The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1910-12-30

Ql4 KNOW GOu hAAON -
that all you can Say2 A few minutes
ago you informed me that II was my
business TO prove your guilt and not
yours TO prove your innocence There
limit 70 every thing. Since you can
answer, III answer for you, You lost
the other button in the room Of the
man whom You murdered II was
found there"
That's not surprising" said Bar
ton ! entered the room with the
chief Of police The link might have
become detached in some way and
dropped without my noticing IL at
the time"
Very true. But since one button was
found IN an evening shirt, which you dlo
not wear at the time you entered the
room with the chief Of police, and since
< Is customary 70 wear both sleeve
links Of pair at the same time. your
explanation is worth nothing. What
have you TO say now -
u have nothing TO say
But have good deal to say 70
much
Surely you would not hold a man
guilty on such evidence?''
Such evidence! Do you want more2
1 ] VIII give you all that q guilty. man can
desire, or rather not desire. Suppose
toid you that you left a letter on the
scene OF the crime2 Would you call
l that such evidence?' Eh?
I could not have left a letter behind
me, for the simple reason that entered
, the room with the chief Of police, as 1
said before. because I came out again
IN about three minutes. and because -
Look at this Look at these scraps
OF paper. Arranged haphazaTd, they
/ mean nothing, but pieced together they
mean much Look at them now. Read
r v FIJI in the blanks and you have
Monsieur victor = Rue de r
". Your first Name you viii admit, Is
hlctOr. Your family name follows as a
matter Of course. Fill out all the blanks
and YOU VIII have Monsieur Victor Bar
. ton - Rue de-
NO Mo- / protest against any. such
reasoning From a Few letters you
build up my first name. and then you
deliberately add my family name. Your
Deductions are all wrong The scraps
de what? Besides. the number OF my
house IS not . The man who searched
any rooms can tell ycu that. I ask that
Uy objections be noted in the record -
To himself Barton said: 'You'u pay
dearly for this when I'm out
Your objections viii appear In the
record The deductions that ] have made
are not 50 absurd as you maintain, as
you vii see II we pursue the inquiry
further We are by no means done
with these scraps Of paper VIII you
look az this, pleaSeE Unknown az p ,
Try Is This Is complete. There are
no blanks. no letters 10 supply You
live at IS Rue de DouaL This letter
was addressed by mistake 10 . and
was accordingly sent 10 you at IS by
the postoffice. Il IS not the hrsy time
that this mistake has been made. You
see that / am not drawing upon my
Imagination Il you hare anything 70
answer I shall be glad to hear you"
Barton was crushed. In tearing the
envelope he had paid no attention TO
the postOfiCe correction on the back.
he saw -hst the judges position was
lElUTegDable.
az have nothing to say he STAN
mered in reply. I can only swear
that I am innocent. that ] did not
know Forget and have never known
him and that my whole past life is q
denial OF this terrible charge"
~ DO not inquire into your past
life That IS the task OF the trial
court We have finished for today
Please sign your answers 70 my qEes-
Barton listened dfstractedIy and
signed his name. Mechanically he
held out his wrists for The handouts
which guard held ready and walk
ed out OF the room.
In the corridor his attorney said 20
him. Il viii see you tomorrow morn
ing. We win have long talk"
Thank you answered Barton a
wiz look for you.
His guards led him. through mar
row Railways and down flights OF
stone stairs, out OF the building
Alone IN his cell again, he brOoded
over the events Of the evening. 1t
seemed TO him that so far from bril-
iiantly paTrying his inQuisitor. as he
had planned, and OF reducing that
worthy y utter discontinue, he had
+ fiOEndered hopelessly in the quick
sands Of the examination An igno-
rant common thief would have done
better, he thought He was sorry
that he had ever conceived this mad
cap scheme, not that he was afraid
Of the OutCome-he had only to utter
a few words and he would be free
but because he felt as II he had in
III 81 IN
machinery Of the law and had found
10 his SORROW that it moved faster
than he had ever imagined IL capable
Indeed, he felt that he would have
some difficulty not only in Withdrawing
his finger but in saving his whole arm
He had pictured the police IN a C0ndi-
ton Of ridiculous perplexity, aiulessiy
ScuTTying about the city like ants. or
pursuing foolish clues, while the strong
est possible evidence was ignored In
stead Of that they had selected the most
obvious signs first and had correctly IN
terpTeted theul-and that with startling
rapidity and precision They had woven
so stout q net about him that Il would
require a gigantic effort to break
through the meshes.
The conclusions reached BY the Judge
were only natural What had he replied
10 the QuestiOns2 NOthingi he had
merely declared himself innocent as vo-
CifereuSly as he could. Every drunkard.
the face OF the most dsmning proof.
Even his manner did not carry cOnviC-
ton He felt sure Of that, for man
Gems to lie most when he is telling the
trUth-
An agony bred by doubt seized Bar
ton What new charge might not be
brought against him? He had an
swered only few questions satisfac-
toriiy. What attitude sh ouId he as
sumo If q new charge were raised, Of
which he was unaware as yeti He
decided that he would deny everything
In order to raise a doubt in the
judges mind he must betray no doubt
himself He felt sure his position
would be invulnerabie when it came to
questioning him about his past life
and his relations to Forget He had
never known the dead man; he had
never known even Of his existence. To
Z that he would swear and adhere firm
lly IN the face of the most searching
denomination Surely they could
not hold a man who had led a blame
7 less life. a man who had no possible
motive in committing this murder
His attorney visited him sn the morn
Ing At first the man spoke vaguely.
Igropfng. as 1t were. in conversational
gloom He inquired into BaFtOn's hab-
Its his friendships and his life he
+ confined himself 10 insignificant de
tails obviously fearing to breach the
o< tho he o-z