Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-10-26
"Ahl Who went over the house2 p
'tChipf Dohson

Nllltl IODSOlls
"Ah, we'll go over together present
ly, Thompson. Now, tell me, is the
room exactly as it was when the crime
was discovered, chi Nothing has been
disturbed, nothing removed p
Exactly the same. Nothing has been
taken away except a box Of chessmen.
] suppose Mr.. Dobson has mentioned
that to you already, sir ~
"Ah, yesl They were called for yes
terday morning, / understand, by -
man who said he was a detective from
Chicago"
eyes; that's what he said, sir"
odd you see him?'
"No, sir. Mr.. Dobson saw him. /
was N my round.
81 suppose you have never seen the
particular set Of chessmenYn
"No. sir.
"And have no idea what they were
like?'
well, sir, ] heard Mr.. Dobson say
that they were Indian work in ivory,
very finely carved with figures, cle-
plants, men on horseback, and the
like
All the time that Darrent had been
questioning Thompson his eye had
never ceased To wander over the room,
from the window to the bookcases, from
the bookcases to the lofty chimney piece
and back to the window again. Those
round panes in the doors of the dark
oak bookcases seemed to Darrent to
glare down at him like wide open eyes
wide open, staring eyes that never
closed night or day, eyes that had gazed
down on Josiah Marsden score upon
score of times, eyes that had witnessed
the murder.
What was Josiah Marsdcn doing that
fatal night? Was he sitting, solitary
and alone, by the fire, the gray ashes of
which still filled the CRATE. reading one
or other Of those treasures of literature
that lined the shelves?
Darrent walked round the room and
minutely examined the f%astenings of
the bookcases. No; the dust proved that
they had not been opened for weeks.
Had Marsden been seated there at the
table with the chessmen and board in
front of him, working out some prob
lem, when the assassin had crept noise
lessly in. stolen behind him and stabbed
him to death?
Was there nothing in all that room
TO afford one tiny clew to the murderer
Had there oeen a struggle between
the murderer and victim, and in it had
there possibly been a tiny thread of
material torn, or a button wrenched off
or an ornament broken, that could af-
ford so,nnthinn Df an rlaurg With ayaG
fixed on the floor, Darrent stood think
ing, while Thompson waited respect
fully on one side. Darrent paced the
length of the room from the window 10
the fireplace several times and pom
dered At last he paused in II of his
journeys and gazed ont over the whiten-
ed country. From the house to the riv-
er not "a footmark marred the surface.
i The snow hat had drifted on to the
broad window sill was undisrurbed
There had been no escape that way.
He faced round and stood with hi,
: back to the light. The wintry sui wa.
shining full into the library and throw
ing a ribbon of color across the floor,
, and in its track upon the polished Woo
something white glittered. 1t was only
y a tiny speck, but it caught Darrent
' eye. He stopped. picked it up and ex
gmined it closely. 1t seemed to be 6
= broken piece Of ivory, a little mite Of
u lacelike tiligree. He looked at it in the
full light of the window, and suddenly
o it dawned upon him that here was hi,
clew, here il this tiny scrap, for Oar
II rent felt confident that it had formed
/ part of the ornamental carving Of {
chessman, and it was a set of chessmer
II that sol.e one had been at great pain,
, to secure from that very room.
d Yes, here was the clewl Once let hin
: trace the set of ch"ssmen that had beer
a obtained from The Grange once LEI
"a him find that one was damaged ant
g satisfy himself that this fragment fitted
II and the first step in the discovery Of
l. the murderer of Josiah Marsden would
e be accomplished.
'e He carefully wrapped the piece O
} ivory in a cigarette paper and placed i
| in his pocketbook.
Now, Thompson,' he said to thu
, officer, who had been interestedly
watching his proceedings, Il think w,
seen enough Oh tilS YOU'LL lOl ne pres
ent at any rate. Let us turn our atten
- ton to "A thorough search of the rest o
! the building. The murderer seems t.
have entered in the ordinary way, bu
% he did not depart the same way az h
entered, Therefore, Thompson, he knew
Of some other means of exit, and wha
we have got to do is to find it.
: Darrent had already arrived at TIL
" conclusion that the murder had beef
committed by some one who possesse'
: an intimate knowledge of the %structur
of The Grange itself and of some secre
means of escape. There must be a secre
means of exit from the building-o
that he was conident-hut where
That was the trouble, and that the,
would have to discover. That the en-
trance had been in the usual and ordi
nary way and the exit in some unusua
and extraordinary way was certain
and that gave rise to two possible the
cries. One was that the murderer wa
merely an ordinary visitor, with origi
nally no i'll intent, Something whlc
might never be solved had led TO
quarrel with old Marsden, and that ha
- ended in a struggle and his death
u,Loraup0p tba murderer acuuoiute