Frederick citizen., 1895-01-11

seemed to have forgotten all his mo-
mentary irritation.
The beautiful Baden summer was
now at its height, and the figure OF
old Cornelius Van Heuvel might be
seen every day sitting in his armchair
i,eside his open window. as he smoked
lis pipe and drank his glass Of beer
Giuseppe and Heinrich would frequent
ly shout out words OF greeting to him
from their window across the street,
and the old man, whose voice was too
weak to make itself heard even at that
short distance, would wave his pipe
gently in recognition of the civility.
One bright afternoon, the passers
along the Blumen Strasse saw the old
man seated in his customary place,
with the same placid smile of content
upon his face. All through the re-
mainder of the day he never moved.
though his head declined to one side
and he seemed to have fallen asleep.
Later on, as the day faded away, and
the bright moonbeams poured in
through the window, they lighted UP
the motionless figure, still seated in the
same position, but as he was accus-
toned to remain for long time in his
arm chair, no one took any notice,
and 1t was not until seven o'clock In
the morning when the Frau Yung came
into the room with the matutinal cup
Of chocolate, that after q brief glance
at the motioniess figure, she dropped
the tray to the ground with a loud
crash and dashed from the chamber
uttering piercing cries for help, which
speedily brought together a little
crowd, eager to learn the cause of the
disturbance. There was, indeed, cause
for Frau Yung's state of alarm. The
features of Cornelius Van Heuval were
perfectly calm and placid, but life had
fled and the blood which flowed from
small circular orifice in the neck, had
formed coagulated patch of gore
upon his breast.
A medical man was almost instantly
on the spot, and at once pronounced
that the old man had expired from a
bullet wound, and that death, which
must have been almost instantaneous
had occurred some eight or nine hours
before. Now, however, came one OF
those incidents which occasionally are
to be found in the annals of crime.
The BlImen Strasse was an essential
ly quiet street. and the inhabitants
seldom left it for absences of any dur
alton. A shot fired in so peaceful a
locality would have been certain to
have attracted attention, and yet no
one recollected hearing any such
sound. There were no signs of any
struggle, and the only appearance of
any intruder having entered the room
was that the drawers of the ebony
cabinet were half opened, and a heap
of glitering stones were scattered upon
the floor beneath. Gluckstein, one OF
the most celebrated detectives at
tached to the police bureau of Hell
delberg, who had hurried to the spot
upon hearing of the tragedy, stopped
and picked up several of these shining
fragments, and as he gazed upon them
with his practical eye, he uttered a
half suppressed exclamation of aston
ishment. for instead of precious gems.
he held a quantity of counterfeit
stones In the palm of his hand. A
small piece of folded paper in one OF
the drawers solved the mystery. II
was the. receipted bill of Partisan
firm. celebrated for their skill in man.
featuring limitations of precious gems,
and 1t was evident that the old curl
osity dealer. when he placed his gen
uine diamonds in a place of security,
had exact limitations of them made, so
that he might feast his eyes upon
them, and to a certain extent keep
count of his wealth.
THE murderer, whoever he was, met
with disappointment" remarked
Gluckstein, with a chuckle, ''but he
must have been a connoiseur in dia.
would have deceived him."
But where is the old mans nephew.
Where is Giuseppe Voltoni?" asked
Professor Wagentriber, who had come
In, and every now and then puffed at
his pipe. which from the force of hab-
it, he still carried in his hand.
All those in the room glanced across
the street at the window occupied by
the murdered mans nephew. Contrary
to the usual custom. it was firmly
closed. and what was more a faded
crimson curtain was drawn half way
across it,
Il will go and call him." remarked
Herr Ruprecht. 1.-The poor young man
is doubtless asleep an is unaware OF
the terrible deed which has been COM
mitted. The aged man took a step or
two across Tie room, but before i.s
reached the door. the hand of Gluck.
stein gently arrested his further prog
ress.
Pardon me, mein herr" said he
"but with your permission l will go
and break the news to Herr Voltoni. "
With quiet and noiseless steps the de,
tective descended the stairs. and
crossing the street. made his way Ia
the room occupied by the dead mans
nephew.
The room was unoccupied. Quaint
images Of Egyptian gods scowled at
him from their glass cases. A num-
mified cat or so seemed to grin at him
with malignant derision, whilst the
sarcophagus of King Rameses stood
in its accustomed place in the centre
of the room. There was however. no
sign of Giuseppe Voltoni, and a glance
at the little pallet bed. which stood in
one corner, showed that it had not
been occupied during the past night.
II thought So" murmured Gluckstein.
"Ach Himmel, he need only have
waited for few months, for 1 do not
think the old man would have lasted
much longer. What mad fools the
criminals always are"
His keen eyes swept over the room
not missing a single portion in the
rapid survey. There was no appear
ance of any hurried departure. The
little chest of drawers filed to over
flowing with clothes and linen, whilst
half smoked out pipe and glass with
about teaspoonful of Assmauhauser
still remaining in 1t, stood upon the
table. HE has not gone far" said
Gluckstein, softly to himself, IF he
has taken the road and IL he has gone