Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-12-28

clothes nrted upon a bench in the
open window, they saw the body OF
this good woman, lying inert and
seemingly dead; the frightened child
tugging at her skirts. She was of a
robust make, fleshy and fair, and had
always been considered a model OF
health and energy, but at the sight
of her helpless figure, thus stricken
while at work, the one cry was "A
stroke!' till she had been lifted of
and laid upon the floor. Then some
dtscoloration in the water at the bot
tom of the tub led to a closer examin.
alton of her body, and the discovery
of bullet-hole in her breast directly
over the heart.
Gas she had been standing with
face towards the window, all crowded
that way to see where the shot had
come from. AS they were on the
fourth story it could not have come
from the court upon which the room
looked. 1t could only have come from
the front tenement, towering up be
fore them some twenty feet away. A
single window of the innumerable ones
confronting them stood open, and this
was the one directly opposite.
Nobody was to be seen there OIL
in the room beyond, but during the ex
element, one man ran off to call the
police and another to hunt up the JAM
tor and ask who occupied this room.
His reply threw them all into con
fusion. The tenant of that room was
the best, the Quietest and most re
spectacle man in either building.
Then he must be simply careless
and the shot an accidental one. A
rush was made for the stairs and
soon the whole building was in an I'D
roar. But when this especial room was
reached, it was found locked and or
the door paper pinned up, on which
these words were written: Gone to
New York. Will be back at $50!
Words that recalled a circumstance to
the Janitor. He had seen the gentle.
man go out an hour before. This ter.
minated all inquiry in this direction,
though some few of the excited throne
were for battering down this door Just
as they had the other one. But they
were overruled by the janitor, who
saw no use in such wholesale destruc.
ton, and presently the arrival of the
police restored order and limited the
inquiry to the rear building, where II
undoubtedly belonged
Mr.. Gryce," (here Sweetwater laid
by his notes that he might address the
old gentleman more Directly, 'T was
with the boys when they made their
first official investigation. This is
why you can rely upon the facts az
here given. l followed the investiga
ton closely and missed nothing which
could in any way throw light on the
| case. 1t was a mysterious one from
the first, and lost nothing by furthe,
! inquiry into the details.
/ The first fact to startle us as we
made our way up through the crowd
/ which blocked halls and staircases
was this: A doctor had been found
and, though he had been forbidden to
make more than a cursory examina
ton of the body till the coroner came
he had not hesitated to declare after
his first look, that the wound had moi
been made by bullet but by some
sharp and slender weapon thrust
home by powerful hand (You mark
that, Mr.. Gryce.) AS this seemed i'm
possible in face of the fact that the
door had been found buttoned on the
| inside, We did not give much credit to
his opinion and began our work under
the obvious theory of an accidental
discharge OF some gun from one OF the
windows across the court But the
doctor was nearer right than we sup
| posed. When the coroner came tc
look into the matter, he discovered
that the wound was not only too small
to have been made by the ordinary
bullet, but that there was no bullet Il
be found in the woman's body or any
where else. Her heart had beer
reached by thrust and not by shot
from gun. bIr Gryce, have yol
not heard a startling repetition Of
this report in a case nearer at hand?
Up three flights from the court
with no communication with the ad
joining rooms save through a dooI
guarded on both sides by heavy pieces
or furniture 70 one person could han
Ole, the hall door buttoned on the in
side, and the fire escape some ffteer
feet to the left, this room of death ap
peared TO be &c removed from the ap
proach OF murderous outsider as tho
spot IL the writing-room of the Cler
mont where Miss Challoner fell
Otherwise, the place presented thc
greatest contrast possible TO that
scene of splendor and comfort. had
not entered the Clermont at that time
and no such comparison cogid have
struck my mind. But / have thought
OF it since. and you. with your expert