The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1895-07-18

THE cHARRED FRAGMENTS OF a LETTER.
see," hs pursued. aud, taking up the ar.
ticles OF apparel, ono by one, ho scrutin'
lied each carefully especially theshirt,
uudershirt and coat.
"Whero did the knife pierce theaa?"
broke in, as peerod over his shoulder
II SEQ No
ut didn't pierce these at ALL" said
Phillips, putting the garments back on
tho chair. "Y0uF brother did not wear
those clothes when he was stabbed"
"But no wore these when no was
found" | said, vaguely, and with n con'
Sc%iousness OF added mystery dRwning
slowly upon me. You SEQ the dirt
stains where they lay in the cut"
ut is perfectly clear" pursued Phil
lipS, ignoring my remark, that whoever
killed your brother dressed him in these
clothes and then carried him out and
threw him down that ombankment.
This is probably how tue skull was
broken"
"And that accounts for there being
no blood on his linen" l put in.
~ don't imagine there Was any on the
linen no did wear" said he. you for.
get that there was none on tho skin in
tho neighborhood OF the wound-juIt
enough to form that tiny scab which
yon mistook for q scratch. ! wasn't
sure about it; but ! was looking for
serious wounds and l found one. Per.
haps YOU do not know that a deep stab
with a very thin.bllded knife hardly
evor blcodi externally. Tho internal
hemorrhage was probably considerable,
as tho bleeding from the mouth would
indicate; and death must have been
practically instantaneous"
! was all at sea now, and my mind
whirled around amid 4 dozen hall.
formed conjectnroI. Phillips picked up
the shoes that lay near the chair.
ale had these on?" he asked.
] nodded.
"You can sec, then, that the last time
they were worn was in the house; that
he could not have walked to the cut in
them" he pursued, unwinding m un-
soilcd thread Of carpet from n projecting
nail.
This disclosure came upon me with
crushing force. It seemed to point to
some one in the house as tho criminal ;
yet TO whom? Il was impossible for
me to believe that Anderson could be
guilty. and ynt who else was there?
Only myself and my niece. At last, ns
| slowly gathered courage to ask some
question, in order to relieve my sus'
pense. Phillips spoke again:
Perhaps il would be a. we'll to exam
Inc your brothers wardrobe with a view
to ascertnining whether any garments
are missing. You SEQ that tho trousers
on the chair hero do not match this
coat. II he were up and dressed you'll
doubtless find that tho coat and whist
Goa. that do match thom-it thcro woro
Such-are gone"
Without trusting myself 10 reply, l
proceeded to search carefully, but with.
out avail.
"You aro right" l said at last. "They
are missing, both Of them, and II was
tho suit no has been wearing every day.
cannot conceive my stupidity in neg.
lcctiRg 10 obierve so noticeable point,
especially rs my brother was a very
careful man about his dro's. As to the
shirt and %underye't. ! don't know how
many he had, but probably my niece"
"Nevor mind those" said Phillips.
shortly. ale had unquHstionably
dressed himself fully, and We shall DO
saio in assuming that the murderer has
destroyed OF otherwise disposed Of all
tho four garments through which the
kniio pnsVod. Kindly permit mo to OK.
anime tho CRATE, although don't sup
pose"
lilo removed tho chimney board ne no
spoke. Tho dust lay thick within, and
upon II tho oharrod fragments OF a lot.
tor. but for this, the place had owl.
IDENTITY boon unhislnrbeI since II was
shut up IN tho spring.
Tho detective loaned over and picked
tho burnt paper carefully up. 1t vas
perfectly black and foil to pisces in his
hand, OF courGo no writing was visible,
much loss lOgiblc. We both examined
each minute fragment thoroughly, with
tho aid Of Phillips pocket Ions, and 1t
was apparent that both paper aud Gu
vrlopu had bcon thrown whurO we
found thom within n worry fgw days.
Thor Freedom from sont and dust was
., Hr1 - - m aH s,lJ NOT rpttnf