that he occu-
pied front bed room with his son !;
that Mrs Gray and the girl occu-
pied one in the rear of his, with an
entrance to both from a hall that
the key OF the bank safe and vault
were always kept under his pillow at
night. In addition Mrs. Gray had
won the hearts of his children, if
not his own, and it was only by the
strongest argument that she had
been induced to accept a salary Of
$40 per week while occupying her
position. 1t was as plain as daylight
to me that Mitchell meant to marry
her in due course of time, but it
wasn't at all plain as to what sort OF
a scheme she was working
] A CAPTIVATING WOMAN.
took the case, told Mitchell l
had theory, and then began to
study Mrs. Gray. | found her to
be a sweet and innocent-looking
little woman, seemingly devoted to
the children, and, had / not been a
detective and a married man, |
might have fallen IN love with her.
1t was in summer and she was out
great deal, and was on hand to
follow her. 1t seemed to be time
thrown away, however. She was
shy, prudent, aud apparently all
right, and | had put in a month on
the case, and made no discovery,
when the outside safe was robbed
again. A deposit and some bonds
had come in at the last moment,
and had been placed there for the
night. The whole thing amounted
to about 5000, and bonds and green
| backs were missing next morning.
The safe had not only been opened
with a key, but the bank had been
entered by the front without sound
ing an alarm. No stranger could
have entered by the back on account
of the dog, who was wide awake
and all right.
When Mitchell sent for me to
give me the news, was perfectly
satisfied that Mrs. GRAY was the
guilty party. | believe she had the
nerve to enter his room in the night,
secure the KEYS, and then slip
through the back yard, enter the
bank and open the safe When |
learned that the dog was a great
favorite OF hers, this belief was a
certainty. | couldn't, for reasons
already given, say word to Mitch
ell about this. He wanted to suspect
his two employees, but when we had
canvassed the matter, he was made
to see that it was altogether unlikely
that either of them was guilty. In
deed, he was alone in the bank when
the bonds and money came in, and
he alone knew where the deposit
was placed.
What did | do -? | turned to Mrs.
Gray again, and in about a week
something happened to prove that |
was on the right trail. One of the
street car lines of the town ran down
to the railroad depot. 1t was Mrs.
Gray's habit of an afternoon to ride
on this line with the little girl as far
down as a certain park, and to sit
near the fountain and read while the
girl romped a out with other chill
dren. | had closely watched her
while in this park, but no one had
ever core near her, and her de-
meanor had been perfection. On
the third afternoon after the robbery
she occupied her seat for an hour
without anything happening. | sat
on bench in the rear of her and
about thirty feet away, and by and
by | noticed that she was writing a
note with pencil She did it so
deity that one sitting in front of her
could not have told what she was at.
Beside her was large shade tree,
and as near as | could make out she
disposed of the note when folded up
somewhere about the tree. When
left | followed her for a short dis
tance, and looking back, saw a
young and well dressed man occupy
ing the place vacated by her. An
hour later, when | could examine
the tree, | found a hollow IN the
trunk just about on line with her
shoulder as she sat on the bench.
One not looking for it would have
sat there fifty times and discovered
nothing.
THE CLUE DISCOVERED.
My theory was that she had an
accomplice-the young man whom
| had seen. The hollow in the tree
was their postofice Next day l was
at the park half an hour before
time, and behold the Young man
was occupying that bench. As she
appeared he got up and took a seat
one hundred feet away, and by
watching closely, | saw that she
took note from the tree. Before
leaving she wrote and posted" one
in reply, and after she had gone |
saw him get it. was now certain
that | was on the rigat trail, and |
went to Mitchell to secure some par
| ticulars | wished to know. | told
him | had a clue, but would not re-
veal which way it led. | learned