The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-06-29
Quick Work.
[orIginaI.l

l0AAb
A number of detectives were loung-
ing at headquarters awaiting assign
ments and swapping stories. All but
one had told Of some puzzling case
: that be had solved. and he was called
upon to help the party pass the time.
''Come, Billy" said one Of the num-
Der; don't sit there mum when we're
giving experiences. Tell us the most
difficult case you ever tackled
You've all been giving that kind OF
cases. Suppose to vary the entertain
ment give you the easiest case / ever
tackled and you fellows guess how
solved itY'
''That's good idea. Proceed"
st was case of identification, not
one to discover criminal, though !
solved that, too, afterward. When /
was on the secret service force of the
town of Yardley telephone came from
q farmhouse dozen miles in the coun-
try that the dead body of man had
been discovered lying beside road so
stripped and mutilated as to be unrec-
ognizabIe They wanted police force
sent out to attend to the matter. The
captain told me to take the patrol
wagon and a man or two and drive out
to the place where the body lay. He
charged me especially to find out the
name Of the murdered man, since 1t is
bothersome for the police to keep a
body and It's bad policy to bury 1t
without Identification.
1--WE drove ont to the farmhouse from
which the telephone was sent, where
I found Farmer Bowers, who led me
half mile down the road and showed
me the body. Whoever had done the
job had taken great precaution to con-
ceal the identity Of his victim. Why
he did so afterward gave me clew
by which brought him to the gal
lows. The outer clothing had been
taken of the body, and there was not
d mark anywhere on his undergar-
ments A small bit of material had
been cut out at the bottom of the
shirt bosom, where shirtmakers usually
place the owners initials. The shoes
probably bore the makers name, for
they had been taken away. AS to the
face, 1t had been mutilated beyond
recognition. looked for some defect
on the body, like a mole or a birth
mark, but there was nothing Of the
kind. No dog whined beside his muir
dered master, Indeed, there was no
living thing about him, except the oc-
cupants Of a doyeeot on barn near by
and eat in the road watching them.
II confess / was puzzled. The only
way could see to find out who the
man was was to take the body to the
police station, publish the facts and
wait for claimants. But this was not
what the chief wanted So l did a
hard Job of taking In surroundings
and In fifteen minutes bit on an ex-
pedient. Two hours and thirty min
utes after | arrived on the ground
had brought the murdered mans son
from distance Of fifty miles to his
Fathers body. which he identified at
hnce beyond the slightest doubt Now
Vow did | do it?'
There was a long silence, broken at |
No by one OF the party, who claimed |
LAT some missing article. like a
ndkerchief with a name or initials
Us 1t or a paper tossed about by the
I'D. had been found. But the story
Eler ayerred there was no such arti-
M of any kind whatever. Then one |
81 guessed that the cat mentioned |
Dnged to the dead man and had his
Be and address on the collar The
v to this was that the cat belonged |
the farm where the barn stood. |
81 there was a guess that the mans
knew where his father was and
Be Of his own accord. This would
81 do. for Billy had sent him a mes
Sc to come and where to come to.
One superstitlous detective guessed
bat the murdered mans ghost gave
the necessary information, and anoth-
g suggested that it was a case Of
mental biography. Finally every man
gave up the conundrum and asked for
be solution. The story teller resumedt
among the doves IN the cot" he
said. Il saw several Of a different
breed entirely from the rest They
we're fraternizing with the others go
Ing and coming to and from the cot
but not at all IKE them. The reason
Why noticed these apparent strangers