The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-03-02
lo0RyTlg 70 q W. q. cdapmAnl

slA0 tAu1ASHA0 hHH AASAAS1N H SOASssAaattSfNAt
yitriol. La Chhussee enptied the
glass with many apologies, stating
that he had inadvertently given bis
master q receptacle; from which aifel,
low,seryant had taken some medicine:
A.short while after, while NJ. D'Au-
bray was giving dinner party upon
his estate In Beauce, the whole Of the
! diners were seized with q serious i'll,
ness aftef eating d pate. Upon this
occasion La Chaussee had accom-!
panied his master to the country
seat The rest recovered, but NJ. DsAu,
bray continued to grow worse. He re-
I turned to Paris, but on June II, 1870,
he died, apparently from progressive
anaenia. A. postmortem examination
was made by the doctors in order to
determine the cause Of death which
was attributed to malignant thu
mors.'f
! 1t was not longer than few weeks
before the second brother was at
! tackled by the same disease. He grew
| progressively weaker, and died before
the end Of the year. Again the doc
tors performed a post-mortem, and
suspicion of poisoning arose. They
could discover nothing, however; but
one Ioi them declared that "the liver
and heart we're destroyed"
But one life now remained be-
tween.the inheritance and the March.
IonesS. The sinister La Chaussee,
!, having accomplished. the. death of two
1 masters, sought a position with. the
widow of the. elder brother. But the
widow instinctiyely realized the peril
that threatened her. She withdrew
to her country estate and lived ac'
tualIy,secluded- from all but her Oldest
servants, and most intimate friends,
La Chaussee bafied in his attempt
and having. no means of livelihood,
wandered miserably about the Paris
streets.
+ Meanwhile suspicion HAD been rife,
| and 1t had fallen uron two persons
u the MarchiOnessscG: Brinvill ieEsSsa s the
one who STOOD toRproft most by the
death of her brothers and sister-in-
law, and La Chaussea, the valet. In
vestigations were set on foot as to the
relationship that had existed between
them. La Chaussee had been in the
employment of St. Croix. and this
seemed to prove e connecting medium
Before any action was taken, how
ever, st. croix suddenly died. and a
new phase OF the affair opened:
st. croix died in'Paris on July 81,
a16T2, after an illness Of several
months. When his. estate, Ras exam
i ined 1t proved to be almost bankrupt
The only. article likely to- hold yulu-
! ables was a small strong box, which
the deceased by the terms Of his
testament specifically desired should
be handed to the Marchioness Of Brin!
.villlers. Ther widow of the deceased
\ man. opposed the surrender Of this
box, believing that 1t contained valu'
ables TO which she was more entitled
than the legatee. The box was there.
fore opened in the presence Of the
Lieutenant, civil. It contained two pa
\ Eers-promises to pay certain sums
OF money, signed by NJ. D,Aubray, the
father OF the Warehouses, and by a
certain Pennautier. Among these two
| papers were several small packets Of
! powder, two, bottles full of a mysteri
Gus fluid, pot containing opium, "a
small box with an internal stone
! inside, and a little bundle Of prescrip
lions marked curious secrets" ~.
The discovery; of chemicals in those
days always excited terror and sus
rictoR. In the opinion Of the lieu
1 tenant civil this box was the reeep
tacle in which a poIsoner had kept
the tools. of his trade. He ordered
the contents to be tested Immediately
A pinch OF the powder thrown into
the fire produced violet flame. The
paper packets. were found to contain
Corrosive, sublir1ate, Roman vitriol
anthony and powdered vitrlol." One
OF lie bottles contained a colorles:
fluid which defed analysis; the othel
4 had a deposit of whitlsh powder. Thi!
was administered to pigeon, a cat
a dog and n turkey, and all died al
most Immediately; yet. when The
bodies were opened. no internal in
jurles could be discovered. The re
port Of the analysts was TO the ef
feet that the poison resisted ever
test that science could apply.
The discovery of this fatal legac!
to the Marchioness furnished c clue
| to the mysterious death OF the TIVE
i DrAubray brothers: Three persons
were clearly implicated now; tn,
! Warehouses herself, La Carussee ant
4 PennautIer, the man whose name ap
peared upon, the paper in the box
Orders were issued for the arrest o
La Chaussee, and the valet was picket
up in the Paris streets where he wan
dered Homeless iTdetwas searched a
the police SUTTON andsin, one of hi
pockets there'was found q small
packet Of white powder exactly sim
; ilar 10 that found in the strong boz
which, he said, WINS used for sharpen
ing razors. The Marchioness had gon
into secluMon In a religious estat
lishment at Picpus when the storm
Il 81 . a 4 r..