Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1908-01-17

pell had besides these young ladies'"
There were no other relatives except
a brother, dissolute character who fol-
lowed his sister from America to this
country"
And his name"
"As l recollect it, Henry Graham, !
believe. A man of fifty or sixty"
when did you last see this Henry
Graham"
81 never saw him but once. He came
to the chateau, on some begging expedi-
tion when l happened to be here. He
pretended to be very affectionate. He
was poor looking creature, quite broken
down when l saw him, and not at all the
kind of man to commit daring crime"
"Recollect that the moment Madame
Roupell died he had an interest in her
estate. He was her nearest heir-at-law."
But she had made her WILL she had
disowned him, and utterly cast him off.
That will bequeathed all her property TO
her nicces. | witnessed it. l knew what
was in it."
NJ. Cassagne began to grow more and
more interested. He no longer cast his
eyes upon the walls and ceiling But he
looked the doctor straight in the face.
"On what was that will written? Try
your utmost now to recollect that; q
great deal depends on It." |
'The first will was not written upon
paper. The second contained some slight
bequests to friends and to favorite SER
wants. I believe l was mentioned i.S-
self for some trlfing amount. In othe.'
respects the two wills were identical. The
first one was drawn up by Madame Rou-
pell's lawyers. She kept the second will
at her bankers. The first one remained
in the house. It was engrossed on parch-
ment."
ION parchment" repeated NJ. Cassane
WAS 1t anything like this?' and he
handed scrap Of the article In question
over to the doctor.
Where did you find thls?" inquired
the doctor when he could sufficiently re-
cover from his astonishment to speak.
II found it upstairs" replied NJ. Cas-
sagne. IL put it in my pocket, because
| it was in a queer place for a scrap Of
parchment. / found it with four other
pieces, In the fireplace Of Madame Rou-
pells bedroom. OF course, have the
ory, now, how they came there. First OF
all, however, before l come to that, tell
me IL you are certain that the scraps
were torn from Madame Roupells will
the first will, l mean-the parchment
one"
The physician did not Immediately re
| ply. He fully realized the Importance Of
his answer, and how much hung on 1t.
Give me the scraps" he said. III
there is any writing on them | should
be able to tell by that. 1t was very
peculiar hand. 1t looked as if it had been
engrossed by an English scrivener. Yes,
the handwritings are identical"
at is enough" muttered Cassagne,
sweeping the pieces of parchment up
from the table and putting them carefully
away in his pocketbook. Now for my
theory. Henry Graham is the man we
want to find. Mind you, l don't say he
committed the murder, but you'll see he
is implicated in it in some way or other.
He had everything to gain by Madame
Roupells death, provided she died intes-
tate. He must have learned in some way
that his sister had made will disinherit-
|
thought was the only will was his object.
If he could do that, his sister, being ig-
norant of the fact that the will was de-
stroyed, would go to her grave believ-
ing herself testate. On her death her
brother could have come forward and
claimed the property"
1t was clever reasoning. The doctor
listened with breathess interest as the
detective continued:
Assuming that it is this Henry Ora.
ham, let us see what he knew and what
he did. He must have heard of the max
ing of this first will. and somehow or
other he must have learned of its con-
tents. He was ignorant of the making
of the second instrument Now let us see
how he acted. He gained an entrance
to the chateau How he did this it is i'm
possible to state at present. Probably
he may have been in collusion with some
body in the house but l don't know yet
He was evidently we'll posted as to the
movements OF the family, for he chose a
time when, as he thought, they had gone
to the opera. 1t was mere accident
we don't know whether it was or not, but
| we will assume So-that MISS Harriet
| Weldon did not accompany the party. I
am myself inclined to think there was
some love affair between her and Van
Lith, which accounts for his presence in
the house that night, and which also
accounts for his silence. You understand
what l mean. He won't speak for fear
of compromising the young lady,"
The doctor nodded. 'That Is good" he
said, very good, indeed; 60 ahead"
"The assassin was little disconnected
at finding Miss Weldon and your friend
in the chateau. Instead of entering the
house from the 'front.' which would be
comparatively easy, he was compelled to
do so by the rear, running the risk Of
being seen by the servants. He gained
Madame Roupell's chamber and proceed
ed to search for the document. He ran