The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-08-19
pp,zE DETECTIVE STORIES, No. 20.

aThe neighbor who discovered my
brother rushed at once TO the house'
where / was at breakfast at the time;
Within five minutes OF the aiscoVery G ga
was on the spot. The body lay on us
hack. and | noticed that two slender
streams of blood had run from the cor
ners of the mouth and formed small
CONCEALED or rather caked pool penesth
the neck" -,
Phillips took a magnifying glass from
his rocket and carefully examined the
wound in the forehead. A fash OF intul-
tion as TO the line of his investigation
came over me.
"You think 1t possible" began.
81 think nothing, he said shorty,
81 striiseei bIeod having flowed from this wound.
| | can readily see traces OF IL ABOUT
| the mouth and neck. Nothing but thor-
| ouph use OF soap and water could remove
them. Your brother did not die from
| the blow on the head. tie was deau LOT
F, at least half an hour before IL was re-
| ceived.n
A sensation of horror came over me AT
| the words. 4 had been hoping against
| hope that Phillips might be able 10 show
! that the death was accidental, after all.
| Now saw at once the utter futility OF
| entertaining such a notion.
ssMoreoyer. he pursued 'sif you say
| the blood was 'caked, he must nave
been dead for several nours before he was
found. | took the trouble TO examine
the railroad cut on my way here. fou
| will remember that its bottom is entirely
shielded from the morning sun, the
lack OF which, together with the heavy
dews of the last two or three mornings,
would tend TO keep blood more or less
| moist for some time.
"What did kill him, then?" asked, at
last.
ave shall see, " returned Phillips, and,
| Al 10 nn lar
minutely examine the body, beginning at
the head. Suddenly he stopped and
/ straightened up again. / looked at him
inquiringly, and he pointed toward the
left breast. :,
siHe must have had pin or needle in
his undershrt," he said, as i noticed
scratch less than an inch in length httl'
above the heart.
"a rather long pin or needle, " mutterec
Phillips, grimly, and, bending over, M
pressed his thumbs on each side OF INT
hair-like line of browning red scab, unit
it broke apart; and l saw deep, gaPint
wound made undoubtedly by very thin
bladed knife. Ii ran horizontally across
the body between the ribs and seemed L
range downward at an angle OF about ~
degrees.
For moment the interest in this dis
covery overwhelmed the horror OF 1t.
"But the clothesY" ! said, stepping
toWhru the chah' AMY
them
Phillips lip curled.
"What the good of examining any
thing, he said, "when you start with
supposition based on the first bit OF evi
dence that appears? These yokels neve
got beyond the idea that that wound Il
4 the head killed the man, so all their wor
was superficial and useless. Now, let u
see, - he pursued, and, taking up tn
: articles of apparel, one by one, he scrutin
{ lied each carefully-especially the shirt
undershirt and coat
: "Where did the knife pierce these!"
r broke in, as peered over his shoulder
, 1t didn't pierce these at all, 4" said Phil
lips, putting the garments back on TIN
chair. "Your brother did not wear thes
I clotehs when he was stabbed"
! "But he wore these when he wa
. found" said vaguely, and with con
4 sciousness of added mystery dawnin
: slowly upon me. You see the dirt stain
a wnere they lay in the cut.
o 'sIt Is perfectly clear" pursued Phi
4 lips, ignoring my remark, "that whoeve
killed your brother dressed him in thes
o clothes and then carried him out an
, threw him down that embankment. Tn
= is probably how the skull was broken.
r "And that accounts for there being n
blood on his linen, /" put in.
= ~ don't imagine there was any o
v the linen he did wear" said he. "Io
Il forget that there was none on the skin
the neighborhood of the wound-Ju
e enough to form that tiny scab which yo
r mistook for scratch; wasn't SUI
v about il; but i was looking for serioi
wounds and found one. Perhaps yo
is do not know that deep stab with vel
thin bladed knife hardly ever bleeds e.
I. ternally. The internal hemorrhage WI