St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-02-13
80 WHO DID IT?
N R& I'D Question Was Solved By
80 $40 Shrdwd Detective. vs.

0OW t00 NSu09ClQ0 w 98 6OlV0Q Oy
s 80. $50 -. : shrswd Detective
....Ns Joseph roees -. ! spare-euil.
seaRshyeQpah Of about forty. with
HHylhS3 sbd 40 Whiskers, and with
nothing remarkable about him excep,
etep cut Dyer his right eyebrow.
when he frst came into the neigh
borbood the goSsipSs-of Braltown had
-specnlatcd , great IDEAL as 70 who and
x-~Hhat be swaa, but without any basis
for tDcir eonjectures.
About the. time our story commences
. the captain had got into some trouble
His landlord, an easy-going, well-todO
stxadeshan. began 10 think that. rs he
said, he should like to see the color uoi
. . the captains money.
The patience of his creditors Was
nearly exhausted when one day . cir
culaE letter was sent to them, appoint
: ing . meeting for twelve o'clock on
Il. 50 the following Monday. ''when," the
captain wrote, 'he would satisfy all
S.s claims. as legacy left by distant re-
lation had been paid into his account 1t
the Balston bank"
On Saturday the captain hired gig
a.. ut the Kings Arms to take him to Bal
s..4. ston. Johnny Wilson, the landlords
son. drove him to the bank ut Balston,
and came out 1t the end of that time
buttoning into the vest pocket of his
coat fat-looking pockctbook. Johnny
waited for him while he made few
Purchases in the town, and then drove
sh1mstraight home to the building"
At six O'Clock on Sunday morning the
e lEbitantar OF quiet High street were
} - &tuuSed by violent knocking at the
doerof the police station
The policeman who was ON night
DIZZY opened the door, and Mary Will
, cohbc, tie captain'ss servant. white
Wh terror and painting with exertion.
y trly fell into his arms gasping out
. that her master, the captain, had been
erspbbeA ard murdered in the night
The inspector was Immediately
= Called, Ind the whole available police
S-foroe Of the village. consisting Of two
= . policemen. set OF with him for the
s~~~-s.huilding.
: MARY willcombe, who seemed utterly
hrostr1ted. remained under the care Of
the Inspectors wife
~.On reaching the building" the in
s-sp ector found the front undisturbed,
The windows closed and the doors
: = t1c9ked.
s~Asx On going round to the back. the door
leading from the sitting-room to the
= 6hfden, which sloped down to the riv-
Wa found to be open, and on en-
tefing~ tie sittingr room drops of blood
were seen along the carpet between
the staircase and the garden door.
On the staircase itself the drops of
blood were more frequent
The bedroom. however, was clearly
the place where the murder was COM
mitted. The table by the window had
been pushed ont Of its place; the only
two chainsin the room were lying on
the floor.
The bedAwhich had not been slept
in, was delayed with blood and in the
middle Of Il was . deep indentation, rs
ifa heavy body had been pressed down
A large clasp knife stained with
blood wss lying on the pillow. and BY
the door. on the floor, was m open
pockct6ool.
So much the inspector saw at a glance
as he catered He took the pocketboolz
and locked carefully through it
1t web empty. but lying near it and
behind the door, was q piece of neatly
folAed paper. It had evidently fallen
.etpU the pocketbook while the muir
dcrer was emptying the contents
1t was half-shcct Of notepaper
folded in three, and written on it were
>. =. the numbers and value of forty-two
-. bank notes, the total of which amount
ed 70 E2s0
The murderer. evidently wishing to
carry about him nothing which might
aid detection, had left the p0cketbook
. .behind. hut in his hurry had overlooked
this paper.
= Policeman Jones was Immediately
sent on to Balston with the paper to
All ip4tre Of the bank manager whether |
. those were the numbers of the notes |
which had been paid to the captain the |
&essday kefore, and if SO, to take measures
to stop them.
He also received orders 10 telegraph |
Immediately to Scotland Yard an &C |
- comt-of the murder and any facts he |
might ascertain 1t Balston-
| After locking the bedroom door, the |
inspector proceeded to the garden.
ssss Sz0utBi1e the door. on the grass, were |
the footprints of man, the toes point |
ing towards the house, and the heels |
deeply indented in the soft earth
The. rest of the foot prints were
partially oblitcrated, rs If something
/ heavy had been dragged over them.
1 - The murderer must have gone ont Of /
the sittingcroom backwards. dragging |
the body of his victim after him.
Across the small grass plot and halt |