Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1896-06-18
cd Phillips. erimly. and, bending over, b,

ed Phillips grimly, and, bending over, he
pressed his thumbs on each side of the
har-likc line of browning red scab, until
1t broRe apart; and ] saw deep, gaping
wound uade undoubtedly by very thin
bladcd knife. 1t ran horizontally across
the body between the ribs and seemed TO
range downward at an angle of about
forty-hve degrees.
For n moment the interest In this dis
covery overwhelmed the horror of it.
"But the clothes? | said, stepping to-
ward the chair. "rhcy examined them"
Phillips lip curled.
whats the good of examining any.
thing" he snid, when you start with
supposition based on the first bit of evil
dence that appears? These yokels never
got beyond tle idea that that wound in
tho head killed the man, 80 all their work
wss superficial and useless. Now, let us
gee" he pursued, and, taking up the ar.
ticles of apparel, one by one, he scrutn-
lied each carefully the shirt,
undershirt and coat
where did the knife pierce these?" l
broke in, as ! peered over his shoulder
II see no"
at didn't pierce these at ALL" said Phil.
lips, putting the garments back on the
chair. "iour brother did not wear these
clothes when he was stabbed"
"But he wore these when he was
found" l said vaguely, and with con.
sciousncss Of added mystery dawnina
slowly upon me- "You see the dirt stains
where they lay in the cut"
at is perfectly clear" pursued Phillips,
ignoring my remark. that whoever killed
4 4 L
and then carried him out and threw him
down that emboukment. This is probably
how the skull WAS broken"
"And that accounts for there being no
blood on his linen put in.
81 don't Imagine there was any on the
linen be did wear" said lie. "You forget
that there was mono on the skin in the
neghborhood of the wound-just enough
to form that tiny scnb which you mistook
for scratch. | wasn't sure about II; but
| was looking for serious wounds and |
found ono. Perhaps You do not know
that deep stab with very thin-bladed
knife hardly ever blceds externally. The
internal hcmorrhnge was probably con,
siderable. as the bleeding from the mouth
would indicate: and death must have been
practically instantaneous"
| was all Mt sen now, and my mind
whirlcd around amid dozen half-formed
conjectures. Phillips picked up the shoes
th1t Law near the chair.
ole had these on?" he asked.
! nodded.
you can see. thcn, that the last time
they were worn was in the house, that
he could not have walked TO the cut in
/ ihcm." lie pursued, unwinding an unsoiled
thread of carpet from n projecting nail.
This disclosure came upon me with
crushing force. 1t seemed 20 point to some
ono in the house MS the criminal; yet to
whomf 1t was impossible for me 20 BE-.
licvc that Anderson could be guilty, and
yet who else was there? Only myself and
MY niece. At last as / slowly gathered
courage TO ask some question. in order
to relieve my suspense, Phillips spoke
again:
Perhaps it would be as well to examine
your brothers wardrobe with view to as
crrtaining whether any garments are miss
ing. You see that the trousers on the
chair here do not match this coat. If he
were up and dressed. you'll doubtless find
that the coat and wnislcoat that do mitch
thein--if there were such-are gone"
Without trusting myself to reply, pro-
I cecded to search carefully, but without
avail
lyon are right" said at last. "They
are nissng-both of them; and it was the
suit he has been wearing every day.
cannot conceive my stupidity In neglecting
to observe so noticeable n point. espe
cially RS my brother was n very careful
man about his dress. As to the shirt aud
undcrvcst, don't know how many hi
had, but probably my NIECE
Never mind those" said Phillips short
ly. lie hal unquestionably dressed him
self fully. and we shall he safe in AS
sumng that the murderer has destroyed OF
otherwise disposed OF all the four gar
mcnts through which the knife passed
Kindly permit me to examine the crate
although don't suppose"
}le removed the chimney board as HI
spoke The dust lay thick within. and
upon it, he charred fragments of a letter