The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1902-05-23
AN AMATEURS WORK


| l am not what you would call cute
sharp man, but have an analytical
and logical mind | Go bit of detec
tive work nov and then for my own
| amusement, ana though the press has
spoken well OF my efforts the regular
officers sheer at them, as q matter of
| course. have given them several pref
ty hard knocks in my time. and sup
pose they are justified in feeling CUT
| up over Ii.
Fifteen years ago l got my first.
chance 10 pit myself against the regu-
| lar detectives Of the famous Scotland
Yard. Squire Farley, while travelling
on horseback, had been murdered and
robbed Of $1,000. A detective was at
once summoned from Scotland Yard.
While was on the ground before the
detective l. gathered nothing but what
he might have learned later on. The
squire had been proceeding over soft
red earth. There were the tracks
where he had pulled up his horse when
| accosted. Then he had descended from
the saddle and left tracks of his. own.
| His assailant had worn the shoes. Of a
a
| moored at the bank of the ssream
There was the dent in the bank made
| by the boats stem, and twigs and
leaves had been stripped off a bush as
the painter was fastened and united
| again. There wasn't a store to be
found for forty rods around. bot there
was root with q hard kr0t at the
end lying almost beside the body.
Watch, ring, pin. seals, cardcase and
bunch of keys had been taken as we'll
as the package of money. That was
OVERRIDING it. It was more like farm.
er's work than bold criminals. The
bride reins on the horse had been bro
ken. satisfied myself that he had
been tied to tree and when assailed
by hunger and thirst had broken away.
| Nothing pointed to robbery as the mo-
tive. There wasn't one chance In a
| thousand that any one outside Of his
mother and sister knew Of the money.
According to my analysis, 1t was
chance meeting. There had been
words, and the squire had dismounted.
Then there had been a grapple, and he
had been struck down. The robbery Of
the corpse had been an afterthought
and was done to dsarm suspicion.
| Nineteen times out Of twenty the
man who Is not killed for plumber Is
killed for revenge. Who thirsted for
revenge on Squire Farley? He might
| possibly have wronged some farmer
thereabout, but it takes a great wrong
to call up thoughts Of murder. 1t was
more than likely that there was a girl
in the case, even though his moral rep
utation stood high. l began work on
| this hypothesis after the detective had
| failed and returned to London. The
| squire had not gone counting at any
| farmhouse, and so looked for the girl
in one Of the dozen country inns.
had visited eight Of them when
found her. l discovered her through
her agitation when | carelessly called
up the subject Of the murder and Won
| dered that no arrests had been made.
| had no proofs that jury would ac-
cept, but was morally certain Of my
game. She didn't do it, but she knew
or suspicioned who did. Was it her IA
Their, her brother or her beau? The
| father was an old man, the brother
was absent at the time, and so / went
hunting for q beau. found him in
| the hostler employed at the same hotel
Up to the date Of the murder the two
had gone much together, and there had
been talk Of 4 marriage. Now the girl
stunned the - ung man, who had be-
come sullen and reserved and changed
over. The murder had taken place on
the hostler's birthday, and on that day,
as learned, he had been given a day
off and borrowed boat and gone fish
ing on the stream. From his boat on
the river near the willows he could
have seen Squire Farley come riding
across the fields. It wasn't that he
feared the squire would marry the
girl out of his hands. She had been
wronged, and it had come to his knowl-
edge. She may have felt great bitter
ness, but he wanted direst revenge.
What had become of the plumber
Being employed about the barn, the
hostler would naturally prefer 1t for
hiding place. Iput up ut the inn for
week while studying out the case, and
one day sent him to the village on an
errand. When he had departed,
lounged into the barn, lodged the boy
left behind and began a search. At
the end of an hour, concealed in an old
and decrepit tanning mill, l found the
proceeds of the robbery, nothing what
ever missing. carried the stuff to my
chamber and locked 1t In my trunk.
had found the murderer, but what
should do with him? That question
would be settled after talk with him
and the girl. The hostler returned just
ut supper time and reported, and l told
him | wanted q few words with him
after had finished my meal. He prob
ably suspected something, as he went
| to the barn and discovered that the
plumber was gone. was waiting to
see him when word was brought In
that he had committed suicide by hang
Ing. We found him hanging In one OF
the stalls, and l confess to feeling a bit
sorry for him, though believe should
have given him up to justice had he
lived. AS for the girl, could not be-
lieve that she had helped plan or con-
scented to the murder or had more than