Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-11-14
DAILY SHORT STORY
THE INSPECTORS STORY.
IOriginal ]

early part or my ponce career L was
much affected by those medieval
methods in vogue, especially with the
French of working the nerves of
guilty people. Indeed. l was we'll
adapted to apply such methods, for l
have an eye that can look man
| through and through and an impress
| i've manner Besides, / consider my
self as possessing Il good deal of inge-
| nuity in laying traps for the guilty to
fail into
one OF my first cases after having
been appointed an inspector was the
AthertOn murder. Howard Atherton.
bachelor and well known man
about town, was found dead in his
rooms in an apartment house shot
through the heart 10y pistol ball. His
| own revolver, with one chamber emp
tied, lay on the floor beside him.
The last person seen coming out of
Atherton'S rooms some fifteen or TWEEN
" minutes before the murder was his
friend. George Bronson. AthertOn and
Bronson We're inseparable. The lat
ter's mother and sisters We're very
much opposed TO the intimacy. conSid-
ering Atherton's influence over BrOn-
son deleteriOus They knew that Ath-
erton was indebted 10 Bronson for
borrowed money which was slowly
growing in amount. Money matters
are the cause of many murders. and |
formed theory that Bronson in trying
to collect from his friend had got into
i quarrel with him and shot him.
was at AthertOns rooms soon aft
or the murder WIS discovered and be
fore anything was moved. l made up
my mind that the murderer had en-
tered the sitting room from the hall,
AthertOn having entered the room from
his bedroom, revolver i'll hand. Ather-
ton had fired Il shot ut his asSailant,
which had lodged in the door by which
the murderer had entered. This was Il
theory. but well supported by the con-
ditiOnS
| did not arrest Bronson. but sent for
him to come To my office. Cstensibly TO
get his assistance i'll ferrciing out the
guilty person. He came and while he
answered all my questions did so as if
studying to say no more than was alb
solutely necessary. | asked him if he
would oblige me by going over to the
and he complied. hut with great re
luctance. As soon as we We're in the
sitting room | began 10 picture the
scene of tie murder as ! had conceived
it. Fixing my eye on Bronson. l said:
"Athcrton was doubtless taking an
afternoon snoOzc in his bedroom when
he heard the sitting room door open.
He got up from his bed and saw
through the bedroom door what was ia
the wind. DO you follow me?'
Yes
There were hot words, about his in
debtcdneSS.'
Yes"
Turning again To his bedroom, he
seized his pistol and advanced upon
You. You started back for a moment
irresolute''
Il did.
''Iour friend fired, you sprang aside,
and the ball entered the door. There,
do you see the hole:'
Yes
You then fired and
''Shot him through the heart"
l led Bronson out of the room docile |
as lamb and when in the street called
10 the first policeman | met To go with
us to the station. where charge OF
murder was entered Bronson looked
like one in q dream. Never had l seen
such a decided effect in getting IL con |
feSsion by acting on the nerves. My |
first arrest i'll the case was the self |
confessed murderer.
Bronson spent the night'in CELL. and |
| visited him the next morning. l ex- |
Ii Al
and he did Indeed. he pre- |
tended not To remember having the |
with nH. / was disap- |
pointed at this. for it would compel me |
TO prove him the<guiay one. In most |
cases of confession the confeSSor Is |
too broken dOwnttO recant In his case |
it seemed probable 10 me that over |
night he had remembered that the |
chances were l had drawn his admis- |
sionS without evidence and th,lt had |
no witness To thean.
l worked hard ON the case. followed |
a number of clews. only TO be baffied. |
The sole proof had against him was
his confession, which unfortunately |
was unwritten. on this confession |
held him for months, While his, health
was gradually breaking down. / WAS
in a quandary. The man had con-
fessed his guilt, but could not >con-
Wet him.
one day when Bronson had been' III
Jail for eight months and / was much
worried TO know what TO do with him
l received an anonymous note that
the Atherton murder. which had been
under circumstances that
%Tould prpyput any i1ry Fvou,, convict |
ing the slayer. would be revealed on
condition that thei affair be,hushed up.
Tired out with tlse matter..I gave my
consent. \ man Whose WIFE Atherton
had been intimate with went ITO Ather-
tons rooms To demonstrate Ather
ton, supposing that he had c,onse 10 Kill