Barton County democrat., 1902-07-11

matter.
Invent back through the upstair hall
and found the window-a at the end raised
about two feet. I looked out and saw
on the tin roof of the little summer
kitchen below leather rifle case.
Then searched the whole house from
cellar to attic, but found no sign of
the missing pistol. No robbery had
been done, because Fordyce identified
everything of value, and even showed
me about $500 in bills,-hi wife's pin
money, which was tucked carelessly
into an old, painted or gilded gourd on
the dresser. I was puzzled about the
pistols disappearance, but concluded
that the robber had secured that first,
had probably awakened Mrs. Fordyce
in that way and made off after the
murder with the revolver in his pock-
ct. Yet how or why, having secured
the pistol, the intruder had found time
or cause to uncase the rifle and use it
in preference to the smaller, handler
gun, I couldn't figure out. That rob-
berry had been the motive, I didn't
doubt for an instant, but when1 exam
ined the ground about the cottage,
though it was quite muddy from the
rain of the night before. I could find no
trace of the escaping house-breaker.
I made sure that everything had been
locked except that one window, and it
seemed as plain as day that the MUIR
derer must have climbed in over the
kitchen roof and out by the same route.
What had prompted him to carry the
rifle case that far? How had he got
from the roof of the summer kitchen
to the distant back fence without 1eav-
ing print of his footsteps? There
was neither pavement nor walk In the
yard, for the cottage was new and the
bare clay about it was soft and un-
trodden. At either side of the cottage
was bare area at least 25 feet wide.
There were no footprints anywhere.
Where was the pistol? searched that
house dozen times that day, even un-
folding the clean linen in the closets
and rumma ging in Bertha trunk, to
the great anger of her grief-stricken
father. But it was not to be found. /
spent the night proving to my own sat
isfaction that Fordyce had actually
been at his store till half an hour be-
fore the murder must have occurred.
Nobody knew much about the family.
He had come with his wife six months
before and had bought the Ferris
stove and tinware business. He seemed
to be a fine man, trifle younger than
his wife, but apparently happy.
ssThe women who had met her all
spoke well Of Mrs. Fordyce. Bertha,
the daughter, had come home from
boarding school at Ogdensburg in May.
It was about June 10 that the murder
occurred. Now, after finding out as
much as could, I made up my mind,
and it cost me many twinge to do so.
I made up my mind that Bertha had
killed her own motheri 1t was such
preposterous, monstrous suspicion
that I was ashamed of it myself and, of
course, dared not mention it to any
one else, at least, until I had some
sound evidence. She was apparently a
very emotional, cultivated young girl
and I couldn't think of the least shad-
ow of motive sufficient to urge her to
so hateful and unnatural a crime, but
the facts, few but adamantine, told
me, in spite of myself, that she had
done it, Now in a case like that, where
the. evidence is wholly circumstantial
and at that, far from final, it is abso-
Iute1y necessary to find or supply a
motive. I was so sure of my theory
that spent a week at the Ogdensburg
school trying to find out all about Ber-
tha, her disposition, vagaries, regard
for her home and her mother. Every
thing was favorable to, the girl. There
was not hint of criticism upon which
I might fasten the thread of justifica-
ton for my suspicion. I went sudden
ly back to Fordham and searched the
FOrdyce house again. / don't know
what moved me to it, but got out on
the tin roof, and noticing a warped
place where the metal had raised about
an inch from the level, I thrust in my
hand and pulled out the missing pistol
that had been stolen from under
Fordyce's pillow!
Meanwhile the coroner's jury had
laid the crime at the door of party or
parties unknown" and, certain as l
felt that this strange girl must have
abstracted her parents weapon in the
daytime or perhaps during a previous
night, and had gone about the murder
with premeditated and horrible cool
ness, I was powerless to reopen the
case for I knew that. unless I could
supply a reasonable motive for the in
credible crime, I would be laughed at.
So passed up the whole matter.
"Never did anything about it 90 won
dered the nj ght clerk.
"No Never heard of the Fordyces
again till two years ago. was visit
| ing an old sister of mine in Boston.
I was sitting on the front stoop one
summer evening when / saw FOrdyce
and his daughter pass, arm in arm.
asked my sister if she knew them and
she said their name was Ballard, that
| Mrs. Kelly, who lived across the