Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1902-07-03
My Strangest Case
BY GUY BOOTHBY.
Author of "Dr. Kikoia," 4" "The Beautiful
White Devil" "Pharos, The
Egyptian" Etc.
copyrighted. 1901, by Ward. Lock & Col
CHAPTER VIII.-CoNTINUED.

NhAI LEN ' Nlll.-JONTINUED.
"This is a somewhat remarkable
case" he said. 81 will mention no
names, but doubtless you can read
between the lines. There was a man
who murdered his wife in order that
he might marry another woman. The
thought which he gave to it, and the
clever manner in which he laid his
plans, not only for the murder but
also for the disposal of the body,
marked him as a criminal in the pos
session of a singularly brilliant in
tellect. He gave no hint to anybody,
but left the country without leaving
the faintest clew concerning his
destination behind him. | was called
in to talk over the case, but after
some consideration could make moth
ing of it. l have no objection to ad-
mitting that | was completely baf-
fed. Now it so happened that I dis
covered that the mans mother was
of Irish extraction. He, believing
that he would be safe on that island,
engaged passage on board a steam
er from Havre to Belfast. She was
to pick up at Southampton, Ply
mouth and Bristol, en- route. My
man, who, by the way, was very
presentable person, and could be dis
tinctly sociable when he pleased, en-
deavored to make himself agreeable
to the passengers on board. On the
first evening out of port, the con-
versation turned upon the value of
diamonds, and one of the ladies on
board produced some costly stones
she happened to have in her posses
sion. The murderer, who, you must
understand, was quite safe, was un-
happily eaten up with vanity. He
could not forego the boast that he
was the possessor of a magnificent
ring, which had been given him by
ex-Emperor Napoleon III. Need
less to say this information excited
considerable interest, and he was
asked to produce it for the general
edifcation.
"He declared that it was too late
to do so that evening, but said that
he would do so on the morrow, or, at
any rate, before he left the vessel.
an the excitement of reaching South
ampton, the matter was for the mo-
ment forgotten, but on the day that
they arrived in Plymouth one of the
lady passengers reminded him of his
promise. This was followed by an
other application. Thus surrounded,
the unhappy man found himself in
the unpleasant position of being dis
covered in the preparation of an un-
truth, or of being compelled to in
vent some feasible tale in order to
account for his not being able to pro-
duce the ring. 1t was at this juno
ture that he made his great mistake.
Anxious doubtless to attract atten-
tion, he returned from his cabin with
the astounding declaration that the
lock had been forced, and the famous
ring stolen from his trunk in which
fl had lain concealed. He certainly
aced his part well, but he did not
realize to what consequence it would
lead. The matter was reported to
the police, and search was made
through the vessel. The passengers
were naturally indignant at such
treatment, and for the rest of the
voyage the man found himself TAX
ing what you English call the cold
shoulder He reached Belfast, made
his way into the country, and pres
emily settled down. Later on, when
the pursuit had died down, it was his
intention to ship for America, where
he was to be joined by the woman,
to obtain whom he had in the first
place committed the crime. Now OBJ
serve the result. Photographs of the
missing man and of the murdered
woman were circulated all through
France, while not a few were sent
to England. One of these pictures
reached Plymouth, where it was
sshown to the officer who had investi-
gated the case on the boat on its
way TO Ireland. He immediately
recognized the man who had made
the charge against his fellow-passen,
gers, After that it was easy to trace
aim 10 Belfast and his hiding-p place
on land. Extradition was of course
granted, and he left the place. Had
he not imagined that in his safety
nc could indulge his vanities, conf
IDENTIFY believe / should never have
S0aad Alm- NASG YOU Gsms " thiRL