The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-12-20
A SILVER
MUG
By BENJAMIN CARTER

t!e1aan named ToCtbaker was found
dead in his bed. He had gone to bed
the evening before in perfect health
On the discovery Of the body Il phySi
clan had been summoned and had de
clired TO make al Investigation as TO
the cause of death without some on,
being present TO represent the police
The Doctor had on one occasion unin-
tentionally destroyed evidence in a
murder case and this had made him
careful. | was sent out on the case.
l 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. it
was supposed. would inherit the prop
erty. There were also servants in the
house. l 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 a
small stand and on the stand an emp
ty bottle. the label of which indicated
that it had contained ale. 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. l asked to 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 we'll. l asked the maid
| who had carried the ale to 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. l asked
her from what he had drunk. and she
said he always took ale from a silver
mug. What had become of the muc
she did not know.
Investigation showed that the only
person interested in Mr.. Toothaker's
! death was his niece. who would inherit
| a fortune from him. He was widow
er. but had recently been paying atten
! ton to a woman much younger than
! himself Ny theory was that Miss
Toothaker was the guilty person.
There was one link that | could not
| find. | felt sure that the silver mug
from which the deceased had taken the
ale was the key to the situation l
! believed that Alice Toothaker had re-
| moved it. But none Of the servants
| could tell what had become of it, and
Miss Toothaker claimed that she did
not know who had taken it away.
Nevertheless l was convinced from her
looks and the stammering way she an
swered my questions that she had tax
Ell it herself.
l wove a chain Of circumstantial evil
dence against her that. 1 felt confident.
if it 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 puz-
zled me. Though | was sure she was
prevarcating about the mug, she did
not bear herself like a person guilty
of a 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 speedy trial
, Fortunately for her. the case was
brought on a few days after her ar
rest. Her attorney was evidently con-
. WINGED of her innocence and seemed
to me to be confident of procuring her
acGuittal He listened attentively to
tie statement made by the state at
tCfney as to what he proposed to
prove. occasionally giving his client
reassuring look She needed it. for so
. ingeniously was the evidence to be
brought out woven together that it
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 to 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 il
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 previ-
Gus to his death and. TO the best Of
her knowledge and belief no one had
touched any part Of it except the ham
die.
The attorney then called the butler
Of the Toothaker household. who
brought in a glass clock cover. under
which was silver mug.
knew now that had been cutwit-
ted The attorney showed each jury
man. using a glass. the imprint Of a
hand on the body Of the mug with the
forefnger missing He then tod his
client to hold up her hands. and all her
fingers We're present Then. stating
that some one had been in the room
with MANNED hand. he rested his
SO. and the Judge instructed the jury
I, bring in verdict for the prisoner.