The Opelousas courier., 1896-10-24

which puzzled me tremendously, ali
was SO clever q dodge as to seem al
most incredible. It was at q little vii
iage in Yorkshire; there had been
murder, with extensive robbery.
was wired for, and fastened to attens
with all promptitude. was cordial,
welcomed by the local inspector, VIZ,
informed me that they had arrested
man on suspicion, and that the evi
dence was very black against him. E'
then related all the particulars of til,
case to me, which were as follows:
The murdered man was a very &c
centric character, aged about fifty
With the exception of an extremeI,
old man, who waited on him, he livet
alone, being a confirmed woman hater
"The old man." I burst in; ebay,
you arrested him?"
The inspector shrugged his shout
ders. "He is eighty years of age; i
is not possible for him to'kill a man il
his prime; besides, there are signs 0
a sever struggle. No. We have not ar
rested him."
GLOW long has he been in the muir.
dered mans service?"
"About a year and q half"
"Thank you" I jotted that down.
"Pray continue" He did so.
"We know nothing more about him
except that be was reputed wonder.
fully rich. On the morning his old
servant, as was his usual custom, took
his master some hot water. He
knocked twice, but, finding there was
no response, opened the door, intend
ing to stand the jug inside. An awful
sight met his eyes. On the floor lay
his master stone dead, while every
where were signs of a severe and pro.
tracted struggle. Chairs, tables, boxes,
everything was topsy-turvy."
zone moment" broke in. "Does
it not seem strange to you that the old
man should have slept through it all?"
"Not at all. He is as deaf as a post ;
besides, their rooms are far apart.
But to continue. The old man COM
municated with us and I wired for
you. / carefully searched the house
and grounds. In the library there
was a rather superior looking man of
the mechanic class. He was lying un-
conscious. On the table stood q de.
canter of wine. 'Halloa, my man.
thought !, what does this mean?' We
raised him up and examined him. On
the back Of his head was a terrific
bruise, most likely where he had
fallen. He showed no signs of re-
turning consciousness, and I sent for
the old man. I told him how matters
stood, and the old chap shouted out,
Hes been at the wine !; master always
kept a decanter of drugged wine on
this table, There was nothing to be
got out OF him yet, though, so I went
and examined the garden. I found
footprints leading to a window which
had been forced, and closely ex-
amiued them. Then I went back and
measured the arrested mans boots;
they corresponded exactly with the
footprints. That's my case; what do
you think of it,"
"Well." admitted, sit seems very
strong against the suspected man.
Still, l cannot understand him drink
ing wine after committing murder"
"Well, you see," said the Inspector,
zone glass is enough to drug a man
for hours"
II see," I replied, "that alters the
case. By-the-bye, does he plead in
nocent or guilty?"
"Innocent. He has some faxed story
about having a blow IN the head, and
remembering nothing more"
'Ab," I said, "you never know in
such q 8 as this what's true or not
true; however, We shall see. I should
like to have an interview with the ar.
rested man."
Fortunately I was allowed to go and
examine him and form my own opin.
ion. I found him an ordinary type of
the better class British workman.
Somehow the moment I set eyes on
him / felt sure he was innocent. lex.
planned who I was to him, and that if
he was innocent it would be nv en-.
deavor to prove it. He swore that he
had no knowledge of the crime or of
how he entered the room.
"Well," I said, t'you must tell me
everything you know. I shall posi-.
bly, ,-1haeyrive at some conclusion"
81 knoek but very little, sir. I was
walking alo-. the road in front of the
house, when, Vt ithout a seconds warn
ing, I received, severe blow on the
head. l remenaln, aAothing more"
"Were you qilSite sober?'I asked.
Eyes, sir; I had only one pint of
"What seems strange to me-" /
sis the fact Of your footprints
right across the garden"
"My footprints, sir! What do you
mean?'
told him that he had been traced
over the garden, and he looked rather
perplexed; then he looked down. his
boots and blurted out:
"Sir, some one has taken my boots
of and put them on differently"
"How?" I said. +,
II tied them in a bow-now thew
re in q hurried knot. See!"-and he
held them up for my inspection. He
quite right; they were tied in a
knot, as he said.
"Are you sur you tied them differ {
I inquired. {
positive. I could swear it in a t
aw court" I
put that down in my notebook it
vas n point in his favor, Another
hfn n &lak ----