Omaha daily bee., 1903-01-18

fashioned. Before l entered the room where
the unfortunate YOUNG woman was lying
be explained to me that life had evidently
been extinct about seven hours prior to the
discovery Of the body.
There are no marks Of foul play?" l
inquired anxiously.
None, as far as I've been able to find
only a scratch on the left cheek, evidently
after death"
whats your opinion"
Suicide. without a doubt. The hour at
which she fell into the water is shown by
her watch. 1t stopped at 2:2S."
"You have no suspicion Of foul play?'
None whatever"
I did not reply, but by the compression
Of my lips l presume he saw that l was
dubious.
"Ah! / see you are suspicious" he said.
"Of course, in tragic circumstances like
these the natural conclusion is to doubt.
The poor young lady's husband was mys-
teriously done to death. and 1 honestly
believe that her mind gave way beneath
the strain of grief. I've attended her pro-
fessionally two or three times OF late and
noted certain abnormal features in her case
that arouse my suspicion that her brain
had become unbalanced. I never, however,
bubptCltu htl Va bulilhdl AChNNANS
Her mother, Mrs. Mivart, did," l re-
sponded. "she told me so only a few days
ago"
II know, l know he answered. "of
course. her mother had moro frequent and
intimate opportunities for watching her
than l had. In any case, 1t is a very dread
full thing for the family"
Very" l said.
IAN the. mystery surrounding the death
Of Mr.. Courtenay-was it never cleared up?
Did the police never discover any clue to
the assassin"
mo. Not a single fact regarding It be-
yond those related at the inquest has ever
been brought to light"
"Extraordinary-very extraordinary"
1 went with him into the darkened bed
room wherein lay the body, white and COM
posed, her fair hair disheveled about her
shoulders and her thin white hands crossed
upon her breast. The expression upon her
conference.-the face that looked so
charming beneath it's veil Of widowhood
as she had sat in my room at Harley Place
was calm and ~restful, for indeed in the
graceful curl of the lips there was a kind
of half-smile, as though, poor thing, she
had at last found perfect peace.
+Govitt drew up the blind, allowing the
golden sunset to stream into the room,
thereby giving me sufficient light to make
my examination. The latter occupied some
little time, my object being to discover any
marks OF violence. In persons drowned by
force, and especially in women, the doctor
expects to find red or livid marks upon the
wrists, arms or neck, where the assailant
had seized the vicim. OF course, these are
not always discernible, for it is easier to
a. l. @-A 90 akn uratnrf
edge and give a gentle push than grapple
in violence and hurl a person into the
stream by main force. The push leaves no
trace; therefore, the verdict in hundreds OF
cases of willful murder has been r'suicide,'
or an open one, because the necessary evil
dence Of foul play has been wanting.
Here was another case in point. The
scratch on the face that Govitt had de-
scribed was undoubtedly a post-mortem in
jury, and with the exception Of another
slight scratch on the ball of the left thumb
l could find no trace whatever of violence,
And yet, to me, the most likely theory was
that she had again met her husband in Sc
cret, and had lost her life at his hands. To
attribute a motive was utterly impossible
l merely argued logically within myself thai
1t could not possibly be a case Of suicide
for without a doubt she had met clandes
timely the eccentric old man whom the
world believed to be dead.
The facts within my knowledge we're i'm
portant and startling. yet II I related then
to any second person l felt that my wordt
would be secuted as improbable, and m!
allegations would certainly not be accepted
Therefore 1 still kept my own counsel, long
ing to meet Jevons and hear the result o
his further inquiries.
Mrs. Mivart / found seated in her owl
room, fearful and utterly crushed. Poo
Mary's tragic end had come upon her as al
1 overwhelming burden OF grief, and l stoo'
beside her full of heartfelt sympathy. !
strong bond of affection had always existel
between us, but as / took her inert han
and uttered words OF comfort she only shoe
her head sorrowfully and burst into a tor
rent OF tears. Truly the Manor was a dis
NAL house of mourning.
To Ethelwynn | sent a telegram ad
dressed to the Hennikers, in order tina
she should receive 1t the instant she ar
rived in town. Briefly l explained tn
tragedy and asked her to come down to tn
Manor at once, feeling assured that MR.
Mivart in the hour Of her distress desire
her daughter at her side. Then / accom-
panied the local constable and the three pc
1 lice OInceTS VINO nhu Como oNSh HNi
/, Oundle, down to the riverside.
g The brilliant afterglow tinged tn
broad trimming river with q crimson lish
and the trees beside the water alread
threw heavy shadows. for the day wa
e dying and the glamor Of the fading suns'
{ and the dead stiffness Of departing ia
r had fallen upon everything. Followed
n a small crowd of curious villagers "
10 walked along the footpath over the II
miliar ground that / had traversed VINE
d following the strange pair. Eagerly "
X searched everywhere for traces OF a strut
d gle, but the only spot where the loT
grass was trodden down was at a poll
" a little beyond the ferry. But as far as
e could see there was no actual sign OF al
struggle. 1t was merely as though Il
grass had been hattened by the trailiI
IT of a woman's skirt across It. Examlni
ID tion showed, too, imprints OF Louis X
IT heels in the soft clay bank. One print W
s perfect, but the other, close to the eos
!" gave evidence that the foot had slippe
ID thus establishing the spot as that Whe
the unfortunate young lady had fallen IN
the water. When examining the body
e had noticed that she was wearing Lou
XIV shoes, andalso that there was stlll m
,e upon the heels. She had always been rath
s proud Of her feet, and surely there Is not
le ing which sets on the shape OF a woman
foot better than the neat little SHOES WI