Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1899-07-20
CHAPTER VI

The next morning a little company
was gathered in the Office Of the sher-
If. Fosdick' 5 theory regarding Burke :
death was perfected, and few Of those
particularly interested were invited to
come and hear his explanation. Besides
Fosdick there were present the sheriff,
Professor Gilman, Arnold, DObsOn and
General Kerr. The latter appeared to
be il high spirits. At his request Cha
pin was brought in, remaining there un-
der the watchful eye Of an officer. Fos-
dick SIT by desk on which were group
"a the silver handled stick belonging to
Chaplin, a short rod Of steel and two
pieces Of rock or mineral, one (the lar
ger much darker than the other. There
was also a plaster cast Of part Of frac-
tured skull The company having found
chairs, the detective said:
Gentlemen, our friend Sheriff Estes
tells me that his belief in the guilt Of
Mr.. Chaplin is still unshaken, and ~
touching the walking stick lightly with
bis Land-''this he believes to be the in
strumeut with which he struck Burke.
| DO not agree with him, however, as
you viii see.
"Thiz plaster cast is an accurate rep
reseutation Of the left side Of Burke s
skull after the blow had broken it. Its
appearance indicates that but one blow,
and that a heavy one, was struck Aft
er carefully noting the size and shape
Of the wound, and also the shape and
size Of this stick handle, was convinc-
ed that this was not the instrument
used. The blood found on the handle,
which seems 10 have had much weight
with Mr.. Estes counted for but little
with me. It might easily have come
there In some perfectly inDocent way.
l was willing to accept Mr.. Chaplin $
explanation regarding it. The very fact
Of blood being on it was to me rather
an indication that it was not the weap-
on used. A guilty man would be quite
certain 10 remove every blood stain,
even the smallest.
Another reason for supposing this
not to be the weapon is that apparently
there was little attempt to conceal it.
II was a most clumsy concealment, if
concealment was desired, for it was
found lying among the rocks by the
river, in plain view Of any one passing
along the bluffs above. 1t was, in fact,
exactly where you would expect it to
be If il had slipped over the bluff, as
Mr Chaplin sHpposes it must have done
but exactly where you would expect it
not 10 be If one man had killed another
with it. A murderer would have been
l. - g. ava4s Ea
river If not using the more certain
means Of FIRE for destroying such damn
ing evidence against him 50 / dismiss
ed all idea Of this being the weapon
used.
'fThat, however, did not necessarily
remove all suspicion from Mr.. Chaplin,
though it did remove a great deal /
have u habit Of chewing gum, as some
Of you know, and while l was engaged
in this not unpleasing occupation the
first afternoon Of my work on this case
| reflected somewhat in this manner
Suppose Mr.. Chaplin did leave the ho-
tel that night angry enough to kill
Burke, would be he likely to do it!
Would NOT the very fact Of his having
quarreled with him serve rather as a
preventiveY
"Mr Chaplin is by no means a low
and ignorant man We all know that
Now, "a. say. suppose he was angry
enough 10 kill Burke. suppose the
thought Of killing him came into his
mind, would not such man. especially
with the night wind cooling his heated
le. sy.t ~ hgt in
this fashion: i have quarreled with
Burke in the presence Of numerous wit
nesse8 If he Is murdered, on whom
win suspicion fall 80 quickly as On me
On no one. No, it viii not be safe to
kill him, at least not tonight.
"Reasoning thus, / grew doubtful If
Chaplin would have dared TO do the
deed. But added TO this was the cir
cumstance Of the boat being in its usual
place Assuming that Burke was muir
dered, the presence Of the boat there in
dicated one Of two thinga-frst, that
he had crossed the river, securing his
boat in the customary manner, and wa
afterward murdered, or, second, that II
he was struck that fatal blow on the
west side his slayer must subsequently
have crossed the river, bringing the
body with him and, after locking tho
boat with chain and paddock, returned
the keys 20 the dead mans pocket
where they were aftcrward found.
II am not uumindful cf duplicate
key theories and all that, but am delib
erately rejecting them The key ant
lock were, az we know, Of very un
usual pattern, and the existence Of ;
duplicate key il altogether improbable
The theory that Burke was murdered
on the west side would also make ncccs
sary the assumption that the murderer
| drowned his victim before crossing th'
| river with him, on in the act Of cross
! ing, because the experts say that Burk'
| was drowned before he had tiDo to dh
| Of his wound. To me this seemed &
argue against the theory Of murder, fO
! when man murders another II Is rare
| ~ indeed that midway in his work h
| changes the means and method Of ac
| complaining his purpose. These thing
convinced me that Chaplin was not tn
| murderer, whoever else might be. III
was on the west side of the river. Ill
| had no boat, and, 20 far "a / have boel
| able 10 discover, no available means f.
crossing the river were at hand. No on
has come forward with story Of hav
| ing carried him over the river tina
| night as would be likely II such "A thin