Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-03-03
DAILY Sf1OKI SIONH
The Dickens Case.
IOriginall


his bed with a bottle of prussic acid
on the table beside him. A will was
found leaving n small part of his for
tune to his daughter. the rest to char
liable institutions.
Opinion was divided as 10 whether
he had been poisoned or murdered. The
daughters husband, Edward Clarke.
took charge of his effects Immediately,
and the first thing he did was TO send
for me- | looked through the house.
picking up bit of paper, u half
burned match, u vial-anything. every
thing that might possibly furnish n
clew In the kitchen | noticed some
white dust on the floor that looked as
if -four had been spilled and taken up.
leaving a trace. One of the servants
told me that Il tin can of starch had
been left on a table the night before.
1t was found where il had been left.
OF course l took the bottle of prussic
acid. almost surrounded with the label
OH which was in big red letters the
word Poison over skull and cross
bones.
Il confess that after looking through
everything, including the private let
tiers and papers. l was as much at Il
loss; where TO begin as before l entered
upon my work. | did not suspect any
one The daughter was very much cut
up over her fathers death, and her
husband told me that he suspected
that the old mans death was connect
ed with an abortive attempt on the
part Of some one to get possession of
his property. Since the daughter and
sOn-in-law got only 4 small portion Of
it, there was not sufficient interest TO
implicatc them.
The poison bottle l examined with Il
magnifying glass. There We're traces
on it of something colOrleSs; l could
not tell what. 1t might have been
powder softened by moisture. l took
the bottle TO Il chemist and asked him
TO analyZe the substance on the label.
Taking off a very small piece of the la
bel. he busted himself in his laboratory
while | waited.
There's starch in it, he said at
last
STARCH ! repeated. thinking.
Starch? Where has starch turned up
in this case? All, have it! Professor,
there was some starch spilled on the
kitchen floor
"'Indeed? Well, whoever spilled
that starch may have grasped the bot
tie of poison
Can you test for it OH the fingers
of the dead man.?
Certainly
Very we'll He is to be buried Mt
, O'Clock. Ii is now >. You had better
go at once
He did so, 1 going with him and
waiting below while he went upstairs
to make the test When he returned
he reported that there was no trace of
starch OH the fingers of either hand.
$50 far. so good. Probably the dead
man had not held the bottle which he
was supposed to have used TO commit
suicide. but some one else had held it.
some one who had upset Il tin can OF
starch i'll the kitchen. | went back
with the professor to his laboratory.
81 will develop this label he said.
with iodine and see what result we
get
He did so. and a blue thumb and
two finger marks appeared. The part
where the two lower fingers had press
ell we had torn away in the first test.
care the markings OF the thumb and
fingers of different people alike| l
asked
al think not. Investigators in that
line report that they are as different as
the features of human faces
Il WAS now in Il position to bring
strong proof against any one l sus-
pected. But unfortunately there was
no especial reason to distrust any one.
Half Il dozen people had been in the
house within twelve hours before the
murder | had taken Il memorandum
of their names and on looking it over
found no name OF any one who could
have had the slightest interest in the
death of Mr.. Dickens. l informed the
SOn-in-law of the condition of things
and he Immediately insisted on his and
his wife's thumbs and fingers being ex-
amined This was done. and they were
found TO be entirely unlike those on
the bottle. From this time forward |
had valuable suggestions from the
daughter as 10 those who possibly
might have been trying to secure her
fathers fortune There were six of
them. / called on each one separately
and examined the thumb and fingers.
None of the marks agreed with those
on the label.
1T was not till years afteTward that
I finished the case. 1t was reported 10
me that a lunatic in state asylum was
referring strangely to Henry Dickens.
| went to see him and examined the
markings on his thumb and fingers.
They agreed with those on the label
exactly l secured the mans papers
and found letters from Mr.. Dickens
agreeing to make over certain property
to him in case of his (AIr Dickens
death. They were written about the
time of the murder This was all that
ever developed. Did the man think the
will was made in his favor: How did
he get into the house to commit the
murder: How did he force or persuade