The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-07-26

principal part OF the description OF that
nn,son
NV mind was made up The girl was
mad expected that her next words
wn,,a be maniacal boasting Of her
cr,me
preble turned from me. and ! could
| not see what he was doing. but he
| s,,mea to be examining the clipping.
Jus, then there was a knock upon the
door. and the policeman admitted u
| man whom l recognized by his de-
mearor as member Of 1.-The force"
,hopsS he was in plain clothes.
III re Is the newspaper you wantlol,"
he .,;1 handing II to Preble.
The detective examined 1t.
81 pr,missd To show YOU a description
~ ,,st r,ison" ne said, This Ia the
n,re, which contained II. but unfortu-
,.e,v 1, has been cut out"
"Wbst Is all this?" exclaimed the cor
orsr .sNr Preble. l am becoming ut
ts,,y confused"
III, detective passsd the clipping to
m, coroner.
"Re careful of H." he said. 1T will
hs essential in the case"
Tn. coroner looked at II.
IT don't sse anything but some ad-
ysrtlsements Of work for women" he
said lone of them is marked"
Turn /, over" said Preble.
DR.. Robertson did SO. and he positive
ly gasped ws.h astonishment.
.Gentlsmen." said Preble. II want to
ask YOU a question What does a man
do about ten seconds before ne licks a
postage s:amp?"
W. stared at one another unable to
understand what he meant.
The article says continued the de-
tsc.ive. that this poison works In about
ten seconds. 1t produces no painful ef-
feet at first: indeed. to the best OF my
knowledge, it is net perceived except by
reason or its taste, which Is agreeable.
But at the end OF that interHal the VIC
tim dies
Now you are all nrmV persuaded
that that postage stamp kiiieN MT
brano' because II was rouho upon ms
tongue. BUT ISN'T thSt eVsdence that !"
o!d not XIII MN! Does d man hoiu
stamp IN his mouth ten seconds' Ger
fanny not.
imagine yourselves IN MS positlon.
He has finished his letter, and directed
the envelope He seals the envelope
ana aoout ten seeoilus Iater ne vets tne
scamp. In view OF these tacts say II
was the enVetope that Killed hlm' ana
not the stamp
There was silence Tor a momen. Ineh
the coroner said:
Your reasoning seems good, Mr.. Pre-
Bile. but where does II lead! What Is
your theory OF the case?
Several facts are obvious" replied
Preble. I'm the first place somebody
has been stopping Miss Brands letters
to her uncle. The last letter was held
four days, and meanwhile II was opened.
as an examination of the envelope Will
prove"
That's true" said DIR. Robertson,
after looking closely at the envelope:
but I'm still in the dark Your theory
is. Of course that the criminal held the
letters I'm order to separate Miss Brand
from her uncle. When he found
stamp in one Of the letters this Internal
plot came to him. But didn't he poison
the stamp"
DO you find any stamps on Mr..
Brands desk?" asked Preble.
Yes; here are several. They seem
to have been enclosed In the letters he
opened this morning
Exactly. Now, are you sure that
the one he used was that which was In
his niece's letter."
Why. no; that can hardly be prov
en-
"Of course not; and the murderer
foresaw 1t. If he had poisoned the
stamp. he would not have been sure
that Mr.. Brand would use h at the
right time. 1t might have been upon
his desk FOR days; Vt might have been
ioot. or given to somebody else. What
ever stamp Mr.. Brand used was sure
to seem to be the once his niece sent.
Now see IL you can find an unused en-
velope ON that desk"
Robertson and Bell searched. but
without avail.
Now there's a certainty" said Pre-
BILE. with evident satisfaction. THE
murderer didn't 60 upon guess work.
He knew that MIR. Brand would write
that letter before he attended to any
thing efse. So ne removed all the
evt,cpes. but not the stamps, for some
OF them would be very likely to come in
the mornings mail. Who has access to
this desk?"
TIL. question was suddenly addressed
to young Brand. He turned white to
the lips, and stammered
"several persons in the Office"
"Who are thsy? Let every one who
has key to this desk produce It,"
Every employe was called. and one
KEY was found. Ipwas Harold Brands.
He could not refuse to give 1t up, for all
IN. clerks knew that ne had H.
Nv this time we al, saw ho,v the chr.