The sun., 1910-06-13


Il was packed in a s,ibat antial trunk from
which blood could hardly escape.
The trunk was a theatrical ons of
make well known in ths United States.
solid and strong Mrs Charlton had used
h for years from all Indications, for
painted upon the cover were the initials
"w. c. B. corresponding with the name
W c Belts. which she had used for a
time prior 90 her divorce from Neville
n. Castle of San Francisco.
The inference here was plain Sup
poaedly Mrs Castle after having besn
ahlnned in the villa was placed IN the
trunk alive and the trunk waS carried
% the bay near Moltrasio. where Il was
lowered into the water The polics are
sndeavoring 70 learn II boatmsn Of the
neighborhood were employed 10 help in
this part of the crime Their efforts in
that direction have ~ far been unsuccess-
ful Ihsy stil think no man could have
moved the $50 pound burden alone They
also say they cannot believe thsi the
hloodstains On the road came from Mrs..
chArltons wounds The blood could not
coax through the trunk They are aSsum-
ing. therefore. that Mr. Charlton was
murdered and that the marks were left
by his body as il was dragged toward
the hay
A circumstance considered siEnihcant
by the police IL that no money and no
valnAbles were found in the Nlla Mrs.
Charlton was well provided with money
and she had iewelry Besides abe pos
ssssed a number Of trinkets and keepsakes
n little material value None Of these
has been found The detectives think
Il e1tramsly unlikely that Charlton, Il
he were the murderer. would have stolen
his wifss valuables The procuratoF
admitted to-day that rings Of value. rings
which must have fitted q woman's fingers.
Wars found In Constantine Spolaton's
possession when he was arrested at RoR-
saAno and that spolatoG had cOnsid-
erable sum Of money
} This interested the experts SpolatoH
has besn more or les Of q needy advsn-
tnrer. He had a small pension. recently
increased il is understood. from the Rus
sian Government. and he was a smugglsr
Of coffee, tobacco. hcss and silks: but
along the Riviera be was known by
nickname which may he translated a.
sChevaHer Down at the Hesh' The
procuratOr defined 10 say how much
money Spolatoh had when he was taken
into custody.
And yet. although the pouos are now
inclined 10 think that Porter Charlton's
body is at the bottom Of Lake Como and
are beginning to look with more sls-
picion upon ths Russian, there are ctr
Oumstances which confuse this theory
considerably and make the crime as
mysterious a. any which has fallen TO the
criminal branch for a number Of years
These circumstances may be recapitu-
lated briefly. First, there is theliestimOny
offered by tho proprietor Of the Hotel
Suisse that Charlton abused his wife and
that her screams 30 disturbed the guests
Of the hotel that the hotel keeper vas
Obliged 20 ciect the couple Next came
the testimony % the Moltrasio villagers
that Mr.. and Mrs. Charlton quarrellsd
and that after drinking heavily they were
very noisy. Some oi these witnessss
volunteered the information that the
young husband appeared 20 be weary
Of HE wife and eyaded her attentions
AwashsrWomsn appeared to-day before
the procurstor She said tnat she had
done laundry work for SpolatoH and that
he recommended her 90 the ChaTltOns
She said that she went 90 the villa on
June 70 collect soilsd linen Mrs Charl-
ton did not appear. Charlton came 10 a
side door and admitted her He ap-
PeAred 10 be excited and nervous
what. said the procurator. vas his
face like'-
The woman reflected
'EIcellency.' she said. 70 was ter
rife
In Response to further Questioning she
said the villa was silent oppresaively
%. a. silent as II il were uninhabited
She said that she asked for the washing
end that Charlton told her there was no
Boiled clothing in the house The impor-
thnoe u this statement cannot he mini |
nized A. the first search Of the villa a |
quantity of soiled linen was found
A restaurateuT IT Caramazza comes |
forward with a hit u evidence which adds |
10 the puzzle. Charlton. he says. dined |
alone a. his cafe m the evsnlng Of June S. |
He described Charlton perfectly The
young man after dining ordered q barrel |
% vine to be delivered at the villa o n |
tbe following day. When the carrier ap-
peared with the barrel u vine the villa /
vas closed. There was no RESPONSE to his !
knocking.
Az he left tho grounds. making his way /
toward Caramazza by the lake road. the /
carrier says he saw Charlton gazing out |
nEsr fhs hay. rhs carrier spoke to htm. |
ClaElson refused tO accspt the wine. but |
he went hack 10 the villa with the carrier |
and gave ths maR.an sInpty barrel The |
carrier did not enter the villa and he did |
not see Mrs. Charlton.
Atihs post oifice of Massiglianico the
police found and ssqls-tratsd three
postal cards addressed % SpolasoH and
one addressed TO Charlton. The police ]
decline ~ make public the purport Of these \
missiyss In the yilh m a corner Of the
bedroom on the stone floor was a heap
Of ashes This proved 10 bs the remains
~ a bundle n letters some ~ the lsttsra
were only partially destroyed and the
were able 10 assemble the
remn ants oi some of them.
A letter written rscently by Mrs. Charl.
ton 10 Neville H. Castle. her divorced h,s.
band i-tier which Tor some reason had
not been mailei mplorsi restitution
Di old love letters aui photographs. Mr..
Castle vSas attrpsssi ~ -Hsband.-