The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1915-10-29
SIXTH
Contributed by Sergeant Cuff.

To Franklin Blake, Esq.
Sir-I shall endeavor to put
you in possession of such dis
coveries as l have made, respecting the
proceedings of Mr.. Godfrey Ablewhite,
before, during and after the time, when
you and he met as guests at the late
Lady Verinder's country house.
AS to your COUSINS death, then, first.
1t appears to me to be established, be-
You'd any reasonable doubt, that he
was killed while he was asleep, or i'm
mcdiately on his waking by being
smothcred with a pillow from his bed
that the persons guilty of numbering
him are the three 1ndians-and that
b object contemplated and achieved
by the crime was to obtain possession
of the diamond called the moonstone.
The facts from which this conclu-
sion is drawn are derived partly from
an examination of the room at the tav-
ern and partly from the evidence Oh
tanned at the %coroner's inquest.
On forcing the door of the room the
deceased gentleman was discovered
dead with a pillow of the bed over
his face. The medical man who ex-
amined him, being Informed Of this
circumstance, considered the post NOR
TEN appearances as being perfectly
compatible with murder by s%mothering
that Is to say, with murder commit
ted by some person or persons press
ing the pillow over the nose and mouth
OF the deceased, until death resulted
from congestion of the lungs.
Next as to the motive for the crime.
"A small box, With a scaled paper
torn off from it, the paper containing
an inscription, was found open and
empty on a table in the room. Mr..
Luker has himself personally identified
the box, the seal and the inscription.
Next as to the manner in which the
crime was committed.
On examination Of the room. which
IS only even feet high, a trapdoor in
the ceiling leading out OIL to the roof
OF the house vas discovered open.
The short ladder used for obtaining
access to the trapdoor and kept under
the bed was found placed at the open
ing, so as to enable any person or per-
sons in the room to leave it again cas-
lily. In the trapdoor itself was found
a square aperture cut in the wood, ap.
parently with some exceedingly SHARP
instrument, just behind the bolt which
fastened the door on the inner side.
In this way any person from the out.
side could have drawn back the bolt
and opened the door and have dropped
or have been noiselessly lowered by an
accomplice into the room, its height. as
already observed. being only sever feet
Lastly as to the person or persons by
whom the crime was committed.
1t is known ID that the Indians ha6
an interest in possessing themselves OF
the diamond. (2) 1t is at least probn
bic that the man looking Ike an In
dian whom Octavus Guy saw at the
window of the cab speaking to the
man dressed like q mechanic was one
of the three Hindu conspirators. 90 L
is certain that this same man dressed
like a mechanic was seen keeping Mr.
Godfrey Ablewhite in view all through
the evening Of the Goth and was found
in the bedroom before Mr. Ablewhitt
was shown into it under circumstances
which lead to the suspicion that ht
was examining the room. az A morse
of torn gold thread was picked up il
the bedroom which persons expert il
such matters declare to be Of Indian
manufacture and to be n species O
gold thread not known in England Is
On the morning Of the 9th three me,
answering to the description Of tn,
three Indians were observed in Lowe
Thames street. We're traced to the Tow
er wharf and We're seen to leave Lon
, don by the steamer bound for Rotter
dam.
There is here moral if not legal evi
dence that the murder was committee
t by the Indians.
y With regard to the subject now i
n hand l may state at the outset that MI
J. Godfrey Ablewhite's life had two side
e to it.
The side turned up to the public vieN
: presented the spectacle of a gentlema
:. possessed Of considerable reputation !:
IL speaker at charitable meetings an
g endowed with administrative abilitie:
t which he placed at the disposal of var
e Gus benevolent societies, mostly of til
female sort. The side kept hidden frol
the general notice exhibited this sam
gentleman in the totally different cha.
It actor of a man of pleasure with a will
d in the suburbs which was not taken j
@ his own name and with a lady in til
=