The bee. (Earlington, Ky.) 1889-19??, 1913-11-14
"A SILVER
MUG
By BENJAMIN CARTER

-
teman named Toothaker was found
dead in his bed He had gone to bed
the evening before In perfect health.
On the discovery of the body a pbysi-
clan had been summoned and had de-
clined to make an investigation as TO
the cause OF death without some one
being present TO represent the police.
The doctor had on one occasion unin-
tenuonally destroyed evidence IN .
murder case, and this had made him
careful. I was sent out on the case.
found the doctor awaiting me In
the library, and he told me all he knew
about the deceased. He lived alone
with a niece, a girl OF twenty, who. n
was supposed, would inherit the prop
erty. There were also servants In the
house. | went with the doctor TO the
death chamber without having seen
any one Of the household. The corpse
lay on the bed, beside which was u
small stand and on the stand an emp
~ bottle, the label OF which indicated
that IL had contained ale. I noticed
that there was no glass or mug from
which the liquor had been drunk.
Having concluded our observation Of
the room, we went downstairs, and
the doctor. leaving the matter In my
hands. departed. | asked 10 see Miss
Alice Toothaker, and she sent word
to me TO say that she was unnerved
by her uncle's death and wouldn't her
maid do as well. l asked the maid
who had carried the ale 10 her master.
She replied that she had done so about
10 o'clock the night before. Mr.. Tooth
aker frequently drank something at
that hour, and she had placed the ale
on the stand beside the table. | asked
vf,er from what he had drunk. and she
d aid he always took ale from silver
mug. What had become OF the mug
she did not know.
Investigation showed that the only
person Interested In Mr.. Toothaker's
death was his niece, who would inherit
fortune from him. He was widow
er, but had recently been paying atten-
ton TO n woman much younger than
himself. My theory was that Miss
Toothaker was the guilty person.
There was one link that l could not
find. | felt sure that the silver mug
from which the deceased had taken the
ale was the key TO the situation. !
believed that Alice Toothaker had re
moved It, But none OF the servants
could tell what had become of II, and
Miss Toothaker claimed that she did
not know who had taken 1t away.
Nevertheless / was convinced from her
looks and the stammerlng way she an
swered my questions that she had TAX
en- IL herself.
wove chain OF clrcumstantial EVIL
dence against her that, felt confident.
n II did not convict her would strongly
point TO her guilt. Feeling sure that
she knew all about the removal OF
the silver mug. l relied on her being
forced by the prosecuting attorneys
searching examination to reveal the
mystery Of its disappearance. There
was one feature Of the case that pus-
xled me. Though was sure she was
prevaricatlng about the mug. she did
not bear herself like a person guilty
of q great crime. True. she appeared
anxious, for she knew she was sus-
pected, but she showed an occasional
confidence In the outcome.
When she was arrested she showed
no surprise. She had evidently nerved
herself to bear what was In store for
her and only begged for a speedy trial.
Fortunately for her. the case was
brought on q few days after her ar
rest. Her attorney was evidently CON
WINGED OF her innocence and seemed
10 me to he confident OF procuring her
acquittal He listened attentively to
the statement made by the state at
to-nev ms to what he proposed TO
prove. occasionally giving his client a
reassuring look She needed II, for so
ingeniously was the evidence to be
brought out woven together that II
looked very bad for her
When the statement had been made
and the evidence against the prisoner
was all in her counsel. without refer
ring 10 any part of it, called the maid
who had carried the ale to Mr.. Tooth
aker. Having brought out the fact
that she had done so. he asked her II
one of her duties was not to polish the
silver. She answered yes" He then
drew from her that she had polished
the mug from which the deceased
drank the ale on the afternoon prevf
Gus to his death. and, TO the best OF
her knowledge and belief, no one had
touched any part of 1t except the han
die.
The attorney then called the butler
Of the Toothaker household. who
brought I'm glass clock cover. under
which was a silver mug.
knew now that | had been outwit
ted The attorney showed each jury
man. using glass the Imprint or
hand on the body Of the mug with n,
forehnger missing. lie then told hh
client to hold up her hands. and all hel
fingers were present. Then. stating
that some one had been In the room
with manned hand. he tested hi
ease. and the Judge instructed the iur,
10 bring I'm verdict for the prisoner,
IL turned out that Alice Toothake
had been the discoyerer Of her unclet
murderer She had examined every