The herald., 1896-01-04

that he was trsading upon the heels Of
murder. He was not surprised that there had
been no feminine cry Of terror He felt con.
hdent that the lady had not met her death
on the line at ALL but that she had been
murdered and then thrown in front of the
express train. in order that her body might
not remain available for the proof OF the
guilty means which had compassed her death
For when he had suddenly stopped down and
touched the lifeless hand a minute or two
after the alarm had been given 1t was cold
and stiff. 1t had been held in the grasp oi
death for some hours.
| Hence his chagrin at the absence Of medical
! evidence to prove this all-important point
By the time the country doctor arrived the
| coldness Of the body and the rigor mortis
were symptoms quite compatible with death
! in the manner the tall passenger related.
The bitter coldness of the night, said DR..
| Truefit, would have led him to expect similar
appearances about the corpse even had he
arrived considerably earlier. Nor did the
doctors inspection of the scene where the
mutilated body had been found suggest to
him any want of reconciliation between that
which he saw and that which he had been
told by Mr.. Gresswell. He saw no occasion,
he said, to conduct any necropsy before tie
Coroner's inquest was held.
Mr.. Yorke rapidly wrote out a guarded re-
port of the incidents of the night, scribbed
a letter of instructions to a colleague In Lon
don. and prepared the packet containing
these two manuscripts for carriage by the
next train. His next step was to telegraph
to Superintendent James, the head of the
railway company's police, to send down his
smartest detective. Upon the arrival Of In,
spector Waring events began to move rapidly.
Gresswell. truculent and abusive. was ar
rested the Coroner was communicated with.
and a post-mortem examination was ordered.
The inspector. like the journalist, felt conf.
dent that he was upon the trail Of diabolical
murder.
But both. as events proved. were wrong
They had discovered a crime. but it was no,
murder, as the post -mortem examination sub
sequently proved by showing that death had
been due to natural causes. The whole story
came out when the guard was arrested.
"Murder!'' he repeated. wildly. when the
charge was made in the station masters
ofnce at the terminus. "No. before God, 1t
wasn't murder. I'll make a clean breast
Of 1t. Listen! Greeswell has been the curse
OF my existence. I once placed myself in his
power by a foolish act. which committed Al
his instigation. I gave him the slip in Bris.
bane. came to England and had worked faith
fully for the company and forgotten his evil
face almost until one day met him near the
Elephant and Castle. l haven't known 9
happy moment since. Jail would be relief,
so long as 1t helps me to keep out Of his way.
He was at me for weeks before he could
get me to consent to go in for this thing with
him. He lent me book-I forget the title
now but I've got 1t at home with his namt
in it to prove what l say. 1t was about /
murder, and the agony Of the murderer wher
he came to dispose Of the body.
"Gresswell used to discuss this story with me
He brought every conversation around to tn
one topic the stupidity Of the murderer in no
seeing that the corpse, so far from being in tn
way, was really a valuable possession. He H.
lustrated this by saying that his wife wa
dying rapidly; that he expected to make thou
sands out of her body. How?' asked, ana
then he went on to explain that if he threE
the body out Of the train and proved that sh
fell out through the company's negligence
there would be grand haul for compenss tion
l resented being asked to join In this scheme
told him it filled me with horror. But hi
talked me down, 1t was not SO much the share
of the gain he promised me. On my oath it
wasn't. But he seems to have a control over
me. l can't explain it, but if he wanted tt
make me put my arm on the line in front Of
a goods tran | believe he could do it. He
said there was nothing horrible in the affair
that / was as sentimental as a school girl
and that as far as mutilation of the body
was concerned. his wife had always intended
to leave her corpse to some hospital for tbs
dssecting room In short, the villain! he go,
me to agree to be party to his scheme. apd
then he hurried ME along so fast that could
never put the brake on. He got me t. ex-
plain spots where there were no dwellings
and therefore, no doctors; he got me to lock
the carriage for him, and to give him the sig
nal when the express was approaching, and
he got me to prove that the carriage door
was Iot secured through negligence on the
part OF the company's servants. He drilled me
thoroughly, and-well. you know what's hap
pened!'-Black and White,