The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1912-03-23
WORLDS FAMOUS Police MYSTFRIfS
Tie Murder h tlk ne luafn ox. .a...7


| ter afirmsd. whom the commissary In
CURED ct his apartment the following
day. And his aunt. the bandage
maker. still insisted that the relics at
the morgue wero those Of her nephew.
To put IN end to all doubt, N. Mace
forced the lock Of the door Of Bo-
dasse's apartment. The place was in
good order. but there was q fne layer
Of dust upon the furniture, and the
bed had not been slept IN. On the
floor before tho fireplace were the
ends Of seventeen half-burned matches,
and on the mantel were two paper
candle boxes-one empty, one contain
ing single candle. These boxes were
Of the kind that held eight candles
apiece. Fifteen had therefore presum-
ably been burned. and this correspond
ed with the number Of matches used.
two having missed IRE. The one
candle left would burn. It might be
calculated, about three hours; then
there must have been = light In the
room on fifteen occasions Of three
hours apiece. This was corroborAted
by the Janitor, who had noticed light
from eight O'Clock until eleven in the
evening on fifteen occasions during
the previous six weeks.
son had come to the apartment at reg
ular intervals and Of some set pur-
pose. Was 1t Bodasse? His walking
stick lay in one corner; his tall
hat hung from nail. His silver
watch and chain hung from the wall.
n. Mace became convinced that the
visitor was not Bodasse but some one
who had IN interest In making 1t ap-
parent that Bodasse was still alive. He
had even wound up the 34-hour cuckoo
clock!
WAS Monsieur Bodasse well-to-do!"
n. Mace asked Of the bandage maker.
recalling the story Of his refusal to
lend voirbo 10000 francs.
Madame Bodasse emphatically AZ
sured the commissary that he was.
and that, like many Erenchmen, he
preferred to keep his cash and securi.
ties near at hand. She pointed out .
secret hiding place in an old bureau
In which her nephew had bsen wont
to keep his wealth. IF anything hap
pens to me-" he had told her, you will
find al my papers and valuables IN
there. I keep them In a old srsan
pockstbooh." IL
h me drawer was epened. hut the
pockethook wa guns. However,. ~
Mace found d memofandum-a scrap
Of paper inside the old mans silver
watch, Containing the numbers Of cor
tain securities, Italian government
stock Of the issue Of 1851, payable to
bearer.
M. Mace concealed two Of his ON
Gers In an alcovs. with instructions to
arrest Immediately anyone who ap-
peared. Then he set out again upon
the trail Of voirbo. Had he paid his
rent before leaving the Rue Mazarinf'
he asked. yes" I'm cash-
mo-" replied the landlord. He
paid with = share Of Italian stock.
worth 500 francs. l cashed Il myself
at the moaey changers 1t the coeher.~
n. Mace fastened to the money
changers shop and found that the
man had kept the counterfoil Of the
shars. The number corresponded with
one upon tie hst found In the watch
case. The commissary now felt ~
sured that he had the murderer IN his
power. Another fact, which ultimate
" proved to b Of tho utmost siSnifl-
canoe, was row brought to light. On
tie morning OF December 17-vhich
appropriated the date Of the murder
voirbons servant, arriving to clean his
room, discovered that he had already
done 70 himself, and. furthermore, had
washed . part Of the floor. which was
still wet voirbo had explained to her
that IN old woman who brought him n
pair Of trousers to mend had let fall
. bottle Of oil upon the floor. The
stencil drove him out-he had gone to
his friend Bodasse to spend the night,
and had returned early to wash his
room and get rid Of the odor.
The two detectives who were placed
on guard In Bodasse . room fulfilled
their task very badly. When voirbo
appeared. instead Of arresting him,
they entered into conversation with
him and allowed him to depart. II ap-
peared that voirbo was actually q
stool pigeon" Of the police, and, when
he arrived, he at once greeted the
officers ~ colleagues Of his own, while
they. not knowing but that he, too,
was at work upon the case, suffered
him to take himself on after an ami
cable chat. But he did not ly. He
believed himself to be safe against de-
lection. The evidence was strong, but
not in the least convincing. For the
moment matters seemed to be at .
deadlock. II. Mace accordingly sum-
moned the suspected man to appear
before him. and at last the two stood
face to face.
votrbo was an underlined and "a:
tremely stout man Of about thirty
years. He expressed anxiety At the
disappearance Of his old friend, and
said that he would have consulted II.
Mace about II. but understood that,
1 g.