Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-09-03

drop. A policeman caught her in his arms, but the. woman shook herself free. q sha'n't faint-no-I sha'n't faint" she gasped, "the ceilar-look- look"- She ran forward and raised the head of the dead man. When the officers saw the dangling slack wire disappearing through hole in the floor they grasped the situation. "The passage outsidew cried Deborah, di- recting operations; "the trapdoor," she ran to 1t, fast bolted below, and them murdering people are there"
 'How many are thereY asked a DO. Iicemen, while several officers ran round the back through the side pas sage.
 "Oh, you dratted fool, how should I know!" cried Deborah fiercely; ''there may be one and there may be twenty. Go and catch them-you're paid for it. Send to 20 Park street, Bloomsbury, for Bart"
 Deborah ran up the stairs to Sylvia's room, where she found >the poor girl still unconscious.
 Meanwhile, an inspector had arrived, and one of the policemen was detailing all that had occurred from the time Deborah had given the alarm at the window. The inspector listened quiet ly to everything and then examined the body. "Strangled with copper wire," he said, looking up. 'Go for a doctor, one of you. It goes through the floor," he added, touching the wire which still encircled the throat, land must have been pulled from below. Examine the cellar"
 Even as he spoke, and while one zealous officer ran off for medical man, there was a grating sound and the trapdoor was thrown open. A policeman leaped into the shop and saluted when he saw his superior.s By this time the gas had been lighted. We've broken down the back door, sir," said he, "the cellar door-it was locked but not bolted. Nothing in the cellar, everything in order, but that wire" he pointed to the means used for strangling, "dangled from the cell ing and crosspiece of wood is bound to the lower end"
 "Who does the shop belong to?"
 "Aaron Norman" said the policeman whose beat it was. He's second hand bookseller, quiet, harmless, timid sort of man."
 Any one about?" 4
 "No, sir passed down Gwynne street at about a quarter past F and all seemed safe. When I come back later-it might have been twenty min utes and more, say twenty-fve-I saw the woman who was down here cling ing to window on the first floor and shouting murder. I gave the sum- mons, sir, and we broke open the door,"
 Inspector Prince questioned not only the Gwynne street policeman, who had given his report, but all others who had been in the vicinity. But they could tell him nothing. No one sus- picious had been seen leaving Gwynne street north or south, so, finding he could learn nothing in this direction. Prince turned his attention to the sery- ant. "Now, then, what do you know" he asked. Don't say anything likely to incriminate yourself"
 "Me!" shouted Deborah, bouncing up with a fiery face. Don't you be talk ing away my character. Why, know no more who have done it than babe unborn, and that's stupid enough, 'opes, Mir. Policeman. Ho, indeed! And we pays our taxes to be insulted by you, MT. Policemanw She was very aggravating, and many a man would have lost his temper. But Inspector Prince was a quiet and self controlled officer and knew how to deal with this violent class of women. He simply waited till Deborah had exhausted her self and then gently asked her a few questions. Finding he was reasonable, Deborah became reasonable on her part and replied with great intelligence, In a few minutes the inspector, by handling her deftly, learned all that had taken place on that terrible night from the time Sylvia had started up in bed at the sound of that far distant cry of a soul in agony. And that, from what Miss Sylvia says" ended Deborah, twas just before the church clock struck the hour of 12."
 "You came down a quarter of an hour laterT
 T did when Miss Sylvia woke me-" said Deborah. "She was frightened out of her seven senses and couldn't get up at once. Yes, it was about twenty minutes after. the hour we come down to see-it" And the woman, strong nerved as she was, shuddered.
 "HumphI" said the inspector. The assassin had time to escapew
 Begging your pardon, sir, them or him or her or 1t as murdered master was below in the cellar when we saw the corp-not that 1t was what you'd call a corp then"
 Twill you say precisely what you meanY
 Deborah did so and with such wealth of detail that even the hardened in- spector felt the creeps down his of1- cisl back. There was something ter ribly Inerciless about this crime. The man had been bound like a sheep for the slaughter, his mouth had been sealed with the brooch so that he could not cry out, and then. fin the sight of his child and servant. he had been slow ly strangled by means of the copper wire which communicated with the eel lar. One of the policemen brought up