Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1903-05-06

3 stumbled ACROSS the
ccident, examined 1t
osity, then rambled
~ -. pods awhile, took the
,rt way for tor, met the COM
ny following the coroner's jury,
d then went back with them to the
quest. / have made number OF
inquiries and ascertained that this
unknown person was not out hunt
ing, because there was no hunter in
the crowd that went to see the body.
Now on bitterly cold day no one
would be apt to go rambling around
in the Bayou Woods for pleasure; SO
this man must have had some clear
: ~ defined object in view. Coming
upon the corpse, he either realizes
his object or is diverted from it and
goes back toward town by another
route. II an innocent man should
stumble on corpse in the woods
he would either go on his way OF
turn back Immediately by the route
he came and notify the authorities.
But our unknown did neither. Take
the hypothesis that he shot your
father and left him for dead. The
next day, drawn by some horrible
. fascination that frequently assails
Amurderers, he revisits the scene Of
his crime, perhaps to assure himself
that his victim is really dead. Posi-
bly, it was important that he should
know this beyond the shadow of q
doubt. Having satisfied himself and
not wishing to be seen on that path
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 deepened visibly
Aas Warde developed his hypothetical
case.
But" she said breathlessly, my
fathers watch, knife and cuff but
tons traced to Herbert-how can that
be explained"
IT can offer no solution as vet. but
there is one thing in connection with
that which requires explanation. The
: same afternoon that your brother
pawned 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 1t play in the trag-
edy? When that question is an
swered perhaps we shall have the
key to unlock the mystery"
Miriam Wright was easily imbued
witss some OF Warde's own belief In
his theories, imperfect as they were.
They went over the whole ground
carefully together, and when at last
he arose to take his departure she
begged him earnestly to. continue his
task and help her brother. She had
an idea that the police were In league
against him, and Warde seemed to be
the only friend they had.
When Irving Warde returned to the
city he began to realize that he had
shonldered a big job. Here was
case so plain az to stagger almost
any one. The hand of fate seemed to
be in it. 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 and
robbed, and the articles 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 theory:
1. The arctics.
2. The unidentified watch.
II he could find out who wore the
arctics, it would enable him to deter
mine what part the wearer played in
the tragedy, If any; but he had little
hope that he would be 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 be laid up to
Wright's account without helping his 4
case at all.
That afternoon Warde called at the
jail and sought an interview with
Wright. The latter was evidently
very much bewildered over the drift
of affairs, and he showed 1t in his
face as well as his speech. Wnrde
assured him that he believed in 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 o
pistol and I have not had such Q
weapon in my hand for montha.