The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-07-06
THE FILIGREE BALL
Being Full and True Account of the Solution Of
the Mystery Concerning the Jeffrey-Moore Affair.
By dNNA KATHERINE GREEN.
Author of The Lcavenworth Case The Co
BOOK III.
The House Of Doom.
CHATTER Xxx.

occupied all my thoughts was as yet too
much enveloped in mystery for me to
contemplate it with anything but an
anxious and inquiring mind. While l
chung with new and persistent hope to
the thread which had been put in my
hand, I was too conscious Of the maze
thru which we must yet pass, before the
light could be reached, to feel that light
ness of spirit which In itself might have
lessened the hours, and made bearable
those days of forced inaction. To be-
guile the way little, made a COM
plete analysis Of the facts as they ap
peared to me in the light Of this latest
bit Of evidence. The result was not
strikingly encouraging. yet Will insert 1T,
If only in proof Of my diligence and the
extreme interest experienced In each
and every stage Of this perpleNing affair.
read as follows:
Facts as they now appear:
/. The peremptory demand for an in
terview which had been delivered to Miss
Moore during the half-hour- preceding
her marriage had come, not from the
bridegroom as l had supposed, but from
the So called stranger. Mr. Pfeiffer.
2. Her reply to this demand had been
an order for that gentleman to be seated
in the library.
g.. The messenger carrying this order
had been met and earnestly talked with
by Mr.. Jeffrey either Immediately before
or Immediately after the afore- mentioned
gentleman had been so seated.
J t.. Death reached Mr.. Pfeiffer before
the bride did.
5. Miss Moore remained In ignorance
Of this catastrophe till after her marriage,
no intimation Of the same having been
given her by the few persons allowed to
approach her before she descended to her
nuptials; yet she was seen to shrink unac-
S-I>1 1ls>s
touched hers, and when informed Of the
dreadful event before which she beheld
all her guests fleeing, went from the
house changed woman.
6. For all this proof that Mr. Pfeiffer
was we'll known to her, If not to the rest
Of the bridal party, no acknowledgment
Of this was made by any Of them then
or afterward. nor any contradiction given
either by husband or wife to the accepted
theory that this seeming stranger from
the west had gone into this fatal room
Of my Moore's to crafty his own morbid
curiosity.
7. On the contrary, an extraordinary
a.. effort was Immediately made by Mr.. JEFF
frey to rid himself Of the only witness
who could tell the truth concerning those
fatal ten minutes; but this brought no
peace to the miserable wife, who never
again saw a really happy moment.
8. Extraordinary efforts at concealment
argue extra ordinary causes for fear. Fully
to understand the circumstances of Mrs
Jeffrey's death, 1t would be necessary, first
to know what had happened In the Moore
house when Mr.. Jeffrey learned from
Curly Jim that the man, whose hold upon
his bride had been such that he dared to
demand an interview with her just as she
was on the point Of descending to her
nuptials had been seated, or was about
to be seated in the room where death
had once held its court and might easily
be persuaded to hold court again. =.
This was the limit of my conclusions.
could get no further, and awaited my
arrival in Washington with the greatest
Impotence. But once there, and the
responsibility OF this new inquiry shifted
to. broader shoulders than my own. was
greatly surprised and as deeply chagrined
to observe the whole affair lag unaccount-
c-bly and to note that. in spite
Of, my so-called important dis.
eoyeries the prosecution continued work.
Ing up the case against Miss Tuttte II
manifest intention Of presenting 1t to the
grand jury at it's fall sitting. .
Whether Durbin was to blame for thi.
could not say. Certainly his look wa:
more or less quizzical when next we met
and this nettled me so that I at one
came to the determination that wtateve
was IN his mind, or in the minds of tn,
men whose counsels he undoubtedI,
shared, I was going to make one NOR
great effort on my own account; not t.
solve the main mystery. which had passed
out or my hands, but to reach the bidder
cause of the equally unexplained death
which had occurred from time to time a
the library fireplace. '' f.
For nothing could now persuade me tina
the two mysteries were not indissolubl
connected, or that the elucidation of tn
one would not lead to the calculation O
the other. & .|-.
To be, sure, 1t was we'll accepted a
headquarters that all possible attempt
had been made In this direction and wit
nothing but failure as result. TIL
floor, the hearth, the chimney, and, abov
all, the old settle, had been thorol
searched. But to no avail. The secre
had not been reached and had almos
come to be looked upon as insolvable.
But was not to be affected by othe
mems failures. The encoura cement at
forded me by my late discoveries was sue
that I felt confident that nothing coul
hinder my success save the necessity 9
completely pulling down the house. Be
sides, all investigation had hitherto start
ed, II 1t had not ended, in the library.
was resolved to begin work in quite
different spot. I had not forgotten tn
sensations I had experienced in the south
west chamber. -.
During my absence this house had bee
released from surveillance. But the ma
jor still held the keys and had no diff
Guilty in obtaining them. The next thin
was to escape it's owners vigilance. Thi
] managed to do thru the assistance {
jimmy, and when midnight come and a
lights went out in the opposite cottage
! entered boldly upon the scene.
AS before, I went first Of all to tn
library. 1t was important to know at tn
outset that this room was in its norma
condition. But this was not my only rea
son for prefacing my new efforts by
visit to this scene of death and myste
rtous horror. I had another, so seem
ingly puerile, that I almost hesitate
mention 1t, and would not if the sequ
warranted it's omission.
/ wished to make certain that had e1
hausted every suspected, as we'll as ever
known clue, to the information T sough
In my long journey home and the hour
Of thought 1t had forced upon me, I ha
more than once been visited
hitting visions Of things seen in this Of
house and afterward nearly forgotte
Among these was the book which on tn;
first night Of hurried search had give
proofs OF being in some ones hand will
In very short period. The attentie
had given 1t at moment of such has
was necessarily cursory, and when lat
O second opportunity was granted me
Lacking into it again, I had allowed
very slight obstacle to deter me- TIL
was a mistake was anxious to rectff
Anything which had been touched wit
CAST ORA
For Infants and Children.