The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1906-05-15


WOULD NOT HAVE KILLED FLY"
appear suicide, but the letter he was
supposed to have left upon the table
was found by the coroner to be q
forgery
Have they any clewY he asked, his
professional interest aroused
They say that Paul did it," she said,
crying softly. He was convicted yes
terday"
Convicted" he gasped why, Paul
would not have killed fly"
There was a handwriting expert
who testified that some of Pauls char
acteristics were found In the letter.
They had a darkened courtroom and
lantern slide engagements. Paul was
uncles sole heir, and he was known to
be in debt"
Have they taken an appeaIY' he
asked. "Surely the case will not be I'M
contested"
There is an appeal" she answered,
''but Vincent, the lawyer, says he has
no hope; that he cannot hope to contro-
vert the experts evidence. Can you
help met" She rose from her chair and
held her hands toward him.
Il can and WILL" he answered heart
lily. Believe me, Erica, before the
next trial comes we shall have the
proofs ready and Paul will go free"
For moment she looked into his
eyes. Then she dropped her veil and
turned away. II must go now" she an
nounced. "Will you come to me tomor-
row?'
Il was there this evening"" he said
simply. "They told me you had gone
out, but l heard nothing of the trial.
will come at H."
He learned little that was new In the
morning. Paul Westcott was James
Westcott's sole heir. He had been
caught in hole in Wall street, and 1t
was believed that be had committed
the murder in the hope that he might
realize upon this fact to borrow the
money to save his margins. A letter
announcing the action as a suicide was
clearly shown to be forgery, though a
clever one. and the case indeed looked
black.
Elder came away from the house dis
heartened. He was certain that his
friend had not committed the murder,
but even to one of the best detectives
In the country the case looked hope
less.
He went to the lawyers and arranged
for copy of the testimony, and when
thof Voc forfhcOp,inor ho shut hiunSolf
in his room to study it,
At the end of Il couple Of days he
locked the typewriter pages In his
desk and gave himself over to his So
cial duties Elder was q detective
through love of the work, not because
1t was necessary for him to earn bis
living in this fashion, and on those
rare occasions when not engaged In q
pursuit he was welcomed in fashiona-
BILE homes.
His temperance in society was ac-
cepted as being an acknowledgment
that there was nothing to be done for
Paul Westcott, for he was known to
have been Erica's sutton, and it was
argued that If there was any hope he
would have disappeared in search of
the murderer.
In spite of this Erica seemed hopeful,
and the trial, through political int1u-
ence, was pushed to appeal Gordon
Westcott, her cousin, was opposed to
the haste and argued violently against
it, but he had always been hostile to
Elder, and it was natural that he
should object to any of the latters
suggestions.
AS in the previous trial, the evidences
hinged almost entirely upon the letter
There was brief testimony to the ef-
feet that Paul Westcott had been in
danger of being wiped out In the mar
ket to prove motive. 1t was shown
that upon his arrest he had been un-
able to negotiate loans and had lost
heavily Then the prosecution put In
the evidence of a handwriting expert
who had testified at the previous trial
and who. discussed learnedly the inda