Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-05-16

he had not loitered about the corpse, l and that he had not tempered with it, as very few of his tracks could be seen there. These facts told that much in his favor.
 The unknown person, however, seemed to take deep interest in l the corpse. His tracks made almost circle around it, and as his foot had slipped here and there in the snow it was evident that he had tugged at the body and turned 1t over. There was also reason to be- tieve that he had examined the pock- cts of the clothing, as the coat was 1 thrown open in such a way as to suggest that the inside pocket had been rified, or at least searched. Thiss however, could be dismissed as a mere surmise, for the contents of the pock- cts must have been extracted at the time of the murder.
 "I am afraid this clew will not amount to much," said the chief. "Why?" ..e. .,. "For the reason that can imagine B very clear explanation of the last comer's action. He stumbled by acci- dent upon this dead body, with it's face down. Naturally he would turn 1t over the better to see who it was. Failing to recognize the dead man, he would probably search the pockets to see if there were any papers that would lead to his identification" eff that be the case," said Warde, "and this is an honest man, would, not his first impulse be to notify the police?"
 "'Yes, or else some of the neigh- bors." .. ,.....
 'If he has notified any of the neighbors it is reasonable to suppose that their curiosity would have brought them hither by this time. People, as you know, will walk miles to sec dead body, specially where the death involves some horror, but there is as yet no evidence that any curiosity exists in this neighborhood. It is also certain that the stranger is in no hurry to notify the police, for he has continued on his way instead of returning to town. If this man is square he will some time to-day reveal his identity by notifying the authorities"
 '*But he may not be square. He may be man with a bad reputation, one who knows that his discovery of such crime would direct suspicion on himself. Or he may have noticed that the crime had already been found out by some one, Wright's tracks being conclusive evidence of that"
 ''I should not judge that the person who made these tracks was vaga- bond or a rough customer him. self. You will observe that they were made by broad and flat shoe; indeed, I am sure the mysterious stranger wore arctics. Now arctics are worn almost exclusively by per- sons in fairly good circumstances"
 "Your reasoning is very ingenious" said the officer admiringly; but still it would hardly be fair to connect a stranger who comes along to-day and stumbles upon dead body with murder committed a day or two ago. But there is nothing to do now but await the coming of the coroner's jury"
 In making their examination, the two men had been careful not to ap- proach too near the body, which was left with the tracks in the snow just as they were. That page of evidence was allowed to remain as it had been found, and if it contained any revc- lations the coroner could not com plain that they had been confused. Warde, who was good draughtsman, drew on large piece of paper as ac- curate picture as possible of the marks in the snow about the body. He also made a careful measurement of the footprints made by the stran- ger, and then drew fac-simile of it upon his paper. He also measured the distance between the tracks, and averaged them. The chief did not pay any particular attention to tho movements of the young journalist, regarding them as the harmless &C., tivities of an amateur detective. Furthermore, he fancied that the coroner's jury was approaching, as he could hear the sound of human voices, and all his interest was now centered in the inquest.
 Despite the lack of interest shown by the officer in Warde's conjectures, the latter was by no means satisfied, and he took it into his stubborn head that he would follow up those foot steps and discover if possible who was the person that had made them and what he had been about. This unknown had also discovered the murder, and it seemed to Warde that he certainly ought to be identified and made to tell just what he knew about it.
 Relying, therefore, upon the chief of police for the details of the coro- ner's inquest, Warde continued his investigati~-~ ~f +'>o +'.ecsS.
 Gro be continued)