Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-21

inson Hatch, and Paul X. Darrow in the sitting
room of a small apartment on the fourth floor.
Some sinister thing lay outstretched on a
couch, covered with a sheet.
Mr.. Mallory, this is Mr.. Darrow," the sci
enlist remarked. And here" he indicated
the couch, rs the woman who murdered Miss
Burdock, or rather Mrs. Darrow. Her name
is Maria di Peculin. Here is a full confession
in her own handwriting" he passed an en-
velop to the detective, and here are several
ously she practised before she forged Mr.. Oar
rows handwriting in addressing the box in
which the red rose was sent to Miss-I should
say Mrs. barrow. | may add that Signorina
di PeCulini killed herself by inhaing hydro
cyanic acid-perhaps you know it better as
Prussc acid-in bottle from which came the
single drop, allowed to settle in the bloom of
the rose, which killed Mrs. Darrow''
Detective Mallory remained standing still
for long time to take it all in. At last he
opened the confession-only dozen lines
and read it from end to end. 1t was a pitful,
disjointed, almost incoherent, revelation of a
woman S distorted soul. She too had loved
barrow, and this had changed to hate when
he drifted away from her. Then, when by her
own hand she had removed the woman he
had made his wife. and had sought subtly to
place the blame on him by the little forgery
then had come revulslon of feeling. She
loved again and overcome by remorse sought
relief in death.
There was no mystery whatever as to the
cause of DEATH" The Thinking Machine told
Detective Mallory and Hatch little while
later: Murder by poison was obvious from
the fact that both the woman and the dog
were dead, and when we knew that there was
no mark or scratch on the dog, and the autopsy
revealed nothing, we knew by the simplest
rule of logic that the poison had been inhaled.
The most powerful poison to inhale is hydro
cyanic acid,-it kills Observation-Disclosures it
occurred to me first 1t is SO powerful that it
IS never made pure, at least in this country.
The strongest you can buy in drug store. for
instance, is about a two per cent. solution.
One drop of stronger solution than that, on
a rose bloom. would have killed Miss Burdock,
and the dog if he shifted at it. as he must have.
Therefore, from the very first, we knew
the manner of death. When we knew further
that hydrocyanic acid is extremely volatile,
we see how that single drop the rose evap-
Grated, was dssipated in the air. as the win
dows OF the room where the young woman
was found were open. Still there was faint
odor OF 1t left,-it smells precisely like crushed
peach kernels,-and the maid Goodwin was
unconsciously affected by it.
Knowing these things" he continued, Il
went to the florists. Only twelve roses had
been bought, paid for, and delivered from
there, and the rose that killed Miss Burdock
was the thirteenth rose. The roses went from
the florist S Mondays, Wednesdays and Satur-
days for four weeks, making twelve roses.
They had all been delivered, as the receipt
books there showed; but Miss Burdock was
killed on Monday; therefore that was the
thirteenth rose, and it didn't come direct from
the florists 1t was sent by messenger, and
the date didn't correspond with any date in
the receipt book; therefore it came from an
other source.
incidentally the fact that the roses were
sent in that way that is one at time without
card or suggestion of by whom they were
sent,-suggested a clandestine arrangement
with the girl In other words, the roses were
beng sent by some one she knew, in all prob
ability; but no else must know. 1t was,
saw, a method of correspondence, l might
say a love token of some sort, which would
not attract attention at her home as a letter
would
Thus | established a relationship between
Miss Burdock and some one else-unknown.
The logic of it all informed me that the reason
that unknown didn't communicate with her
was because of some objection in her home.
Her father! Do you see' | simply asked him
about it, and instantly his hatred for a single
individual came out, that individual being
Mr. barrow. Thus, things pointed toward
Mr.. barrow, who was away. The letter to
the florist was from Washington. The joints
were fitting nicely.
AT police headquarters l saw the rose, and
by cautious experiments detected a faint
odor of peach kernels Then saw the hand
writing on the box. 1t seemed to be mans;
yet | knew by the receipt book there that it
did not come from the florists, therefore was
not add recSad hy arvppe there hid Mr.