Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1892-12-23

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Marcus Gray had taken his ticket ct
Victoria Station and two more minutes
would have seen him in the train on his
way to Streatham, where the Lumsdens
lived, when his attention was attracted
by the placard Of an evening newspaper.
Mysterious Murder This Day of City
Merchant" was the startling announce
ment which stared him in the face.
Now. his uncle was a city merchant,
one Of thousands Of others. and that of
itself was enough to cause him to invest
. penny in the purchase Of paper.
It is enough to say that Gray did not
60 to Streatham that day. nor for many
weeks afterward.
Some days passed without any evi.
dence on which the police could act BE-
ing forthcoming. other than that which
their first crude investigation had
brought to light. That the safe had
been rifled there was no longer any
doubt, seeing that neither note nor q
coin of any kind was found in it; but in
view of the fact that Mr.. Lumsden had
been in the habit Of keeping all cash
matters connected with the business in
his own hands, it was difficult to ascer-
tain with any degree of exactitude until
certain books should have been gone
through what moneys he had in hand at
the time he came by his death. The
chances, however, were that the sum
was not large one. the dead man hav-
ing been in the habit of banking day by
day. Mr.. May. the managing clerk, had
no knowledge of any cash having been
paid to his employer on the morning of
the ninth; but, on the other hand,
Houghton averred that on taking some
letters into his masters room about
eleven o'clock he found there q gentle
man dressed in deep mourning and an
entire stranger to him. who, at the mo-
ment Of his entering. was in the act Of
handing number of bank notes across
the table to Mr.. Lumsden. The notes
in question were not now to be found;
no entry Of them had been made in the
cash book; neither could Mr.. May throw
any light on the personality Of the man
who had paid them over.
At the inquest, which was more than
once adjourned in the hope that further
evidence would presently be forthcom-
ing, verdict of "willful murder against
some person or persons unknown" was
eventually returned. The funeral had
taken place some days before.
Mr.. Orde did not fail to impart to In
spector Fountain. who had charge Of the
affair on the part Of the police, the par
ticulars Of what he had 80 strangely
heard through the medium of the tele-
phone. The inspector appeared to be
much struck thereby and made ample
entries in his notebook. There was rea-
son for believing that during the next
few days he devoted a considerable por-
ton Of his time to endeavoring to ascer-
tain whether the murdered man had
been on intimate terms with any one
either friend or q relative, whose bap-
tismal name was Harry or Henry, but
all such Inquiries proved of no avail.
To his initiative it was due that an ad-
vertisement was inserted in The Times
and other newspapers requesting that
should the same meet the eye Of the per-
son who on the morning Of the ninth Of
June paid the late Mr.. Edward Lums-
den. of Saint Augustine's alley, sum Of
money in bank notes he would at once
communicate with the police; bat time
went on and the advertisement seemed
likely to remain a dead letter. That
the merchant had come by his death at
the hands Of some one who was aware that
at that hour Of the day he and the Office
boy had. as rule. the premises to them.
selves. could scarcely be doubted. In
all probability Houghton had been seen
to leave the Office, and advantage had
been taken of his absence. But all such
suppositions merely served to deepen the
mystery which chung around the affair.
Mr.. Charles Lumsden. Edwards
younger brother. came mp from the
country to attend the funeral. He, the
widow. Mr.. Rice. the lawyer, and Mr.
Orde met in the drawing room after all
was over for the reading of the will
James Orde was already aware that he
was appointed sole executor.
AS a matter of course the bulk Of Mr..
property devolved upon his
wife and children. To his brothers was
legacy Of one thousand
guineas. and to his cousin. Eustace
Crake. one of five hundred guineas
There were minor legacies to Mr.. May
and others, while to Mr.. Orde was de-