Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-08
Strange Clew to a
Partisan Murder
Special Correspondence Of The Star
PARIS. March %, 1906

PARIS. March %. 1906.
TNANY GRIMES have been detected
IV through the barking Of watch
dog. bat that the failure of one of
these faithful canine guardians to raise an
alarm should furnish the cIew by which
the perpetrator OF "a murder was discov-
cred Is rather unusual That. however is
only one of the elements which lends I'M
usual interest TO the crime Of the Rue Saint
Maur, which all Parts is discussing. 1t
contains all the material for one of those
thrilling stories i'm which Emile Gaboriau
delighted.
Henri Bedor. the proprietor of a large
bCokbiuding factory, frequently worked late
Ia his Office over his accounts. He was
doing that on the fateful night which
proved 20 be his last on earth. At o o'clock
a maid servant. Germaine PARROT, brought
IN. as usual the big bOarhound Diane
which was kenueled at night IN NJ Bedor' $
Office 10 guard the safe. This dog and Its
mate. Tom. which guarded the factory al
night We're of great size and ferOcity.
None Of the employees In the factory dared
TO touch them. The only persons who could
come near them. without arOUSiDg their
anger, as the police subsequently ascer-
tanned. were NJ. Bcdor himself his wife
his brother Frederic. the girl Germaiue,
August Matthew. his chauffeur aud his
codchmau, DUBOIS
The maid servant left NJ Bedor shortly
after . O'Clock Al a quarter past 10 Ger
maine heard Il door slam. She reused Du-
bo.s and they made an invest cation. They
found N. SeGUr lying dead at the foot OF
the staircase leading from his office. He
had been stabbed la the back and again
Ben tar chest, apparently by "a rapier or
stNetiu. The fingers Of his right hand had
been CUT indicating that IN the struggle
FOR a,s life he had endeayored TO Urest
tile weapon from the ASSASSIN.
When the police arrived on the scene the
great boarhouud In the room above, which
had given no tongue while his master was
being done To death. began to bark furious
~ When they entered the room with
Dubois his intervention alone prevented the
animal from alta ckiug them.
They found the safe locked and the key
In the dead mans pocket. on the table
was the lamp which NJ. Bedor had used
while examining his books. The glass
shade had been broken. Fragments of the
glass found a the foot of the stairs where
NJ. Bedor had met his death. showed rtaln-
" fl was there it had been broken. The
murderer evidently had SUBSEQUENTLY, re
placed Il on the table In the office room.
To do that he had TO pass In front OF the
boarhouud's kennel Yet the dog had
made no sound. Obviously NJ. Bedor had
been murdered by some one who was on
good terms with the dog. That was the
Vlew-the only clew-which the detectives
had TO work on NJ. Bedor alone knew
what money he had left in the safe, and
they could not tell whether any had been
actually stolen.
OF those whom the dogs silence brought
under suspicion. the chauffeur alone was
unable to give a satisfactory account OF his
movements on the night OF the murder. He
was arrested Al first he stoutly protested
his innocence, but ultimately he broke
down and made complete confession.
That brought the element OF love into the
crime which is essential 10 all thrilling de-
tective stories
Matthew was engaged to be married. To
win the consent of the girls parents he had
miSrepresented his financial position He
had declared that he was In receipt of a
salary twice az large as was actually paid
and had besides, q snug little sum In the
hank As q matter OF fact he mad not
f-.sS anything. His orosnsatt"> e.-sler-in-
law had complained of the delay in the
marriage and had told him that II IL qua
not take place soon he would break of the
match Thus pressed. he agreed 10 marry
his fancee in a fortnight In the meantime
= he had TO secure a fiat, paying quarter
rent In advance. and furnish IT, In few
davs the girl was TO meet him at deal
er's and inspect the furniture, which he
had not even purchased.
He decided to make coup. Relying on
the fact that the boarhouud Tom, which
guarded the factory at night, would not be-
tray his presence. he concealed himself In
the building until after the workpeopie had