The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-01-11

One day as rersy. .sr Maiplaqucs, 20
be more polite, was sitting at his desk de-
ciphering bit Of writing under the light
of his smoky lamp the door opened and
a man entered He. too, seemed . rather
secretiye individual, and as the moment
YOU might have found q set OF false whisk-
ers in his pocket, together with pistol
and a pair of handouts; but that Is nei-
Their here nor there, for nc present he was
without hfrsute adornment, be was plain
La Rouche, clad in his ordinary suit Of
ministerial black, with his broad felt hat.
as usual. drawn well down over his pierre
ing gray eyes
"Good morning. La Rouche. said Fer
ney, CHANGING up from his work
Good morning, Malplaques," was the
answer as La Rouche seated himself on
chest at the side of the desk
"How is Const2utin and the detective
force in general"
.sConstantin has been missing for THE
LAST three days-one Of his slow but surs
schemes, I suppose. lie Is interested in
the Same case as myself now. VIII you in
form me what sort OF person wrote thts
scrap, Nalplaauett'
MaIplaquet took the paper handed te
him.
Where was this uncarthcd, Il
Rouche,''
lit was found IN the secret drawer Of
the writing desk Of the late diplomatiss,
Jules Foreau. The drawer was discovered
by member Of the family only i've days
ago"
The writing" said Malplaques with
out waiting 20 comprehend the answer &C
his question IN his esgerness TO commences
deciphering. II SEQ it bears no date, but
from its state of preservation, the yellow
stains hero in the right hand corner and
the degree TO which the Ink has faded, 10
was written, should judge, about nins
years ago.
Precisely That was the date Of the
decease of the recipient, F" said La Rouche,
taking his notebook from his pocket.
The characters. ~ the adept continued,
''are small, indicating literary tastes. The
peculiar formation of !he d. is undoubted-
" due to much practice in the writing Of
Greek. The handwriting ssnacks of the
university, German university it may be,
since tnerc appears TO be q slight touch Of
German sngularity in the small letters.
Tho writer was certainly a scholarly man.
though perhaps quack in some respects.
He was subtle, diplomatic, as is shown by
the indistinct endings of some of the
words; reticent, shown by the shortness Of
the and the y. In short, you have . man
to deal with, La Rouche-a man.
Another thing which may aid you
This was written by an imperfect hand, .
hand mutilated in some way, finger
amputated probably.
Now that We have determined all that
the chirography can explain, may have
the pleasure OF reading the documenti"
asked Malplaquet politely. The detective
nodded.
To n. jules Foresu:
When this il placed on your study table, youi
very dear friend and colleague. Paul Rapfn.
will have been deed one hour. His body VIII
be found lying face downward in the street
near the south end Of Point d'Austerlitz Nc
signs Of violence viii be found He has to all
appearance died OF disease Of the heart. The
affair is purely political, ! assure you This
letter Is 20 warn you not to attend the assern'
bly, tomorrow or the day following. OF course
you will not dare in the present state OF this
times TO disclose this which have written.
and 70 which, therefore, that you may know
instead of suspect me. without hesitation
afiix my name. FERSEr.
The reading ended
"Foreau went to the assembly tho day
following" said La Rouche. And died
Of heart disease the same evening"" added
Malplaquet, smiling
Penney, Ferney," muttercd Malpls-
quet. Il have heard the name before. Look
in the municipal death records of April.
1852. / think you will there find note Of
his decease, my friend"
La Rouchc, closing his notebook, rose
to go and held out his hand DIR. NAL
plaquet grasped 1t with his left, for his
right hand was nutilated, lacking the
first joint Of the foref,ngcr, and detectives
are sometimes keen Observers
The next day the detective was pcrus-
ing the municipal death records when he
stopped ss an entry which ran:
Ferney, Jean. was observed drowning IN ths
Seine April 0. Help reached the spot too Late
For witnesses refer to Testimony Of Witnesses, :
volume 1850.
Body unrecover>d-
The last two words had evidently been
in the record at a later date.
The record was made In the disguised
Of Ferney, but La RoGche
was not chirographist NJ
Wsver in Short Stories.