The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-10-26

and IL he placed the thin paper upon his
pocketboOk might find traces of the num-
berS Hastily taking from my own desk
small microscope carefully examined the
leaves of the book Here was what /
sought. The numbers stood out plainly.
and carefully copied them into my own
pockctbook. So much of the difficulty be-
ing solved, l next turned my attention to
the safe
The question had still to be answered,
How had the thief opened the safe." I
obtained as good light as possibly could
ana made minute examination of the
safe. There seemed to he no marks of
rough usage, and it was evident that it had
not been forced open. ~ duplicate key
then must have been used. But as moth
ing further seemed capable of being found
out from the safe itself, locked it and
proceeded to examine the desks of Richard
son and Hall, which were in an adjoining
room. In the latter l found few loose
Slips of paper-"Nightshade 90 to l. Ever
cit" Eagles Wing, 30 to l." etc What
did these mcah? Evidently it was con
nected with betting. l folded them up and
put them in my pockctbook beside the
number of the notes. There seemed to be
nothing else which would throw any light
on the affair in either my fathers room or
taat OF the two chief clerks, so turned out
WV iSSiltS tilNi McllL iiOlnc.
The next day Hall was brought up be-
fore the magistrates, and the evidence of
the detective having been given, he was
committed for trial to the assizes, bail be-
ing refused. He reserved his defence and
was removed to Jail. | asked for and OBJ
tanned permission TO see him. He seemed
very much cast down and troubled by the
thought of the pain his arrest must have
caused to his mother and sweetheart.
but, MIR. Meredith" he said to me, 81
am utterly innocent of the theft. l hope
you, ut any rate, will believe me. The
matter of the money standing to my credit
IN the bank can he easily explained, though
l felt that could not urge it in nv de-
fence today. In fact my solicitor advised
me not to bring it forward, us ut present
there is only my own unsupported evidence
Tor 1t. The assiZcs come OH in u week, and
by then | hope further confederation will
be available.
II received certain information about n
fortnight ago that Nightshade n rank out
slider, rs he was considered, stood n good
chance for the ST. Leger. / know that |
was foolish for betting on the race, bu,
events proved that was rightly informed.
1t was my first bet, and shall he my last.
Everett, the great betting man in one of
the local clubs, offered to lay 90 to
against Nightshade, and backed the horse
for twenty pounds. On Thursday last h,.
paid me 14OO, the greater part of which
banked on the next day"
Immediately called to mind the slips of
paper in my pocket, OH one of which was
"Nightshade 90 to l. Everett" 1t seemed
clear to me that Hall was speaking the
truth, and Ipromised to do all could to
obtain the evidence of Everett on the
point, and to supply him with n good
counsel mt the trial
The next day was called away to Leeds
on business of Importance connected with
the firm, and OH returning in the evening
found myself i'll company with Mr. Nelson,
Manchester merchant, we'll known to
me. We were alone in the compartment
and could converse freely. He had seen
the report of the robbery in the papers.
and opened u conversation on the subject.
spoke freely to him and told him the
main facts of the case. When had fin
ished he said, SIS this Richardson's mama
Henry" 1T is" replied
us he n native of Bury, in Lancashire,n
~ believe so, rs he has property there"
What firm cid he come to you fromP"
was his next question.
When gave him the name of the firm
he sat in silence for a second or two and
then began: well, it is rather n serious
thing to say, but Richardson must be the
same man who rs II boy was dismissed
by my father for dishonesty He had
posted numerous business letters and kent
the money he received for stamps. At last
complaints reached us of letters arriving
without stamps and the culprit confessed
This was not the only case of his dishon-
esty. and he WAS summarily discharged"
Our conversation then branched off tn
other topics, but from Manchester to Liver
pool had much food for thought. The
fact that Richardson was standing nearest
my father when he locked the safe might
he merely n blind intended to throw sus-
picion on Hall. He would have sufficient
time to change the papers and 90 to INV
fathers side before the safe was locked.
1t evidently needed investigation.
On the following morning l made my
way to BinSlcy's private office, and asked
to see the man who had watched Richard
son.
why, what do you want with himpn
said Bingley. "Do you suppose that it was
put up job between Hall and himY"
II DO not" replied. "But am rather
inclined to think that Hall may be en-
tirely innocent and Richardson the sole
culprit." And then told him what had
come to my knowledge, both with regard
to Halls betting and Richardson's shady
past.
lie merely raised his eyebrows, and then
after bordering over the matter for a few
seconds said well, you may be right,
and will do what | can to find ont the
truth"
BY this time Rawlins, Bingley's assist
ant i'll the business, had put in his appear
ance. The only fact of Importance we
CLEANED from him was that Richardson
had been to Bury OH the Saturday. Dis
covering that the latter had property in
the town he had attached little Importance
TO the visit, especially us both he and Bling