The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-10-23
Under the Rose

| thought wicked and useless extrava-
| sance Besides. II was hayng time, and
| Tom couldn't be spared.
There was q Wedding supper for the
| immediate relatives. and before the meal
was well ended a large crowd OF the VII
layers and ne;ghboring farm folks ar
rived outside the house 10 give the bride
asG There wers al soris o
uproar-beating Of Tin pans. blowing OF
horns, ringing OF cowbells. shouting.
laughter. and even firing OF guns and
pistols
or course the young couple had to show
themselves. and at their appearance the
tumult and the shouting broke out worse
than ever. II was "A cloudess night with
The moon at the fun, and as Tom and
Ruth stood arm in arm on the wide
porch they were In clear view. Sud
denly there was a volley OF firearms. and
Ruth Valley was seen to fall back
ward in her husbands arms. At first
it was thought she had tainted from
the excitement, but in a few moments
the brdegroom's affrighted shouts ap-
welded wife had been shot Some mis-
creant in the crowd had deliberately
drawn bead" on her breast! At least
for ] must not get ahead too fast
that's what became apparent afterward,
IN the initial confusion 1t was thought
that the shooting must have been an ac-
on the lawn. who didn't know It was
loaded" had pulled the trigger and un-
knowingly sped the fatal bullet.
But when I got on the case the facts
already discovered put totally differ
ent complexion on the matter, and /
speedily decided that Ruth Valleys death
was case of deliberate murder. There
had been an inquest, OF course. by the
county physician. and that gave me the
hint The missile proved to be a soft
nosed steel bullet fired from a Krag army
rifle And here was remarkable fact:
The soft lead nose OF the bullet had nat
md col nSf q q c
corset STEEL When examined u looked
for all the world like cats eye. even
to tho coloring Of the pupil! 1t was the
steel cone OF the bullet that had caused
death. that having penetrated the heart.
Tho poor child probably never knew what
hit her.
Naturally, my first task was TO search
for some one who owned hraS army
munitv--this person also being an eX-
ccllent marksman. Tho finding of man
who united these Two characteristics. /
spotting the murderer.
But here ran upon the first snas;;
The owner OF the krag was soon found
eran OF the Spanish war, who had re-
turned from Montauk the previous au-
tunln. Gerrish not only proved COM
plete alibi. but strenuously denied having
loaned his krag 10 any one, Yet When ]
told him my errand. and together We had
examined the gun, he unhesitatingly de-
clared that it had been recently dis
charged. and that ono shell was missing
from tile full clip which it had previously
contained, Gerrish explained that living
alone as he did. he thought il no harm
readily Identified the steel cone which
had Killed Ruth Valley, aud told me OF
several similar instances of the queer
shapes sometimes taken by the 'mush-
rooniRg" OF the Soft-pose bullet. Also
he agreed with me that some one. know
ing he was away from home might have
borrowed the krag on tho fatal night.
though he was equally frank to say that
he had observed no indications that his
house had been feIoniously entered during
his absence. And until my call he had
moved from its accustomed place on a
couple Of staples over his old brick fire.
place
, Swearing him TO silence. and TO the
until ] might call for ii. my next task
was TO look for a good nlarlsman and
a man with motive for the killing. To
this end ] went through the male resi-
dents of the neighborhood with a fine
toothcomb with the idea, first OF elm
ina ting the sheep from the goats.
All told there were not more than half
a dozen names worth considering, Some
of these had been among Ruth Mcrrills
suitors, but all. with one exception,
seemed TO have taken the result phlo-
This exception was Mark HennTker. who
had been overheard 10 boast that Tom
Valley wouldn't long have the girl, even
after she had promised to marry him
Those who heard him make this threat
thought he referred to the wcll-known
nail state of her health. But the subSe-
gucnt event put the remark in different
light 10 me.
But n more important fact was that
Henniker bore the reputation of being
a crack shot with either rifle or pistol.
In the hunting field. after rabbits or
birds. he was never known TO miss. said
local gossip: while AT the annual "tur-