Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1899-12-14

el4ner. has been discovered In q Soho
lodging house. The medical evidence
shows death to have resulted from
strangulation, and as neither money
nor valuables of any sort were found
ON deceased, it is inferred that plumber
was the motive of the crime. The ten
ant of the room in which the body was
found was man named Tom Webb,
described as Journalist and as of no.
toriously Incorporate habits. He. how
ever, has not been seen since the eve
of the gruesome discovery, and the cor
oner's jury had no hesitation in arriv-
ing at a verdict of willful murder
against him and other persons I'M
known. The police are Of opinion that
several persons must have been con-
cerned in the affair, but are vvery reti-
cent as to such clues as they possess.
We understand that the deceased has
not been identified"
| Poor little Madge! could quite real
ize her anxiety. She knew, of course
that TOMS profession was that of Il
journalist, and daresay she more
than suspected his weakness for strong
waters. And, now, here was a man.
| thus closely tallying in description and
der! Poor Madge! My heart bled for
| her! But what could do to comfort
| her? ...
1 did my best. 1 wrote her long let,
| ter, stating the case as hopefully as ]
could. OF Toms absolute innocence OF
any deliberate share in the atrocious
crime I expressed my absolute conyic-
ton; but there was no blinking the
facts that the body was found in his
room, and that lie had himself disap
| peared.
"Of course" 1 added, "this was
bound to direct a certain amount of
suspicion against him. and, as you
must see yourself. justified the verdict
of the coroner's jury. in the absence of
other evidence. But it will console you
to know that even the detective officer
in charge. of the case no longer be-
lievcs in Toms guilt, though he thinks
he was made Il tool of. So be a brave
girl. Madge. and don't fret. You know
that, from the very nature of my bust
ness, am in a good position to watch
the course of events; and 1 need hard
~ assure you that will leave no effort
unmade to clear up this distressing af-
fair. shall, if possibly can manage
it. run down to Dorchester within a
few days, and it is quite on the cards
may bring you some good news. Mean
while. keep up n brave heart, and be-
lieve steadfast1y in poor Toms inno-
cence."
The other letter was somewhat
bulky one. 1t was from Inspector
TrailI. and the contents proved to he
of most absorbing interest. Apparent
ly. the inspector had been very busy
when he sent his dispatch, which con-
tanned merely a few words. scrawled
i'll pencil. on scrap of paper, to ex-
plain their drift. "See what you can
make of inclosed notes." the message
ran. "and let me know results as soon
as possible" Apparently. MIR. Trail
was coming round to deductive meta.
DDS. after all.
The notes were somewhat volumin
Gus and in Il very disconnected order:
but they included everything that had
so far been discovered. and amply re-
paid perusal Personally, was rather
methodical in my habits, and. rs
read. / took down some more con-
densed notes of my own.
Nature of Case-Murder by sr,angu-
lation of man unknown, reported by
Constable Dwyer, at 1920 a. N. Nov.
GOTH as having occurred at Is. Cato
street. Soho. From statement, of the
landlord. George Marsh. it appears
that he entered a room on the ground
floor occupied by one Thomas Webb.
journalist. who was in arrear with his
rent. Webb vas not there. nor had the
bed been slept in; but upon the sofa lay
the dead body Of a stranger covered by
a cloak. Webbs latch-key was found
upon the floor.
Description Of deceased.-Lensth. $
feet 10 inches. Strong build; we'll
nourished, apparently about thirty-two
years of age. Hair: dark-brown. Eyes:
grey Teeth: sound. regular; somewhat
discolored, as by chewing. Dressed in
blue serge suit, with brown CATERS and
heavy boots. all, seemingly. Of foreign
make. Linen marked l.. A.. No valn
ables or papers whatever. Two body
marks: letters L. A. tattooed upon left
forearm, with small anchor; on right
breast a floating spar, also tattoed,
with r. n. upon it.
The Missing ledger. Webb.-Aged
about thirty; but looks older. Average
lelSnC. Iulu. rOuIlu-S1OulueEeu, slOuCu"
ing gait. Dark hair, grey in places.
Blue eyes. usually bloodshot Reputea
to be habitually a drunkard, but moth
ing known against him otherwise.
Result Of Inquiries.-So far, practic
ally nil Webb has not been traced.
nor is there any clue to the identity of
the murdered man. Webb would seem
to be physically incapable Of the crime;
and the theory gains ground that he,
too, has been made way with by the
actual perpetrator.
There are very copfous notes regard
ing the post-mortem and the inquest,
but they did not throw any fresh light
upon the subject, so far as I could
judge.
Lastly. there were two poorly-devel-
oped photographs Of the murdered
mans CHASTITY, swollen face, pasted on
two pieces of white card board. They
might Of course, some day prove Of
use as a means of Identification, al
though 1 doubted whether the unfor-
tunate gentleman's most intimate
friend would ever be very positive in
recognizing those distorted features.
Now, all this was very interesting,