Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1903-07-08

L
way, he crosses to the short cut and
returns to the Devils Den. There he
falls in with the crowd going To the
scene of the murder, and to throw
suspicion completely off the track. he
goes back with them to witness the
| proceedings"
| Miriam's interest dccpencd visibly
as Warde developed his hypothetical
case.
But" she said brcathlcssly. INV
fathers watch. knife and cuff but
tons traced to IIerbert-how can that
be cXplaincd?"
81 can offer no solution rs yet. but
there is one thing in connection with
that which requires explanation. The
same Gtternoon that your brother
| pawncd your fathers watch he also
| pawned another watch at another
shop. 1t could not have been his own.
| for in his destitute circumstances he
would have pawned or sold that long
| ago. Whose watch, then. was it. and
what part does it play in the trag-
edy? When that question is an
swcrcd perhaps we shall have the
key to unlock the mystery"
with some of Warde's own belief in
lbs theories, imperfect as they were.
lheJ went over the whole ground
carefully together, and when at last
he arose to take his departure she
| begged him earnestly 10 continue his
task and help her brother. She had
an idea that the police were i'm league
| against him, and Wardc seemed to be
the only friend they had
When Irving Warde returned to the
city lac began to realize that he had
! shoulicred 4 big job. Here was a
/ case so plain as to staggcr almost
any one. The hand of fate seemed to
be in II. By having in his possession
those pawn tickets calling for the
murdered mans articles. Wright'S
doom had apparently been sealed.
How could they have come into the
young mans hands unless he had
taken them from his father? The
old man had been murdered end
robbed. and the nrticles of which he
had been robbed and for which he
had apparently been murdered had
| been traced to Herbert Wright
As an offset to this he had as pegs
on which to hang a theory:
I. The arcticS.
2. The unidentified watch.
II he could find out who wore the
arctics. il would enable him to deter
mine what part the wcarer played in
the tragedy. if any; but la had little
| nope that he would he able to make
any progress in this line Of inquiry.
And the watch? Even suppose an
owner were found for it. he might
be some one who had been robbed.
and another crime would bc laid mp to
Wright's account without helping his
case at all.
That afternoon Warde called at the
jail and sought an interview with
Wright The latter was evidently
very much bewldercd over the drift
of affairs. and he showed il in his
face as well a. his speech. Wardc
assured him that he believed i'm his
innocence and that he would try to
establish the fact: but Wright de-
clined TO say anything regarding the
case that could help the reporter in
his researches.
II am entirely innocent Of this
crime My father was Killed with a
pistol. and I have NOT had such n
weapon in my hand for months.
There is an old pistol in my ho,sc
that has been lying there untouched
Tor over year. can sec that in
order 70 clear myself. Mr. Wardc. il
viii be necessary for me to establish
the guilt Of another man That il "a
hard part. an Injustice ] may say. Of
circumstantidl evidence without
Offering direct proof Of mans Guilt.
IL wcaycs network about him So
plausible and so apparently cou,inc-
ing that IL is almost impossible for
him to establish his innocence. Cir.
cumstantial evidence assumes that I
am guilty. and then challenges me tn
prove that ] am not. IT would he
impossible for me TO prove an abb.
because the time Of the Killing is not
exactly located I have q suspicion Of
my own about this case. but ! do moi
feel warranted in telling what il u.s.
You would declare it too wildly i'm.
probable to merit a MOMENTS belief.
] must think tho whole thing over he
fore J say anything TO anybody"
At this moment all further CONVEX
sation was interrupted by the appear
ance Of Wright's wife Wardc saw
That she was pIcasant-faccd, rather
} good looking young woman. who had
, evidently undergone a hard spell Of
sickness. lie further saw that the
meeting between husband and wife
Mas Of the tcndcrest character. and
then he went away.
There was az least one person. he
thought. who believed in Wrights in.
nocencc absolutely
On bis way back to his ofia. he
/, stopped at the Office Of Col. Franklin