Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1917-09-06

L
non, the two were entered on the pas
sengerlist as Mr.. Haussmann, from
| Brussels, and Gunther his attendant.
Haussmann was supposed to be an In
valid.
| "The two went aboard the vessel at
| night. Those few who saw them say
that Musset appeared to be very i'll,
and that his so-called attendant was
| obliged to support him as he came on
board.
mo one was at all surprised, there
fore, when the following day he failed
to leave his berth.
whether he died or was killed
shortly after his arrival on board / do
not know. George Vernon, in his con-
fession, claims he died the same
night. II so. the fact was cleverly
concealed from the steward who
brought the two men their meals.
ut was given out that Musset, or,
rather, Haussmann, was a great suf-
ferer from rheumatism, and could
not for few days leave his berth.
"The following night the safe was
opened and the package removed.
Vernon did this himself, left his office,
and threw the key through the graf
ing of his window onto the desk with
in. The mark 1t made in falling is
still plainly visible.
He then went quietly into Rein
hardt's room and, removing all his
clothing, assumed that of Musset. AS
l say, do not know whether Musset
was dead at this time or not. think,
personally, that he was not.
"At any rate, they exchanged cloth.
ing, Vernon assuming that of Musset,
and dressing the latter in his own.
In the operation, Vernon's scarf.pin
dropped on the floor, where it was re-
covered some days later.
"They also opened the package and
took out the franc piece for which
they had gone to all this trouble.
When tell you that its value is not
less than million francs you will
understand the object they had in
view."
"a million francs!" exclaimed Mr..
Germaine. His words were echoed
by the others in the room.
Exactly. But to continue. They
had first, so Vernon states in his
confession, planned to throw the
body overheard, but later had dis
carded this as too dangerous. The
sound of the body striking the water
would, they feared, be heard by some
one on deck.
after a great deal of thought they
had decided, before leaving Havre, on
another plan, and one which but for
q curious and, on their part, unfortu-
nate mistake, would have been entire
ly successful.
"They had decided TO replace the
package in Musset's pocket, substitu-
ting for the franc piece another of the
samc period, and which would be, for
all any one could tell, precisely like
it. They then proposed to throw the
body into the forward hold, where it
would not be discovered until the
cargo was removed in New York.
They knew that the body, after
lying in the hold for nearly week,
would be practically unrecognizable.
They calculated on Nernon's clothes,
papers, etc, as well as the package
containing the coin and letter in the
dead mans pocket, proving sufficient
evidence that the body was that of
Vernon himself. This would end all
pursuit. Vernon dead, the package
found, there would be no further
cause for investigation.
"Thcy realized that Mile. Mercier
would probably discover that the let
ter from her father was a forgery, but
they expected by this time to be safe
ly out of the way.
"ln order to carry out this plan
they had TO shave off Musset's black
beard. Vernon, meanwhile, had as
sumed false black beard, and had
built out his nose TO disguise his
features. There was no necessity for
him to resemble Musset, except in a
very general way. No one had OBJ
tanned good look at Reinhardt's
invalid companion since he came ON
board.
Having completed their prepara-
tions, they walked with Musset,
either dead or under the influence of
drug, TO the forward hatch, and
tIA,ew him into the hold. Doubtless
they also calculated that the force of
the fall upon the heavy machinery
with which the vessel was loaded
would render the body stiH further
unrecognzable. The results proved
that in this they were entirely COR
rect.
When the body was found no one
suspected il OF being other than Yer
mons. The latter had even placed
fngel-ring he habi,ually wore upon
the dead mans finger.
Il have said that but for one mis-.
take the perpetrators of the crime
would never have been captured.
should say but for two. One of these
consisted in overlooking gold locket
;,h m