Omaha daily bee., 1906-01-14

being no door through the end the The train
was slowing down he went forward. so he stepped
got where his dog and rode to the
next stop. With the aid of his good cigars and some
good stories he soon made friends with the sociaole
baggage The latter testihed TO MT Woodburys
hiary on the occasion he told of hunt
ing trips which and Masters had taken in the past
At the stop woodbury. leaped from the and
turned to the sleeper. He made his TO the com
partment and tried the door. II locked from the
inside He knocked softly but deciding that his partner
had fallen asleep and not wishing to awaken him called
the porter and requested him to open the door The
porter readily complied. In the meanwhile telling Mr.
woodbury. the that Masters had purchased for
him. 1t the porter who first saw Masters on the
and 1t his sudden of horror that apprised
Woodbury. of the murder OF his friend There he was
the his feet toward the door his head resting
of the where he had reelined when the
had last him. his mouth and eyes open and
a small hole in the bald spot his head from which
lazy of blood oozed slowly out
He dead. stone dead Death had been instan-
taneous had been shot by some person whose only
to kill for his watch and money were unds
turbed But had he been murdered7
After the first shock the discovery Woodbury.
himself and orders to summon the con-
ductor and train When they arrived and before
a thing the compartment had been disturbed he took
his from the rack and took hashlsht photo
graph the Then the search for evidence as to
how the crime had committed begun. But
the search futile. There nothing in the room
to throw any light the matter. The room had only
entrance that of the door which Mr. Masters had
locked in the absence woodbury. The windows were
locked from the inside and there was no way in
the car. 1t was mystery The names ana addresses
of the passengers in the were taken and at
station the sdetracked with It's grew
some burden still In the compartment
Here went into the hands of the authori-
ties and railroad detectives. Not one whit of evil
be gathered from the most minute search
and investigation. Mr. Masters had been shot, but by
whom or how impossible to conjecture Final
" the authorities that 1t have been sui
eide idea Woodbury. quickly destroyed by de-
carns Masters had cause for such action The
pistol revolver in the car and the posi-
pta1nla
The authorities had been forced to give up the
search the jury rendered the usual verdict
Death at the hands of person or persons unknown
after a month the was dropped as one OF the
unsolvable mysteries"
Who killed william O. Masters them
woodbury. killed him. Woodbury. murdered him by
scheme diabocally ingenious that detection of the
crime impossible after he had got his camera off
the rack in the compartment Woodbury. had been en-
bezzling money from his partner for over year He
had got trouble his earlier days and needed the
money keep being exposed So he stole It, hop
ing something would happen that he could some
day make it up or that Masters VINO was the only one
who could discover the defalcatons, would die But
Masters did not die nothing happened to enable
Woodbury. to make good his thefts the day finally
arrived either kill Masters or be exposed
and punished for his wrongdoing, He calmly decided
to kill The shooting trip gave him his oppor
tunity In the which he had carefully placed
directly over Masters head short revolver con-
trolled by a clock mechanism Woodbury. left the
lust fifteen minutes before the revolver timed to
of Masters sitting directly under the Internal ma
chine his doom the moment he lighted the cigar
woodbury.
The machine according to schedule and Masters
was slain without a human hand to direct the weapon
or a human eye the deed
When Woodbury. took down his camera to take the
hashlight he secured the only vestige of
evidence that the scene of the murder held few
DAVIS later carefully destroyed this evidence and
wiped on the opportunity Sor solving the
mystery of the impossible murder"
Had woodbury. been created without conscience
the mystery would have been explained but the
crime eventually him after the of
of like nature and he died confessng 1t and
crying that body of a dead fastened around
his neck and slowly dragging him underneath camera
arranged with revolver Just as he had arranged one
for william O. Masters so long before.