Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-03-03

argued that she was considerably excit.
ed. By and by he came over and stood
directly in front of her, and as he talked
lie struck his left hand with the envelope
held in his right. She shook her head
aud waved him away. 1t seemed as il
lie was making an appeal to her. lost
lis shadow again for a couple Of min.
htes, and she half faced about, as if he
was talking from the opposite side of the
room. She finally rose up, shook her
head in a decided way, and just then an
ambulance came rushing past, and |
dropped my mystery for something more
Practical. did not pass the house again
that night. At o'clock next afternoon.
when turned out of bed and picked IN
4 copy of an evening paper, the first thing
saw was sensation with half dozen
top heads. Miss Weaver had been found
dead in her rookery, murdered by bur-
slar. The discovery had been made about
noon. People noticed that the front door
was open, and the unusual circumstance
caused policeman to investigate. The
body of the woman lay on the floor in
the parlor. There had been no struggle.
A knife had been driven into her throat.
and death came swiftly. She was fully
dressed, and the lamp on the table had
been turned out. On the floor was found
Tn official" envelope, but without con-
tents and unaddressed. The paper said
It was the work of burglar, but there
were no traces of breaking and entering,
nor had anything been overhauled or dis
turbed. The key was in the lock of the
front door on the inside. The door sagged,
md whoever had gone out that way had
not pulled it shut, and the wind had
blown it open. The murderer had not
washed his hands in the house, left his
knife or any other article behind, nor
was there a clew of any sort to be picked
up by the detectives.
alone held the clew No one else had
even noticed the light in the parlor. No
one had seen man enter or leave. |
had not seen this, but knew that man
had been there. Those who argued that
the crime had been committed by a bur-
glar were wrong. The murderer was
not even stranger to her. That even
ing when | went down to police head
quarters found that two or three differ
ent theories had been advanced, but the
one on which the chief had put his best
man was that of burglary A man had
effected an entrance, no one could saw
how. but probably by way of the front
door and before o'clock. The old wom-
an was supposed to keep money in the
house. The man must have known where
to find it, as nothing was disturbed. 1t
was believed that the money had been
taken from the envelope, but the latter
was not looked upon as of the slightest
value as a clew. 1t was shown to me
when | asked to see it. 1t was white
one but poor stock and showed consid-
cradle wear.
could have given the detective big
start in the right direction, but main
tanned silence. l proposed to work out
that case myself for the scoop" there
was in it. Who was the man whose
shadow had seen ON the curtain? No
cabman had driven him there from any
of the depots. No one had seen him en-
ter or leave. The postman had not left
a letter announcing that the stranger ito
me) was to call. No messenger boy had
carried note-no telegram had been
delivered. did not believe the man was
a stranger to Miss Weaver. Indeed he
must be an old acquaintance or rela-
tive to have gained admission to the
house after nightfall. He was the muir
derer-the man whose shadow had
seen. That was the envelope from which
| had seen her take paper. What rela-
tives did she have? A brother in Cali