Omaha daily bee., 1915-04-18
CHAPTER XVI.
The Mystic Ring

Kennedy had been engaged for some
time IN the only work outside OF the
Dodge case which he had consented to
take for weeks.
Our old friend. DR.. Leslie, the coroner,
had appealed 70 him 70 solve q very
uckilsh point in q Tong murder case,
which had set all Chinatown agog. Il
was. indeed. very bewildering case. A
chinaman named II Chang. leader Of the
Chang Weh TonR. had been poisoned,
hut so far no one had been able to deter
mine what poison Il was or even to prove
that there had been poison. except for
the fact that the man was dead, and
Kennedy had taken the thing up in a
great measure because OF the sudden turn
IN the Dodge case. which had brought us
int such ciose contact with the Chinese.
! had been watching Kennedy with in
teresi. for the Tong wars always make
picturesque newspaper stories. when q
knock at the door announced the arrival
OF Dr. Leslie. anxious for some result.
Have you been able TO find out any
thing yety' he greeted Kennedy eagerly
as Craig looked up from his microscopic.
KENNEDY turned and nodded. your
dead man wac murdered by means OF
aeonite. Of which you know. tho active
principle is the deadly allxaloid aconitine. :"
Craig pulled down from the shelf above
him ono Of his well-thumbed standard
works ON toxicology. He turned the
pages and read;
Pure aeonitlne Il probably the mos,
actively poisonous substance with which
We are acquainted. II does not produce
any decidedly characteristic post-mortem
appearances. and. In fact, there Is no re-
liable chemical test 20 prove It's presence
The chances OF it's detection IN the body
after death are very slight"
DIR. Leslie looked up. Then there ia no
test. none7' he asked
There Il one that Is brand new 4" ~.
piled Kennedy slowly. III IL The new
starch-srain test Just discovered bv prof
Relchert OF tire University OF Pennsyl.
Vania. The peculiarities OF the starch
grains Of various plants are QUITE as
great ~ those Of the blood crystals.
which. you win recall. Walter, we used
once.
The starch grains OF the peoson hava
remained in the wound have recovered
rom them the dead mans blood, and
nave studied them microscopically. They
esn De definitely recognized. This Is
plainly case OF aconite poisonlnE-prob.
aDly sassezted 10 the Oriental mind by
TOE poison arrows Of the Anus OF North
ern Japan"
DIT Leslie ana both looked through
INC microscopes. comparing the starch
sleins which Kennedy had discovered
N,eh those OF scores OF micro-photogaph s
which lay scattered over the table.
ihere are several treatments for
asonte poisoning ruminated Kennedy.
would say that one OF the latest ana
elstalin given hypodermlcalIy. %
ne TOOK down bottle OF digitalIn from
ss9'net. adding. only IT was too late
In this case"
Just what the relations we're between
i-ohs Sin Snd the chong wah Tong /
nave never been able 20 determine ex-
asus But one thing was certain; Ions
ON 90 nus arrival In New York had OF.
isfaeo me TONG. and now that his mas
Ter WI Fang. was here the offense was
even sreater Tor the criminal society
brooked no rival
IN me dark recesses Of a poorly fur.
"'shed cellar, serving as the Tong head
quarters the new leader and several o,
his most trusted followers were now blot
uns revenge Long SIN. they believed
Was responsible for the murder. and. win
Truly oriental guile. they had obtained !
mold over WI Fang's secretary.
Their plan decided on. the chinanner
ieft the headquarters and made thei,
way separately uptown. They rejoined on.
anotner IN the shelter OF a rather BOO,
aouse. before which was a board fence
70 the vicinity Of a fashionable apart,
infnt house moments conference fol
owed and then the secretary slided away