Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-08-08
~ gaIel1naH NaAssasss W1sh The
crime. fAas would have been sxtreme-

aware. In the first place, the account
ant was wounded; and thus not only
partially disabled, but also--what is
far worse-conspicuously marked. A
man who carries his arm in sling can
hardly fail to attract attention, espe-
clally when this distinguishing mark
is accompanied by another equally
glaring one in the form of head of
brilliant red hair"
Hold on, sturgis!" interrupted
Sprague, who had been listening with
growing interest; don't you know the
accountants name?"
eyes," replied the reporter; This
name is Thomas Chatham"
"Thomas Chatham!" exclaimed
Sprague, as the image of the miserable
/ young man came to his mind.
Eyes," replied Sturgis, answering his
thought, "the man you met only few
hours ago."
There was brief silence, broken at
last by Sprague, who asked:
Has he escapcd?"
Sturgis hesitatcd.
THAT depends upon how we look Mt
It," he said, gravoly, at length; "he has
paid the penalty of his crimes"
| What do you mean?"
"He is dead" answered the reporter.
Dead? But / tell you'll saw him"
II know; but he has died SINCE"
/ "Suicide?"
Mo- the reporters voice sank to a
whisper; murder" e
"Murder?" repeated the artist, star
tied. "But how do you know that?"
''Phis lump of lead tells the story"
said Sturgis, holding up the shapeless
piece of metal which he had taken out
of the vat.
"What is it? A bullet?"
Yes; the bullet which Chatham car
ried in his arm from the time that he
was wounded by Arbogast, the bullet
which has enabled me to trace him step
by step, from his fight from the over
turned cab to DR.. Thurston's and finally
to his death in this very room; the
bullet whose peculiar shape is record
ed in this shadow picture taken by
Thurston by means of the Roentgen
rays"
So ssSa%s, hs hs&dsd sp,ayue the
photograph. asnS Ne sxtiA had ceased
10 listen.
"In this very room?" he unused aloud,
looking about him with awe.
Yes. The story is simple enough.
The man whose instrument Chatham
was is not one who would care to be
numbered up with tools, which become
positively dangerous as soon as they
cease to be useful. This man, totally
unhampered by pity, gratitude or fear,
determined to destroy the accountant,
whose discovery might have imperiled
his own welfare. What mattered q
human life or two, when weighed
against the possible loss of his own
life or liberty, or of his high social
standing and his enormous wealth; for
this man is both renowned and rich,
and he appears to have brought whole
sale murder to q sscience."
do you mean to say that wholesale
murder can be INDUCED in with inn
punity in n city like New York, at the
end of the nineteenth century," asked
Sprague, aghast.
"Yes; when it is done in the system-
attic and scientific manner that has been
| employed here. For this murderer is
the most remarkable criminal of mod
| ern times. He has not been satisfied
with killing his victims; he has sue
ceeded in completely wiping them out
of existence. Criminals have often at
tempted to destroy the bodies of their
victims, but they have never before sue
ceeded us this man has. He is chem
list OF remarkable talent, and he has
discovered a compound in which bone
us well as human tissue is rapidly and
totally dissolved. There it is in yon-
der tank. See how completely the
liquid has destroyed the bone handle
of this knife
Sturgis, after showing the damaged
knife to his companion, resumed his
whiting upon the cover of the box
| on which the artist was seated.
"Chatham's body has been dissolved
In that tank within very short time.
1t has entirely disappeared; this fat
tened bullet alone is left, lead being
one of the few substances which are
not soluble In the contents of the
tank. Fortunately he overlooked that
fact. Genius has its lapses."
Presently Sprague ventured to say:
If numerous crimes have been COM
mitted here as you intimate, 1 do not
understand how it is that suspicion
has never rested on this house be.
fore"
"The author Of these crimes has
taken every precaution to render the
chance of discovery quite remote. His
dwelling-house on one street, and the
bogus Chemical company OH the other,
ore in communication through this
underground passage, while appar-
emily having no connection with each
other. Moreover, he is too shre~d to
make frequent use of this death cham
Der. That does well enough as a last
resort. yhe4 R is obliged to commit
the murders with his own hands; but
l. suspect that this man has other
agents like Chatham. who do the
dirty work for him and then quietly
ship the bodies here for humiliation
as it was intended should be done
with Arbogasts. All! yes: thought
so. You are sitting upon one of these
bodies now"
Sprague started to his feet; and
following the direction in which Stur.
i gis was pointing with his open knife
he vaguely discerncd, through the
opening which the reporter had whit
tied, small surface of what had
once been the features of human
being.
\ After gazing for some minutes in
horror-stricken silence at the distort
ed face. the artist asked in q low
voice:
How did Cha than meet his death?'
II don't know yet" answered Stur
| gis, gravely; this man is no ordinary
criminal. His work is clean anG
leaves no blood-stains and no disorder