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

said she had given much thought To
the matter. and while she had a great
esteem. even affection, for NJ Darzac
she felt 1t would be better IL things
remained as they were"
THAT Is very strange" muttered M.
OAK. w
"Strange!" repeated NJ. de Afarquet.
You'll certainly not find the mo-
tive there, NJ. DaX," NJ. Staiigerson
| said, with cold smile.
"ln any case, the motive was net
theft" said the chief impatiently.
oh, we are quite convinced of
| THAR exclaimed the examining magis-
| trate.
At that moment the door of the lab
oratory opened, and the officer in
| charge of the gendarmes entered and
handed card to the examining magis-,
trate. W. de Marquet read it and mt
tered Il half angry exclamation. ~
'Thlsris really too huch!" he cried.
What is it," asked, the chief
ITS the card of a,''young reporter
engaged on the Epoqpe Il NJ Joseph !
Rouetabille. 1t has these words writ
ten on it, lone of the motives of the
crime was robbery" to-
The chief smiled.
"Ah, young RouIetabile. I've heard
of him. Re Is considered rather cIev-
er. Let him come in"
NJ. Joseph Rouletabille entered the
laboratory, bawed to us and waited
for NJ. de MarVuet to ask him to ex-
plain his presence.
You pretend, monsieur, that YOU
know the motive for the crime and
that that motive-h the face of al,
the evidence that has been forthcom-
ing--was robberyY
| '..,So NOR bur; dcAot pretend thar.
1 do not say Mat robbery was the mo-
tive for the crime, kad, doa,4 bslieSsr,,
it was" AZ
'rhen what is TIM meaning of tIIiss
card~ ~
at means that robbery was one OF
the motives for the chine"
What leads you to blink thatw 5N
IF you Will be gooN enough to nc
company me will shoE you
The young man asks us to follow
him into the vestibule, nd we did. lie /,
led us toward the lavatGy and begged
N. de Marquet to knee beside him.
This lavatory is lit by IL glass doc,
and when the door was Gen the j.
which penetrated was Ghicion
light it perfectly. NJ. de Aroue
NJ Joseph .Roulctabille KIND dow
the threshold and the yung
pointed to , spot on the payment.
"The stones Of the lavatorNhaFee ~.
been washed by Daddy Ja,ues II
some time" he said "ThaN oaHg1a
seen by the layer of dust tina GoversS.
them. Now notice here the. lirl.s OF Y
two large footprints and the Blk ash
they left where they have beqiThatA
ash Is nothing else than theyeAc1aI IL
dust. that covers the path along Mich E
you must pass through the for, tn, -
order to get directly from Epdnt ~
the Chandler. You know there q
little village of charcoal burnGrlat
that place who make large qNn1,s =.
of charcoal. What the nlurl dreiid
was to come here. at midday, fen ~
there was nobody at the paEilio1nd
attempt his robbery" ~
"But what robbery? WHERE dou
see any signs of robbery? What fes
to you that a robbery has beeInl-
mittedY' we all cried ut once.
what put me on the trace &t'
continued the journalist.
"Was this" interrupted NJ. de tar\
quet, still on his knees. y
Evidently" said Rouletabille. ~
And NJ dc Marquet explained that
there were Oh the dust of the pave
ment marks of two footsteps as well
as the impression, freshly made, of Il
heavy rectangular parcel, the marks
of the cord with which it had been
fastened being easily distinguished
You have been here, then, NJ. Rou
letabille? ] thought / had given or
ders to Daddy Jacques who was left
anybody to enter"
Don't scold Daddy Jacques. l came
here with NJ. Robert Darzac"
"Ah. indcedv' exclaimed NJ. de Mar
quet disagreeably, casting side
glance at NJ. Darzac, who remained
perfectly silent.
when / saw the mark of .hc parcel
by the side of the footprints l had no
doubt as TO the robbery" replied VI.
The thief had rot
brought a parcel with him. He had
made one here--a parcel with the
stolen objects no doubt--and he put it
in this corner, intending TO take it
away when the moment came for him
to make his escape. He had also
>lacee his heavy boots beside the par
,.
Gel, for, see, there are no marks Of
steps leading to the marks left by the
boots, wfsch were placed side by side
That accounts for the fact that the
murderer left no trace of his steps
when he fed from the yellow room,
nor any in the laboratory, nor in the
vestibule. After entering the yellow
room in his boots he took them off,
finding them troublesome or because
he wished to make as little noise as
possible. The marks made by him in Is
going through the vestibule and the
laboratory were subsequently washed
MT nv g.,