The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-01-03
ELIZABETH KENT
Copyright. 1902,
by q. z. Put
MANS sons
The House Opposite
MISTER Y

ornament "A useful ornament, for it is
the head of one of those jeweled hat pins
mat have been so fashionable of late. A
dagger with the hlt incrusted with pre-
ciogs stones is quite common design
Did you find the pin itseH2" / asked.
No. did not" the detective answered,
RESPECTFULLY.
How do you account for the handle be-
Ing where you found it?'
II think that. in all probability the pin
was removed from the body Immediately
| after IL had done its work, and I'm doing so
the head was wrenched of. During the
excitement which followed no one noticed
/ where il fell, and its loss was not dscOv-
cred till the victim had been disposed Of
Young Derwent evidently expected the
place to be searched, which accounts for
| the care with which he tried TO remove all
traces OF his presence, and his extreme
anxiety TO md this. which. he feared,
IL discovered on the premises might prove
sure clew. Now, that theory hangs to-
| detective.
| Without answering him I inquired: "And
what do you mean to do now?"
m afraid / shall have to arrest Miss
| Derwent, as we can find no trace of her
two companions. BY the way it is as you
building was no tradesman, so he is prob
ably the person we want. / have, there
i fore , given his description to the police:
ana nope soon to have some news of him. -
80, MT. Merritt, you would really arrest
a girl on such fiimsy evidence. and for a
crime you do not believe her to have COM
| mltted? L inquired Indignantly
| AS Tor the evidence | think u is fairly
| complete, answered the detective, land
would not arrest Miss Derwent if 1 were
/ not convinced that she is implicated in this
| affair. and think that this is the surest way
or getting hold of the precious couple.
| can't allow criminal to slip through my
| myers for sentimental reasons, and every
hour delay renders their escape more pos
| slble. The girl may be innocent-I believe
she is-but that one of that trio is guilty L
/ Are you, really?" I exclaimed. "Wen, I
am not, and IL you will listen TO me for a
few minutes L think can easily prove to
| you that you are wrong; for since Friday /,
| too, have thought of new and interesting
| point In connection with this case" The
detective looked indulgently at me.
| You seem to forget" / continued. land
of this fact 1 am quite certain, that the
victim met his death while wholly or partly
| unconscious"
| Merritt gave slight start and his face
fell.
The autopsy must have been made by
this time. Did not the doctor find traces OF
| alcohol or a drug?" I demanded.
Yes" admitted the detective, "alcohol
| was found in large quantities.
Now, Greenwood had been dining quietly
with lady, and it is inconceivable that he
| could have been drunk. or that, being in
that condition, she should not have noticed
| 1t. which she could not have done-other-
wise she would certainly have not allowed
That is good point" said the detective.
| Besides, the corpse bears every indica-
ton Of prolonged dissipation. Now. no one
| has limited that Greenwood drank"
mo; but he may have done so, for all
that" said Mr.. Merritt
He could not have done SO to the extent
| or leaving such traces after death without
Its being widely known / asserted. 1.-The
dead man must have been habitual
drunkard, remember, and that the young
| artist was not. No; If you persist in be-
lieving the murdered man to be Greenwood
you must also believe that Miss Derweni
lured him to her rooms while he was SC
| intoxicated as to be almost If not quite
helpless, and there either killed him her
self or allowed her brother to kill him. In
the latter case, do you not think a lady's
hat pin feeble weapon for young des-
perado to select? And that that description
can be applied to Allan Derwent everything
have heard of him tends to show.
| 'On the other hand, let us consider fol-
a moment the proba biity of the body being
| Allan Browns. What do we find? When
| last seen he was already noticeably intoX-
| icated, and what is there more likely than
| that the daughter of a saloon keeper should
have no scruples about offering him the
means OF becoming still more so? And
please notice another thing. You told me
yourself that Mrs. Atkins had spent the
greater part of her life among very fast
lot-so that Ii is perfectly natural TO FIND
a man OF the deceased's habits among hel
familiar associates. But what is more un
likely than that a girl brought up Miss
Derwent has been should go so much ou
OF her way as to choose such man for hel
friend? And then, again, remember how
the two women behaved when confronted
with the corpse.
miss Derwent walked calmly I'm and de-
I liherately lifted her veil. which could easily
have hidden from us whatever emotion:
she may have felt. Lifts 1t, L say, before
looking at the body. Does that look like
guilt? And what does Mrs. Atkins do? Sh,
shows the greatest horror and agitation
Now. mind you, do not infer from thi:
that she killed the man, but / do say tina
IL proves that the man was no stranger u
her. And now l come to the hat pin. Yoi
assume, because you find certain thing
and L saw a search carried on. that tn,
man was looking for the object you found
| What reason have you for believing thi.
except that it fits in very prettiy with you
theory of the crime? None. You canno
To- Miss perwen ns' cam you ? The deteetiV
shook his head. "Ah l thought not. An,
| even IL you did what would IL prove? Yoi
say yourself that the design is not an un
mo. but IL certainly would be considere,
very remarkable coincidence, and on
that would tell heavily against her." tn
| detective replied.
Eyes. / suppose so, but we needn't eros
that bridge till we come TO it. AS yet yol
know nothing as to the ownership of tn
pin. But / want to call your attention {,
another point. IL two people have identifie,
the body as the young artist so have tw,
others recognized it as that of Allan Brown
| and / assert that the two former are no
| as worthy of credence as the two latter
How SOP inquired Mr.. Merritt.
''In the first place Jim was much les
/ pOSillNt do W TIC SuppOScu iututlty VI
deceased than Joe was. You admit that
consequently, / consider Joe's word in thi
| case better than Jim's, and Mrs. Atkins i
certainly more reliable witness than Mrs
Mulroy, an Irish charwoman, with all he
| national love of a sensational story"
THAT is all very fine" said Mr.. Merritt
''but Mrs. Atkins emphatically denie'
knowing the deceased"
I'm words, yes; but don't you think thi
is one of the cases where actions speal
louder than words? By the way. / gathe
1 etfI hcin will i'm n
corpses identity that you have not beel
able TO trace this mysterious Brown"
''You are right. The only thing hav
found out is that the berth on the Boston
: train which was bought in his name wa
never occupied"
And yet, in the face of all this, you still
think of arresting Miss Derwent; of blight
ing a girls life in such a wanton manner?
Doctor, you're right; may have bee
hasty. Mrs. Greenwood. the young man.
mother, arrives tomorrow. and her testi
: mony will be decisive. Should the bod
not be that OF her son (and you have al
most convinced me that ii is noD then Mis-
: DerwentS affairs are of no further interes
) 10 me, and who she may. or may not en-
: terrain in her apartment 1t is not my bust
! ness to inquire"
After little more desutory talk / lef
; him to his morning paper. i was now NOR
f, than ever determined TO do little work 4
? his line myself. and felt quite sure tina
talent of a superior order lay dorman
{ within me. Only the great difficulty Wa
[ 10 know where TO begin. / must get neare
the scene of the tragedy, i concluded;
must cultivate McGorry and be able {
I prowl around the Rosemere undisturbec
What a triumph IL l should discover tn