The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-11-06
The Crime of s~z;;;:s :'
e. e1.? 5s':' the Boulevard

sufficinet information to nabie him tc
arrest a murderer in the morning in a
wretched hovel at La Vilette--a mur-
derer armed to the teeth. 1t was Rer-
nardet who. without arms-as all those
| agents-caught the famous bandit. the
noted Taureau de la Giaciere. n foreign
Hercules who had ~strangied his mis-
tress. Rernardet arrested him by hold
Ing to his temple the cold neck of a
bottle and saying. Hands up or fire.
Now what the bandit o for the cold
muzzle OF a pistol was a vial containing
come medicine which Bernardet had
purchased of a pharmacist for his liver.
Deeds OF valor against thieves, male
Factors and insurrectionists abounded In
Bernardet's life. and NJ. emory had just
discovered In this man. whom he be-
lleved simply endowed with the activity
and of a hunting dog. an In
t~elligence s!ngularly watchful. deep and
complicated. Bernardet. who had moth
ing more TO do until the body should
be taken TO the morgue. left the house
directly after the magistrates.
Wher are you going?" asked Paul
Rodier, the reporter.
few steps from here"
May l go along with you?" asked
the journalist.
ITO find an occasion to make me
speak? But i know nothing. l suspect
nothing, l shall say nothing"
d you believe that 1t is the work
of a thief or revenge?"
II am certain that 1t was no thief.
Nothing In the apartment was touched.
As for the rest, h knows?"
IN. Bernardet." l%aughingly said the
reporter az he walked along by the
officers side. you 10 not wish TO
speak"
What good viii that dog" Bernardet
\ rn III a1,- ~ I'm -
prevent you from publishing AN inter-
view"
You think so. Au revoir! 1 must
hurry and make my copy. And you?"
II? A photograph"
They separated. and Bernardet en-
tered his house. His daughters had
grieved over his sudden departure on
Sunday his fete day. They me. him
with joyous shouts when he appeared
and threw themselves upon him. Papa!
Here Is papa!"
Nine. Bernardet was also happy.
they could go then to the garden n
finish the picture. But their joy sub
sided; night had fallen. and Bernar-
Diet, preoccupied, wished to shut him
self up so that he might reflect on all
that had happened, and perhaps to
work a little, even today.
ut is thy fete day, Bernardet. Wilt
thou not rest today"
II a rest at dinner. dear. Until
then l must use the time reading over
a mass of evidence"
"Then thou wilt need q lamp" asked
Nine. Bernardet.
Yes my dear. Light the lamp"
Next to their ~bedchamber M. Ber-
nardet had fitted up a little room for
his private use. 1t was a tiny den, in
which was a mahogany table loaded
with books n papers, and at which
he worked when he had time, reading,
annotating, copying from the papers
and collecting extracts for hours at a
time. No one was allowed to enter this
room. filled with old papers. Mime.
B~ernardet we'll called 1t "a nest of mi
crobes." Bernardet found pleasure in
this sporadic place, which in summer
was Sitting. In winter he worked with
out a fire.
Nine. Bernardet was unhappy as she
saw that their holiday was spoiled. But
she very well knew that when her
husband was devoured with curiosity,
carried away by q desire to elucidate a
puzzle. there was nothing to be said:
He listened to no remonstrances, and
the daughters knew that when they
asked IL their father was not coming
to renew his games with them they
We're obliged to content themselves with
the excuse which they knew so we'll
from having heard 1t so often, papa is
studying out a crime"
Bernardet was anxious to read over
his notes. the Notification OF his hopes.
Of those so-called certainties of today
That is why he wished to be alone. AS
soon as he had closed the door he at
once. from among the enormo piles of
dust laden books and files of old news
papers. with the unnering instinct Of
the habitual searcher who
through bookstalls, drew forth a gray
covered pamphlet in which he had read.
with feVerish establishment, the expert
L Ynanfu n nd 1.oynrt re n- yy----s--
the application of photography in Grim
final researches. He quickly seated him
self, and with trembling fingers eagerly
turned over the leaves of the book so
often e and studied and came to the
report OF the member OF the academy
or medicine. He compared 1t with the
proof submitted by DIR. Bourbon of the
MEDICAL society, in which it was stated
that the most learned want had seen
nothing.
Seen nothing or wished to see moth
ing perhaps" he murmured.
The light fell upon the photograph
which had been sent a long time before
to the society, and Bernardet set him
self to study out the old crime with the
most careful attention. with the pas
sion of a photographer decipherinE a
p%alimpsest. This poor devil Of a police
officer. in his ardent desire to solve the
vextng problem, brought to it the same
ardor and the same faith as a biblio-
phfle. He went over and over with the
method Of al examining magistrate ali
that old forgotten affair. and in the
solitude and silence OF his little room,
the last reflections of the setting sun
falling on his papers and making pale
the light Of his lamp, he set himself the
task of solving. like a mathematical
problem, that question which he had
studied. but which he wished to know
from the very beginning, without any
doubts. before seeing NJ. Ginory again
at the morgue beside the body Of NJ.
Revere. He ooh then his pamphlet
and read: The photograph sent to the
society of medical Jurisprudence by DIR
Bourbon. taken upon the retina of the
eye Of a who had been muir
dered the 14th of June. 1868. represents
the when the assassin, after
having strcrS the mother, kills the in
FAINT. and the dog belonging to the
house leaps toward the unfortunate lit.
tie victim to save It."
Then, studying turn by turn the pho.
tograph yellowed by time and the ar
ticle which described it, Bernardet sat.
isfied himself and learned the history
by heart.
NJ. Gallard. general secretary of the
society. after having carefully bidder
the back part of the photograph. hat
/ ~ ,o,,1,<ol ~ n - ~. y,a,,1>or~ ,,itl