The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1907-01-16

men who, up till now, had barely rec
ognized his existence. when full Of
the suspicion that Miss Page had had 9
hand in the theft, IL not the murder OF
Mrs. Webb. I fastened down to the
scene of the tragedy. met this young
woman issuing from the front gate
She had just been making herself con
spicuous by pointing out a trail OF
blood on the grass plot. DIR. Talbot
who was there, wiz remember how she
looked OIL that occasion, but ! doubt
IL he noticed how Abel here looked, or
SO much as remarked the faded flower
the silly boy had stuck in his button
hole"
81 did not" CALCULATED the coroner.
"Yet that flower has a very important
bearing on this case. He had found
1t, as he will tell you. on the floor near
Batsy's skirts, and as soon as saw it
In his coat, I babe him take it out and
keep 1t, for, gentlemen, it was very
uncommon flower, the like OF which
can only be found in this town in Mr..
Sutherland's conservatory I remember
seeing such one in yes hair,
early in the evening. you that
flower about you. Abe
Abel had, and being filled with i'm
portance, too, showed il to the doctor
and to Mr.. Fenton. 1t was withered
and faded in hue. but it was unmis-
takably an orchid of the rarest de-
scription.
cit was lying near Batsy," explained
Abel. 'T drew Mr.. Fenton's attention
to it at the time, but he scarcely no.
ticed it,
II will make up for my Indifference
now" said that gentleman.
II should have been shown that flow
err" put in Knapp.
$50 you should" acknowledged
Sweetwater, but when the detective
instinct is aroused it Is hard for a
man to be just to his rivals. Besides.
] was otherwise occupied. 1 had Miss
Page to watch. Happily for me. it
had been decided that she should not
he allowed to leave town till after the
inquest. and SO my task became easy.
This whole day l have spent in sight
of Mr.. Sutherland's house, and at
nightfall l was rewarded by detecting
her end prolonged walk in the gar
den by hurried dash into the woods
opposite. l followed her and noted
carefully all that she did. AS she had
Just seen Frederick Sutherland and
Miss Holiday disappear up the road
together. she probably felt free to do
rs she liked. for she walked very d.
rectly to the old tree we have just
come from and. kneeling down beside
It, pulled from the hole underneath
something which ratified in her hand
with that peculiar sound we associate
with fresh bank notes. l had approach
ed her as near as dared and was peer
Ing around tree trunk when she
stopped down again and plunged both
hands into the hole. She remained in
this position so long that did not
know what to make OF it. - she
rose at last and turned toward home,
laughing to herself In a wicked but
pleased way that did not tend to make
me think any more of her. The moon
was shining very brightly by this time.
and ! could readily perceive every de-
tail OF her person. She held her hands
out before her and shook them more
than once as she trod by me. SO | was
sure there was nothing in them. and
this Is why l was so confident we
should find the money still in the hole. |
when | saw her enter the house. ! |
set out to find you. but the courthouse |
room was empty. and ii was long |
time before | learned where to look for |
you. But at last fellow at Brighton's I
corner said he saw four men go by on
their way to labels cottage. and on
the chance of finding you among them
i turned down here. The shock you
gave me in announcing that you had
discovered the murderer Of Agatha
Ec1 fnr ho
ment. but now l hope you realize. as l
do, that he could never have had an ac-
tive hand in her death notwithstand-
ing the fact that one of the stolen bills
has been found to have been in that
wretched mans possession. for - and
here is my great point-the proof is not
wanting that Miss Page visited this
house as well as Mrs. Webb's during
her famous escapade. or at least stood |
under the window beneath which I |
have just been searching. a footprint
can be seen there. sirs. very plain
footprint, and If DR.. Talbot will take
the trouble to compare it with the slip
Ger he holds In his hand he will find It
DC have been made by the foot that
wore that slipper
The coroner, with a quick glance
from the slipper in his hand up to
Sweetwater's eager face. showed a de-
cided disposition to make the expert
n mt thus suggested, but Mr.. Fenton.
@ hose mind was full of the label trag-
edy. interrupted them with the ques-
ton:
But how do you explain by this by
pothesis the fact of James label trying
to pass one of the $50 bills stolen from
Mrs. Webb's cupboard? Do you con-
slider Miss Page generous enough to
give him that money!"
You ask me that, Mr.. Fenton? Do
you wish to know what think of the
between these two great
tragedies%
Yes; you have earned a voice in this
matter Speak. Sweetwater."
We'll. then, / think Miss Page has
made an effort to throw the blame of
her own misdoing on one or both OF
these unfortunate old men. She is suf-
cold blooded and calculating