Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1904-03-23
THE DICKENS CASE


That's the Dickens case
..Tell me about it,"
..Henry Dickens was a very rich old
man He had a daughter who had
married against his will. and he was
supposed to have disinherited her
Some one of several nephews and nieces
was supposed to be his heir, but no one
knew. One day he was found dead In
his bed with a bottle of prussic acid
on the table beside him. A will was
found leaving a small part of his for
tune to his daughter, the rest to char.
liable institutions.
"opinion was divided as to 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 "a bit of paper, half
burned match, a vial-anything, every
thing that might possibly furnish a
.ciew. In the kitchen / noticed some
white dust on the floor that looked as
IL lour had been spilled and taken up.
leaving trace. One OF the servants
that u III VI Stul11 Aab
been left on table the night before.
1t was found where 1t had been left.
OF course | took the bottle of prusslc
acid, almost surrounded with the label
on which was in big red letters the
word Poison over a skull and cross
bones.
II confess that after looking through
everything, including the private let
tiers and papers, | was as much at a
loss where TO begin us before 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 abortiye attempt on the
part of some one TO get possession of
his property Since the daughter and
son-in-law got only small portion OF
1t. there was not sufficient interest TO
tmplicate them.
The poison bottle I examined with n
magnifying glass. There were traces
on it of something colorless; | could
not tell what 1t might have been n
powder softened by moisture. took
the bottle to a 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.
"'StarchT repeated, thinking.
Starch? Where has starch turned up
in this case? All, have 1t! 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 1t on the fingers
of the dead man?'
Certainly
"'very we'll He is to be buried ut
8 o'clock. 1t is now 3 You had better
go at once
"He did so. 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 ON the fingers of either hand.
80 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 1t,
some one who had upset tin can Of
starch in the kitchen. / went back
with the professor to his laboratory.
az viii develop this label he said,
with iodine and see what result we
get
HE did so, and blue thumb and
two finger marks appeared. The part
where the two lower fingers had press
ed we had torn away in the first test.
".Are the markings of the thumb and
fingers of different people alikeT
asked.
~ think not. Investigators In that
line report that they are as different as
the features of human faces
81 was now in a position to bring
strong proof against any one I sus
pected But unfortunately there was
no especial reason TO distrust any one
Half dozen people had been in the
house within twelve hours before the
murder. I had taken a 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. 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 to 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 afterward that
finished the case. Ii was reported to
me that lunatic in state asylum was
referring strangely to Henry Dickens.
| went to see him and examined fhe