Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-02-20
DAILY SHORT STORY
An Accidental Discovery.
IOriginal.l

MurdererS are not always discovered
by sleuths. Sometimes accident gives
them up.
For twenty years l have been a de-
tective. Soon after | entered the pro-
fession Father Vost, Roman Catholic
priest, one of whose flock was, called
me one day into his study and told me
the following:
what l am about to narrate hap
pened last night. I know nothing about
law or justice or the workings OF the
police force, but as it is your business
to track crime l give the information to
YOU and you can makel what use or 1t
you think proper. 1t was about IL
O'Clock, and /, who h;nd been up later
than usual visiting sick parishioner,
had just come in and WAS preparing for
bed when the servant came to my room
and said that a carriage was waiting
at the door to take me ito give aDsolu-
ton to one about to die. L went down.
stairs and out to the carriage. / found
masked man inside.
Il was driven for Il full hour. The
carriage made few turns, and l fancy
that | must have been driven to
suburb of the city, for after leaving the
pavement we drove foria time over
dirt road, then again al pavement.
made an effort to engage my companion
in conversation. but he gave me no re-
ply. Finally the carriage came to a
stop, and he bound my eyes with a
handkerchief the door was opened
from without, and someIone guided my
steps over flagstoneS, l think, and we
mounted steps. l counted six. Then
after going a short distance we mount
ed more steps s. this time 1 counted
twenty-and we made one turn. In
another moment l was led into warm
err atmosphere, and the bandage was
taken off by some one who slipped out
of a door behind me. Before me, pale
and haggard, stood man who sank
upon his knees.
"'Father,' he said, 4 am about to be
murdered. My murderers have been
brought up in our church. whose inf1u-
ence, you well know, can never be en-
tirely overcome. When l begged for
absolution before being put out of their
way, they could not refuse me. Shrive
Inc, father
"'Give me your name l said, and
even if I can't prevent your murder
may at least bring about the punish
ment of your murderers.'
".Should 1 reveal the slightest cir
cumstance you, too. would be put
where yOu cannot harm them
Il received his confession and gave
him absolution. All the while, con-
TESS, l was studying the room that I
might know it again. There was an
open fireplace. with mantel, such as
was used 100 or 200 years ago. 1 fixed
the beadwork in my mind and made i
drawing of it as soon as I returned.
tried to find some other special mark
about the room, but there was nothing
else unusual. L left the man Frustrated
and was driven home, as l had come,
over pavement, dirt road and pavement
Ogain.'
Father Vost went to n desk, took out
the drawing and handed it to me.
I was young in my business and de-
termined to make some reputation for
myself on this case. l did not report
1t at police headquarters, as 1 was in
duty bound to do, but spent months in
searching the newspapers to catch a
notice of some missing man. My eff
forts were without success and at last
| gave it up. That was ten years ago,
and since then 1 have been accused by
my conscience for not at once reporting
the case. The only effort l have contin-
ued to keep up is an examination of all
old mantels offered for sale, and have
compared hundreds of them with Fa-
Their Vost's dreaming, always to find
them different.
One day recently, while 1 was pass
ing through the very street in which
| Il n
the house | passed Il building which
was being converted from dwelling
to store A crowd had gathered and
some workmen were carrying out
; skeleton which, l was told, had been
found bricked up in a chimney. Such
things may at any time be of service to
detective, and 1 went up to examine
the room from which the bones had
been taken. The first thing to catch
my attention was a mantel which had
been taken down and was leaning
against the wall. The moment looked
at it it seemed familiar Taking out
Father Vost's drawing, which always
kept in my leather case for papers, 1
compared the two. They correspondent
: exactly.
Going downstairs, l counted twenty
steps and from the front door to the
sidewalk six. At last 1 had stumbled
; by accident on the room of the murder.
The willy murderer had drawn Father
Vost out of the city and back to with
: in a block of his house, returning by
the same circuitous route.
: l succeeded in getting the name of
the tenant on the date of the murder
and hunted up people who had lived in
the neighborhood during his occupancy,
but as it was very short-only three
months-they did not remember much
about it. One day when 1 was examin-