Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-01-23
DAILY SHORT STORY
A Detectives Adventure.
LOriginal.1

OhiCe anu. SHOWING Ile Ile IOllOWlnS
telegram, directed me to work up the
case:
My son died last night suddenly while
apparently in perfect health. 1 fear foul
play. Send one of your best men.
PROSPER ARBUCKLE.
Ernest Arbuckle. the murdered man,
was heir to large estate There was
but one blood relation left. II nephew,
Charles Kimberly. young man con-
sidered beyond any possible suspicion.
/ knew nothing of Mr.. Kimberly, but
since he had n strong motive for the
crime / concluded to begin with him,
especially as / could not learn of any
one else who had any motive at all. l
examined the body and. finding no slit
i'll the clothing. brought magnifying
glass TO bear on the exposed parts, the
head, neck and hands. On the inside
of one of the fingers on the right hand
l found Il minute puncture the size of
the point of pin. There was certain
ly very little in this on which to base a
theory of murder, but l have been so
long accustomed to count every trifiinS
circumstance that L made note of il.
a note which l soon forgot, for l con-
fess attached little Importance to it.
L was Informed that Charles Bimber-
ly was real estate agent. This was
all 1 could learn about him, and as
there We're no other facts forthcoming
l disappeared and when l returned en-
tered his office, prosperously dressed.
and told him of Il 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
81. 4 IL,
if it were known that l wanted the
property an eXorbitant price would be
put upon it, and | desired to proceed
upon a plan which l would develop if
he would dine with me in private
room at Il well known restaurant.
Kimberly caught at the bait eagerly.
gave him Il 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 1 expressed n wish to
be in a more comfortable place, as
there were many details to be gone
over which would occupy some time,
whereupon Kimberly invited me TO his
rooms in a bachelor apartment house.
This was exactly what L wanted. My
object was to gain access to his rooms.
l had numerous talks with Kimberly
with reference to the proposed pur-
chase, always putting off the day when
/ was to make a definite offer for the
property. One afternoon l called at
his office when l knew he had an en-
gagement for the evening and told him
that L would be at his room prepared
to make an offer and. if it were &C
cepted, close the deal at once. He in
formed me that he would necessarily
be away till late. but that | was well
come to pass the evening in his rooms
and he would see me at as early an
hour as possible. l 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 produced a bundle of skel-
eton keys and proceeded to open every
thing l found locked. There was a
writing case in the room in which l
found a 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 n fast life l ransacked every cor
ner of this desk. and. although L read
between the lines, l had my pains for
nothing.
| was about to give up the search
when / noticed a small table covered
with Il cloth. Lifting the cloth, / I'M
covered a single little drawer which l
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 delicately
made. L simply ripped off the top, eX-
posing all there was in the drawer, 4
small box that looked as if if might
contain jewels. At this moment, hear
ing a step in the hail. seized upon the
box, crammed it in my pocket, replaced
the top of the fable and hastily threw
the cloth over it. 1 had just time to
replace some articles l had removed
from the table and seat myself with
book when the door opened and Bim-
berly entered.
Nothing in his appearance indicated
that he had suspected and come back
to trap me, yet 1 knew such was the
case He went to a closet, brought out
q 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 me
at his office in the morning before act
ing definitely, and i took my departure
As 1 parted VIII him he shook my
hand and it seemed to me that Il seal
ring he wore on his little finger scratch
ed my palm. 1 paid no attention to the
matter and as soon as 1 reached the
street crushed the box 1 had stolen I'M
der my heel. It's sole contents was q
ring with an unusually broad band, on
which was a small protuberance. i
pressed it and forced out the point of
a needle.