The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-11-14

xzA ~
"Hs had noticed the blood upon hts scrtst-
band and DdshedH It oG"
tracted HIS attention thithor, a. It wa,
tho old mans habit to sleep IN dark.
ness. Thus he had no cuffs on wher
he examined the body. but put them or
again before going out to the police sta :
ton"
He 10 shrewd. Mr.. Barnes. very
shrewd. This is a potent point Of which
I have often thought. Tho prosecution
says. Prisoner. there In blood upon your
That is not blood but rust. or. II blood.
II u chicken blood "Then the expert
stalks In and testifles II is blood.
human blood But this young man
disarms the prosecution at the outset. He
says.- Yes. It Ia blood. the blood OF my
father Then no explains plausibly how
IT happens to be upon him"
"Ah. yes. very good. Mr.. Mitchell But
II he were really innocent why should he
wash or attempt to wash the stain off.
and why should he stop to replace his
cuffs II he were really In hurry to re-
port to the policer"
Sol He had attempted to wash away
the blood. That was an error I fear
But they ell make mistakes. How did
III
you asked him?
Yes; l asked them, and he replied" Z"
Mr. Barnes spoke rather reluctantly. He
said that he had noticed the blood upon
his wristband and washed IL off because
he thought some fool of a detective might
conceive the idea that he had killed his
father: that he had put on his cuffs be-
couse he was In too great hurry 10 stop
to change the shirt. and he had hoped
that the cuff would hide the fact that the
wristband had been washed"
BY heavens, Mr. Barnes, brilliant
answer, a very brilliant answer" Mr..
Mitchell laughed heartily.
ut may be brilliant" retorted Mr.
Barnes, but It Ia false. and I will prove
1t so II 1t be So"
IL 1t be so! An. wisely added. Mr..
Barnes--if II be sol"
You OF course agree that the crucial
point In this affair IL the conflicting
statements OF the watchman and young
Mora. The watchman asserts positive
ly that he saw the son enter the house
and leave IL again. He has been I'm the
employ of the deceased for several years
and was acquainted. therefore. with his
son. Yet the young man stoutly denies
that he was at home before o'clock In
the morning. Evidently one OF these
men IL lying"
Pardon me. Mr.. Barnes, but you say
mat one OF the men lies because you
think that young Morn q telling q false
hood. You do not mean that by any pos
sibility the watchman is lying. yet II may
be that Mora tells the truth and also that
the watchman believes that his own state
ment is accurate"
You mean that the watchman was
perhaps mistaken and that II was some
other person who entered the house7"
Precisely so. 1t is possible
Possible. bur far from uroha hla
IL seems that Mora has been wearing a
peculiar brown plaid suit OF late The
material he procured I'm Scotland. snd
it is not likely that another bit OF cloth
like IL could be found in this city. The
watchman was familiar with this suit OF
clothing and swears that the man who on
tered the house that night wore that suit
OF Scotch plaid. Yet In the face OF this
positive assertion young Mora denies
that he wore that suit at all that night
and suggests that the murderer, after
committing the crime, may have dress
ed himself in this suit. wearing 1t over
his own clothing. He claims that the
wa atchman may have been mistaken about
what was worn by the man going in.
though he seems TO have been quite ac-
curate what was worn by him who came
out, for, oddly enough. the plaid suit is
missing
And young Mora says that the mur-
uerer may nave taken IL we'll ~ N
very belieyable proposition"
"Bellevable,' returned Mr. Barnes
hotly. Yes. that is the worst OF II.
They have believed 1.-THE coroner's
jury. | mean"
All! Matters have proceeded as far
as that have they2"
Yes The full account Of yesterdays
is IN the morning papers.
You may read IT."
NO" said Mr. Mitchell Il would
rather have you read IL To me-"
Mr.. Barnes turned so that the light
from the window fell across his paper
and read the following:
THE MORA MYSTERY--THE IN
QUEST BRINGS NO SOLUTfON-THE
SON ACQUITTED.
The inquest In the Mora case ended
yesterday. the jury bringing in the usu
ll commonplace verdict, Died from
wounds infected by parties unknown
Thus. despite the many hints that the |
istrict attorney and the detectives had |
discovered damaging evidence against
young Matthew Mora, nothing has been |
proved The evidence offered was en-
irely speculative and theoretical. and the /
Jury rightly declined 10 cast n stain upon
luch fimsv testimony. The main points
ipon which the police relieved were the
discovery of blood upon the young mans
sleeve and the positive assertion Of the
satchman that he had been seen dressed
N n plaid suit known TO be his. entering 4
md leaving the house at or near l O'Clock. I
rhe first point Mr.. Mora easily disposed /,
n by openly admitting that the blood was
hat OF his father and that be had been /
'meared with ~ while examining the /