The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-01-04
DIR. BACARAC'S CRIME.
A Very Strange Story of Love and
Crime.

in front of him. st was Only by acct
dent that l embraced my present trade.
That is to say" he added, rubbing off
sill of the car window, and replacing
the cigar in the corner of his mouth,
'if there are any accidents"
He was about thirty-fve years of age,
and looked like poet. He wore soft
felt hat and a flowing neckscarf; his
hair was wavy, and his face oval and
sallow, with fne-cut features. His
forehead was high, with bullying brows
For year past, on entering the smok-
ing car of the S:15 train at my suburban
station, l had found him sitting in the
same seat, and had gradually fallen
into the habit of taking my seat beside
him. Thus sort of acquaintanceship
had imperceptibly grown up between
us, but our conversation had never till
now shown any symptoms of becoming
personal.
You are fatalist. them" / rejoined.
I'm a detective" was his reply.
''Ah, indeed?" said |, much more as
tonished than l saw fit to show. He
W 40 liOb llhC OJAlCI NtlcCIlNtS JlldG 4
knew.
You are writer, think" he went
on. Not that see any ink-stains on
your fngers-I judge you use the type
writer; but / have observed that GER
tain kind of stories interest you those
involving peculiarities of human ma
ture especiaIly-andt there are other in
dications. One of the queerest Incl
dents in my experience was the one
which led me to adopt my present pro-
fession; and, since you have finished
your newspaper, I'll tell it to you, if
you would care to hear il.
ut was this way: Out in the town
where | lived few years ago, there
was young married man and his wife
by the name of-well say Talbot, He
was junior partner in a wholesale
business, and she was very pretty
woman, but of delicate constitution.
They kept themselves to themselves
not exclusive at all, you understand,
but just quiet and retiring. They had
no children, and no relatives that ever
heard of They paid their bills every
month, and went to church every Sun
day, and that was aoout all they did do
that we knew of. / was called in to
prescribe for Mrs. Talbot once, for an
attack of palpitation, and found them
very nice people. They had one serv-
ant, who did cooking and general work
for them. l should say that DIR. Baca-
rae was their regular physician; but he
happened to be out of town that day,
SO they fell back on me. Bacarac was
quite an eminent man, though he chose
TO live away from New York. The
heart was his speciality.
About month after my visit, Mrs.
Talbot was very i'll again, and from
then on, for the rest of the summer,
Bacarac was there nearly every day.
He told me once it was the most pc
culiar case he ever saw. To make 1t
short, he did all he could for her, but
she died. Talbot was in terrible
state about it; remember thinking to
myself that he was just the fellow to
kill himself on account of it. One gets
such notions about people, you know.
However, the funeral took place all
right, and though he carried on pretty
bad at the grave, he didn't throw him
self into it; he went home, and | made
up my mind he would pull through. l
noticed that when Bacarac spoke to
him at the grave-side he gave him a
look as savage as a tiger-which WASH
right, for Bacarac had done all man
could to save the woman. And, in fact,
next to Talbot himself, he appeared
more affected at the funeral than any,
one. i had no doubt been due to him
that she survived as long as she did.
And | have reason to think that he had
made no charge for his services, though
lac was a very high-priced man ordi-
narily.
well, Talbot shut himself up in his
house to nurse his grief. 1t appeared
afterward that he had dismissed his
servant the same day, intending to
leave the town. Bacarac, the next
day, went off in hurry to visit a pa
tient on the other side of New York
as he told me when l happened to meet
him on the way to the station. All
was quiet for two days after that; and
then we had sensation.
at seems the baker had called twice
at the house, and had got no answer
when he rang the bell. The house APP
peared empty. He spoke of it here and
there, and "ne thing led to another,
until the folks began to suspect some
thing wrong. Finally, they fetched the
constable and opened the door; and
there was sight, sure enough Tai
bot lay dead in the sitting-room that
was not so surprising; but what took
our breath away was the fact that the
body of his wife lay beside him. with
nothing but dozen yards of black cam
brio wrapped round it
1T knoc ked the wits out of every
body, at first; but by degrees the only
possible inference was accepted-that
Talbot a1d dug her up the night after
her burial, had brought her home, and
then lad stabbed himself beside her.
IL was fantastic and horrible but there
were the facts, and no other hypothesis
would fit them. There was wound
through his heart, and carvingknife
on the floor near him. Bacarac re-
turned to town the same afternoon,
and was present at the inquest. never
saw man so broken up as he was. He
made an examination, and testified as
TO the cause of death; examined the