The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1909-02-05

| I tried to question him as to the two
| persons who had already claimed the
J letter but whether he wished to en-
trench himself behind professional Sc
crecy-he may have thought that he
had already said too much-oy whether
he was disguised at the ioke-tha had
been played on him he would not an
! swer any of my questions"
"Then ii is almost certain" said NJ.
| Stangerson, that my daughter did
lose the key, and that she did not tell
me of it, wishing to spare any anxiety,
| and that she begged whoever had
found it to write to the poste restante.
/ She evidently feared that, by giving
our address, inquiries would have re-
suited that would have appraised me
Of the loss of the key. 1t was quite
logical, quite natural, for her. to have
taken that course-for 1 have been
robbed once before"
"Where was that, and when?" asked
| the police chief.
"Oh, many years ago, in America. in
| Philadelphia. There were stolen from
my laboratory the drawings of two in
ventions that might have made the
fortune Of a man. Not only have 1
never learned who the thief was, but
have never heard even word of the
object Of the robbery, doubtless be-
cause in order to defeat the plans Of
the person who had robbed me / my
self brought these two inventions be-
fore the public and so rendered the.
robberv OF no avail. From that tihhtf
on | have been very careful, to shut
myself in when l am at work. The
bars to these windows; the lonely stu
alton of this pavilion, this cabinet,
which Il had specially constructed, this
special lock, this unique( key, all are
precautions against fears inspired by
IN sad experience"
"Most interesting. remarked NJ.
| OAK.
NJ. Rouictabille asked about, the reti-
| Guile. Neither NJ. Stangerson nor Dad
dy Jacques had seen it for tseveral
days, but few hours later we learned
from Mile. Stangerson herself that the
| reticule had either been stolen from
| her or she had lost 1t. She further
corroborated all that had passed just
as her father had stated. She had
| gone to the poste restante and, on the
| 23d Of October, had received letter
which, she affirmed, contained nothing
but vulgar pleasantly, which she
had Immediately burned
To return to our examination, or,
rather to our conversation. | must
state that the chief of police. having in
CURED of VI. Stangerson under what
conditions his daughter had gone to
Paris on the Goth of October. we learn
ell that NJ Robert Darzac had accom-
panied her, and DarZac had not been
again seen at the chateau from that
time until the day after the crime had
been committed. The fact that NJ. Oar
FAC was with her in the department
store when the retlcue disappeared
could not pass unnoticed and, it must
be said. strongly awakened our in
terest
This conversation between magis-
trates, accused, victim. witnesses and
journalist was coming to close when
quite a theatrical sensation-an Incl
dent Of kind displeasing to NJ. de
Marquet-was produced. The officer OF
the gendarmes came to announce that
Frederic Larsan requested to be adj
mitted-a request that was at once
complied with. He held in his hand
heavy pair of muddy boots. which he
threw on the pavement of the labora
tory.
Here" he said, "are the boots worn
by the murderer. Do you recognize
them, Daddy JacquesY'
Daddy Jacques bent over them and,
stupefied, recognized n pair of old boots
which he had some time back thrown
into Il corner of his attic. He was so
taken aback that he could not hide his
agitation.
Then. pointing to the handkerchief in
the old mans hand. Frederic Larsan
said:
That's a handkerchief astonishingiy
like the one that was found in the ycl-
low room.
"I know" said Daddy jacques. trcm-
bling, they are almost alike"
"And then" continued Frederic Lar
san, ''the Old Basque cap also found in
the yellow room might at one time
have been worn by Daddy Jacques
himself. All this, gentlemen. proves,
think, that the murderer wished to dis
guise his real personality. He did it In
a very clumsy way. or. at least, so it
appears to us. Don't be alarmed,
Daddy Jacques. We are quite sure
that you We're not the murderer. You
never left the side of NJ. Stangerson.
But IT, NJ. Stangcrson had not been
working that night and had gone back
TO the chateau after parting with his
daughter, and Daddy Jacques4had gone
to sleep in his attic, mo one would have