The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-03-26

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] was not remarkable, nor would her Pc
culiar escapade have made more than
a temporary impression upon my curl
oslty If she had not afterward shown in
| my presence such an unaccOuntable
/ and extraordinary interest in the muir
! der which had taken place in the town
| below during the very hours of her
absence from Mr.. Sutherland's ball
This, in consideration of her sex, and
her being a stranger to the person at
tackled, was remarkable, and, though
perhaps | had no business to do what
| did, no sooner saw the house emp
! tied of master and servants than
stole softly back and climbed the stairs
to her room. Had no good followed
| this intrusion, which | am quite ready
/ to acknowledge, was a trifie presump-
4 tuous, should have held my peace
! in regard to it; but as | did make a
I discovery there which has, as [ believe,
an important bearing on this affair,
/ have forced myself to mention it.
The lights in the house having been left
| her apartment L knew 1t by the fol-
derols scattered about. But I did not
stop to look at them. / was on q
search for her Slippers, and presently
L came upon them, thrust behind an
old picture in the dimmest corner of
the room. Taking them down, eX-
amined them closely They were not
only soiled, gentlemen, but dreadfully
cut and rubbed. In short, they were
ruined; and, thinking that the young
lady herself would be glad to be rid of
them, | quietly put them into my
pocket, and carried them to my own
home Abel has just been for them.
so you can see them for yourselves,
and, If your judgment comedies with
mine. you Will discover something more
on them than mud ,"
DR.. Talbot, though he stared a little
at the young mans confessed theft,
took the slippers Abel was holding out
and carefully turned them over They
were, as SweetWater had said, griev-
ous!y torn and soiled, and showed, be-
sides several deep earth stains a mark
or two oe q bright red color quite I'M
rlistakable in character
Blood" declared the coroner. ''There
is no doubt about it. Miss Page was
where blood was spilled last night"
Il nave another proof against her.
Sweetwater went on, in full enjoyment
OF his prominence amongst these men,
who, up till now, had barely recognized
his existence. when full of the suspic-
ION that Miss Page had had hand in
the murder Of Mrs Webb, [ fastened
down to the scene of the tragedy. | met
this young woman issuing from the
front gate. She had just been making
herself conspicuous by pointing out a
trail of blood on the grass plot. DR..
talbot, who was there, Will remember
how she looked on that occasion; but L
DOUBT II he noticed how Abel here look
ed, or so much as remarked the FADED
hover the silly boy had stuck in his
buttonhole.'
= me. if did" calculated the cor
oner.
Yet the flower has a very important
bearing ON this case. He had found it.
as he will tell you, on the floor near
Betsy's skirts, and as soon as 1 saw it
IN his coat, | babe him take it out and
Keep 1t, for, gentlemen, it was very
uncommon flower, the like of which
can only be found in this town in
Mr. Sutherland's conservatory. | re-
member seeing such one in Miss
Pages hair, early in the evening. Have
you that flower about you, Abel?"
Abel had, and being filed with i'm
portance, too, showed it to the doctor
and to Mr. Fenton. 1t was withered and
faded in hue, but it was Enthusiastically
an orchid of the rarest description
1t was lying near Betsy" explained
Abel. Il drew Mr.. Fenton's attention
to it at the time, but he scarcely no
ticed it,
I will make up for my Indifference
now" said that gentleman.
: should have been shown that
flower" put in. Knapp.
SO you should acknowledged
Sweetwater, "but when the detective
instinct is aroused it is hard for man
to be just to his rivals: besides. L was
otherwise occupied. had Miss Page to
watch Happily for me it had been de-
cided that she should not be allowed
to leave town till after the inquest,
and SO my task became easy. This
whole day | have spent in sight of Mr..
Sutherland's house, and at nightfall [
was rewarded by detecting her end d
prolonged walk in the garden by hur-
RED dash into the woods opposite 1 fol-
lowed her and noted carefully all that
she did. AS she had just seen Freder-
lex sutherland and Miss Halliday dis
appear up the road together she prob
ably felt free to do as she liked, for
she walked very directly to the old tree
we have just come from, and, kneeline
down beside it, pulled from the hole
underneath something which ratified in
her hand with that peculiar sound we
associate with fresh bank notes.
had approached her as near
as dared, and was peer1ng
around tree trunk, when she STOPPED
down again and plunged both hands
into the hole She remained in this
position so long that I did not know
What TO make of it. But she rose at last
and turned toward home, laughing TO
herself in wicked but pleased way
that did not tend to make me think any
more of her. The moon was shining
very brightly by this time and l could
readily perceive very detail of her per
son. She held her hands out before he1,
and shook them more than once as she
trod by me, so I was sure there was
nothing in them, and this is why [ was
so confident we should find the money
still in the hole.
When [ saw her enter the house.
set out to find you, but the court house
room was empty, and it was a long
time before / learned where to look for
you. But at last q fellow at Brighton's
corner said he saw four men go by on
their way to labels cottage, and on the |
chance of finding you amongst them. T !
turned down here The shock you gave |
me in announcing that You had dis |
covered the murderer of Agatha Webb |
knocked me over for the moment, but |
now | hope you realize as | do, that |
he could never have had an active hand |
in her death, notwithstanding the fact |
that one of the stolen bills has been
found to have been in that wretched |
mans possession. For, and here is my
great point, the proof is not wanting
that Miss Page visited this house as
well as Mrs. Webb's during her famous |
or at least stood under the
window beneath which have just been
4 footprint can be seen |
there, sirs, a. very plain footprint and
f DR.. Talbot will take the trouble to
it with the slipper he holds inj
his hand, he will find it to have been
made by the foot that wore that slip
per-
The coroner. with a quick glance from