Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-10-08

either drank his beer from a stone mus
OF a silver cup. On the evening before
his death he had drunk from the cup.
When the detective asked where was
the cup Sarah said she had not seen
1t since she had placed it ON the table
the evening before.
1 saw by the detectives expression
that he considered the disappearance
OF b cup an important point. He
next asked who was the first person
known to enter the after the muir.
der, and the maid replied, Miss Van
Dorm"
l WINGED at this, for taken with what
Clara had told me about her expected
inheritance it was an additional com.
plication for her. The detective asked
the maid how many such cups there
were In the house, and she told him
that there was only one He directed
her to search for 1t, which she did, but
was unable to find it.
This was all l knew about this clew.
for | was called away to give some di.
rections and heard nothing more of 1t.
/ took charge of working up a case
for Clara. l went to the penitentiary
where the burglar had been confined
and learned that he had been dis
charged ten days before the murder.
l employed detectives to hunt him up,
but they found no trace of him. l
gave the police authorities the infor-
nation about him that Clara had given
me, but they said there was nothing
in it." Men are sent to state prison
every day. but they don't murder per-
SONS instrumental In sending them
there.
After the funeral MI. Davidson's
lawyer produced the deceased's last
will and testament, leaving Clara all
his property. AS soon as this fact was
determined the suspicion she and /
feared began to loom up against her.
We expected an arrest and were pre-
pared for 1t. 1t came two weeks, after
the murder, and bail was forthcoming.
And now q singular thing came to
pass between Clara and me l vas
more worried than she. Perceiving my
anxiety, she threw her arms about me
and said:
Don't you worry. Frank; it will
come out all right"
"Why are you confidentT" I asked.
"Oh, l don't want to tell you. In
the first place, something may happen
that l don't count on, and, in the sec
ond, when two persons have a secret
it is no longer a secret. If certain
persons interested In my conviction
knew what l know they would spoil ii
ALL"
l begged her to explain, but she
would not, co%ntenting herself with the
words, Don't worry; it will come Out
all right"
The trial naturally attracted a good
deal of attention. Many believed Clara
guilty, but few believed that she would
be convicted because of a lack of evi.
dence, for there was nothing but cir
cumstantial evidence against her an6
very little of that. But If she were
not indicated 1 felt that her life would
be ruined and mine would be ruined
with 1t.
When the case came before the
court not ever Clara's attorney knew
her secret. He expected to cur her
acquittal without any difficulty, but be
had no idea that she would be consid-
cred guiltless by the world. The prose
cutting attorney made the principal
part of his attack that the accused was
the first person to go into her uncle's
room after the murder and it was she
who had taken away the cup from
which he had drunk. OF course the
motive for the murder was that Mr..
Davidson was about to marry, which
would eventually give his wife a prop
erty that had been intended for his
niece.
Clara came into court with a wooden
box in her hand, which she carried as
though there was something in it of
very frail texture. She sat holding this
box In one position till the prosecutor,
having given an account of the de-
ceased's having drunk beer the night
of the murder and told of the disap-
pearance of the cup from which he had
drunk ii, cried out dramatically:
where is the cup?"
Here" replied Clara in a contrast
ingly soft voice.
Drawing a sliding cover from the
box, she withdrew a silver cup which
presented a smooth surface. 1t had
been placed in the box so that this sur
face would not be touched by the
wood. Taking a magnifying glass
from a little bag she carried on her
arm, she handed the glass to her at
torney. He saw on the cups surface
the imprint of a thumb and three fin
gers, the first two bones of the fore
finger being missing.
Turning to the jury, he told what he
had seen, and every juryman was per
mitted to see it for himself.
Clara, suspecting that the cup might
bear q clew, had removed and hidden 1t.
AS soon as she was in a position to ex-