Bisbee daily review., 1903-02-28
A DETECTIVES
 ADVENTURE
lOriginal.l


 telegram. directed me to work up the
 ease:
 My son died last night suddenly while apparently in perfect health. fear foSi play. Send one of your best men
 PROSPER ARBUCKLE
 Ernest Arbuckle. the murdered man. was heir to a large estate. There wse but one blood relation left. a nephew, Charles Kimberly, a young man con stdered beyond any possible suspicion. knew nothing of Mir. Kimberly. but
 since he had d strong motive for the crime I concluded to begin with him. especially as I could not learn of any one else who had any motive at all. examined the body and. finding no sli. fin the clothing. brought q magnifyins glass to bear on the exposed parts. the
 head. neck and hands. On the inside of one of the fingers on the right hand
 I found a minute puncture the size of .he point of pin. There was certain ly very little in this on which to base c
 theory of murder, but | have been So long accustomed to count every trff1in2 circumstance that I made a note of ii. note which I soon forgot, for I con- fess I attached little importance to 1t
 I was informed that Charles Bimber- iy was real estate agent. This was all I could learn about him. and as there were no other facts forthcoming I disappeared and when I returned en- tered his office. prosperously dressed. and told him of valuable piece of property l was anxious to purchase and desired him to sound the owner as to whether he would sell and. if so, ct what price. further told him that if it were known that | wanted the property an exorbitant price would be put upon it. and 1 desired to proceed , upon plan which I would develop if he would dine with me in a private room at a well known restaurant. Kimberly caught at the bait eagerly. l I gave him good dinner, with plenty Of wine, and made myself so entertain ing on general subjects that we did not reach the topic in question till a late hour Then I expressed a wish to be in more comfortable place. as there were many details to be gone over which would occupy some tirae. whereupon Kimberly invited me to his rooms in bachelor apartment houss. This was exactly what 1 wanted. My object was to gain access to his rooms. had nuiperous talks with Kimberly with reference to the proposed pur- chase always putting of the day when I was to make definite offer for the property. One afternoon I called at S,; I hn ha1 an xagement for the evening and told hin: that I would be at his room prepared to make an offer and, if it were ac- cepted, close the deal at once. He in formed ne that he would necessarily 1 be away till late, but that I was wei come to pass the evening in his rooms and he would see me at as early an hour as possible. I went to his apart ments immediately after dinner and found him just going out. He invited me to make myself comfortable and left me.
 was no sooner sure that he was not likely to return for some forgotten ar ticle than I produced bundle of skei- eton keys and proceeded to open every thing I found locked. There was g ! writing case in the room in which found number of private letters. but not word in any of them to identify him with the murder. though there were plenty to indicate that he was liv- ing a fast life. I ransacked every cor Ter of this desk, and, although 1 read between the lines, I had my pains toE nothing.
 I was about to give up the search | when I noticed small table. covered with a cloth. Lifting the cloth, I un-
 covered a single little drawer which ! ! was surprised to find locked. Not only was it locked, but among all my keys | there was not one that would fit it | Fortunately the table was deIicately
 made I simply ripped off the top, eX' | posing all there was in the drawer, 6 | small box that looked as if it might
 contain jewels. At this moment, hear ! ing step in the hall. seized upon the
 box, crammed it in my pocket, replaced the top of the table and hastily threw { the cloth over it. I had just time to
 replace some articles I had removed | from the table and seat myself with .
 book when the door opened and Bim- | beriy entered.
 ! Nothing in his appearance indicated
 that he had suspected and come back
 to trap me, yet I knew such was the
 case. He went to a closet, brought out
 a decanter and glasses, then told me to
 proceed to business. made the best
 possible effort to keep up my former
 pretense, but felt that had failed. He politely told me that he would meet us
 at his office in the morning before act l. ing definitely. and took my departure As I parted w--h him he shook my
 hand, and it seemed to ne that seal
 ring he wore on his little finger scratch
 ed my palm. paid no attention to tha matter and as soon as I reached th&
 street crushed the box I had stolen un-
 der my heel. Its sole contents was .
 ring with an unusually broad band, on i. l Uhich waa a small DrUtuberaQce.