Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-06-03
WET PAINT.

!
| our murderers would escape the gallows,
since few men commit so serious a crime
in full view of their fellows. At the
] same time | must admit that circum-
! stantial evidence alone, however conclu-
sive it may appear, can be, and has been,
entirely dissipated by the proving of
facts that go to contradict all the former
and more imaginary evidence. Still, we
| cannot dispense with circumstantial eyi-
dence, and it is left to the trained de-
tective to discover if there be any fact
more tangible to refute it,
| He paused for moment or two and
| then continued:
Il was in the Yard one morning a few
years ago when / was summoned by the
chief Proceeding at once to his office
| | found him reading a telegram which
! had Just come in.
"'Ah, Hunter he said, seeing me, here
is a little case for you. You had better
| go down immediately
"He handed me the wire, upon which !
read the following message: Man named
| Frederick Flint murdered here during
| the night. We are on the track of the
man who committed the crime and hope
to arrest him today.-Sergeant Walters,
I}rindlewood, Hampshire
Il laid the telegram on the chiefs writ.
ing table.
Looks as if Sergeant Walters can
dispense with our assistance | said,
dryly.
The chief smiled.
Yes, | know he said good humored-
| ~. but Wen have to put up with it all
! the same. The case is too serious to be
| left in unframed hands. Get there as
soon as you can, Hunter, and see that
he makes no blunders.'
Il nodded, and in a little more than an
hour was on my way to the little village
of Brindlewood Sergeant Walters re-
! ceived me without the smallest display of
cordiality. a couple of inspectors, he
| told me. had been in from the neighboring
town But the village force. of which he
was the honored head and which COM
prised Il couple of police eonstables be-
sides himself, was quite adequate to the
emergencies of the case. And what was
much more to the point, the murderer of
Frederick Flint was already in custody
at the village lookup. | knew as yet
nothing whatever of the case, so it was
not my province to censue where very
| possibly no censure was due. / con-
| tented myself with requesting him to
| give me the particulars Of the case and
| the nature of the evidence against the
suspected man, and ] confess he stag
gered me
"'Well,' he said, L can do that easily
enough This. then, is what we have dis
covered Frederick Flint was reputed to
be tolerably rich man. The house in
which he lived and several others in the
village were his own. He also owned
/ two farms in the neighborhood, both
occupied by tenants, and a great wood
close to his house. which ne allowed
no one to enter, was likewise his proper
| ty But he was mean man and always
went by the name of Miser Flint No one
lived with him except his daughter, Mary.
whom he watched with jealous eyes and
kept almost a prisoner in the dull old
house. But Mary Flint managed to elude
the old mans vigilance, and it was cur
rently believed that she was secretly en-
gagged to a young farmer named George
Drake The villagers have seen them
together more than once, and their atti-
tude towards each other told its own tale
" But George Drake was compare
lively poor, and his chances looked pro-
, however. he went to the old miser and
boldly asked him for his daughter Mary.
The old man. foaming with passion. fol-
lowed him out to the door. A laborcr
Glanced to be passing at the time. and
both saw and heard all that happened
; outside. The old man was loading the
other with every kind of abuse. and when
George Drake stmg into replying, turned
to confront the emagcd miser, the latter
struck him savagely in the face. For
moment George Drake never moved,
though his clenched hands were trembling
vi>lbly. Then he said. BY --, Fred
trcE Flint I'll be even with YOU for this
before the weeks QUIT" Early this
morning we found the dead body of the
old miser stretched on the ground lust
out side the fence of the inclosed wood I
mentioned Just now
y gun lay ON the grass beside him
ard there are dozen people in the viii
lag2 who are ready to swear it is the
property OF George Drake. We had
smart shower early last evening which
made the ground more than usually liable
Ia impression, and we have traced foot
prints from the door of George brakes
house into the very wood in which old
t'mt was evidently shot. Suicide is quite
ont OF the question since the bullet
wound is in the back, and proceeds. %
| Dr. Hutchinson aifirms, right through
the heart of the murdered man. Lastly.
ANA NEST conclusive of all, George Drake
has LATELY worn Il tweed coat of very
night pattern and quite unlike any other
m the village. Nh Gray, the village
poetma Ster, says cmphatically that he
saw man AT O'Clock last night climb
ING the fence of the wood There was
u good moon and he noticed that the man
carried a gun and that he was wearirG
George brakes light coat. 1t struck him
as strange at the time but thought no
more about it until he heard this morn.
my OF Niser FfntS death That is nh
have to tell you, Mr.. Hunter. and trust
You are satisfied with the manner in
Wheh | have conducted the inquiry
D :