River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-07-22

possible that any human being could
be such a hypocrite as he appeared
to be, and l concluded that she must
be some poor relative in trouble, whom
he was helping in some great sorrow
against his wife's wishes. The money
indicated that, and / could explain
what / saw in no other way, so 1 said
nothing, resolving to give him the
benefit of the doubt. For he certainly
seemed the incest kind of man l
ever had here and wanted to believe
in him. Besides, he saw me in the
mirror as 1 looked at them there in
each others arms, and as he made no
explanation, l thought he felt that he
had done no wrong, nothing that
needed excuse. But now-I don't
know what to think. If he really loved
this other woman, and not his wife,
and If it was a woman who came up
those steps at dead of night"
She stopped, shuddering. DR.. Furni-
vail rose briskly.
ITO begin at the right end of the
case," he said, Il would first see the
man, or the woman. But as he is at
the hospital and l am here, while the
woman remains unknown, l will look
at the body and then examine the
room"
Shown by the boarding mistress to
the scene of the tragedy he studied
the face of the victim lying in the bed.
The undertaken had not yet arrived,
it being still early in the morning,
and the body remained as the medical
examiner had left it a few hours be-
fore.
"a face that would be beautiful"
he said to himself, 'but for the pre-
dominance of sentiment over thought
in it. That changes the adjective to
pretty The sweetness which Mrs.
Philpots saw is really mildness, gentle
ness, of the kind due to lack of force.
The girl was weak. She was also
good, and high-minded in her way;
sensitive in the extreme. She lived in
the air, in the clouds, not on the solid,
practical earth. She was so young
not over 18-that the signs of the
tragedy sure sooner or later to over
take such character exist in her fea-
lures only family, in hints, indirec-
lions, possibilities, not as prophecies.
That appearance would have devel-
oped later. But it is there-high
tragedy That mere thief should act
as the purveyor of fate to her is i'm
possible. She was above the reach of
person on that plane. 1t was senti-
ment that killed her, not brute crimi
nality. Therefore the indications so
far point to that other woman, either
as principal or accessory. There was
no thief in the case. Yet Truro says
that the murderer was at his trousers
pockets. Did he recognize this per-
son. and was that statement false,
made to shield the guilty? 1t must be
so. He knows who the criminal is.
Otherwise he would not have tried to
misdirect suspicion. This being grant
ed, would he have applied the word
coward to a woman, as he certainly
applied it to the criminal? In the ex-
element and bitterness of the moment
he might have shot the epithet once,
even at a woman, but he would not
have reiterated it over and over, as
he did, to anybody but man. The
murderer was therefore man, and
Truro knows what man. The next
step is obvious"
Having called up the city hospital
on the telephone, however, he learned
that, while the wounded husband was
doing we'll, his case was precarious,
and as he was sleeping now it would
not do to disturb him. Therefore DR..
Furnivall returned to the front parlor
and began an examination of it. In a
few minutes he turned to Mrs. Phil
pots.
st suppose the police have searched
the ROOM" he said. "Have they taken
away any exhibits?"
"I think not-nothing that I know
Of"
But the furnishings here all belong
to the room, just as you always let it.
That is evident. The couple brought
nothing into it-no bric-a-brac, no or
naments of any kind. You say they
had plenty of money-did they give
any reason why they did not follow
the custom, by adding that kind of
thing to the adornment of their apart
ment?"
ooh, yes, that is all right! They
were to be here only temporarily, were
going to housekeeping in few weeks,
and all their goods were packed and in
storage"
DIR. Furnivall threw open the door of
the single closet.
"Was their wardrobe packed and in
storage also?" he asked. She saw
with dismay that the dresses which
she supposed were crowding the closet
to repletion were missing. There was
practically nothing on the hooks.
Il am sure they always appeared
finely dressed, both of them," she said,
blankly. "And they brought two great
trunks. Here they are"
The doctor raised the lids. The re-
ceptacles were empty.
Without word, and followed by the
anxious gaze of the boarding house
mistress, he pulled out the drawers of
the bureau. They contained only the
fewest possible necessities of the tot
let.
cit could not be that the thief"
Mrs. Philpots paused and interro-
gated the doctor with wide eyes.
"You saw him go out, and he had
nothing but a revolver in his hand,