Omaha daily bee., 1919-07-20

seen and unheard, and away in the
car by midnight. And Martin, the
sharp-eared Martin, was sitting up
until 1880 in his pantry, with the
door open, listening for the tele-
phone bell. Practically he was
standing sentry over the foot of the
staircase, the only staircase leading
down from the bedroom floor.
With this difficulty we arrive al
the last and crucial phase of MY
investigation. Having the fore
going points clearly in mind, I
spent the rest of the day before the
inquest in talking to var ious persons
and in going over my story, testing
it link by link. l could only find
the one weakness which seemed to
be involved in Martins sitting up
until 1880: and since his having
been instructed to do so was GER
tainly part of the plan, meant to
clinch the alibi for Marlowe, l knew
there must be an explanation some.
where. If l could not find that ex-
| PLANTATION my theory was valueless
must be able to show that at the
time Martin went up to bed, the
man who had shut himself in Man
derson's bedroom might have been
many miles away on the road to
Southampton.
| had, however, a pretty good
idea already-as perhaps the reader
of these lines has by this time, if
| have made myself clear-of how
the escape of the false Henderson
before midnight had been contrived
But / did not want what | was now
about to do to be known. If | had
CHANGED to be discovered at work,
there would have been no concealing
the direction of my suspicious. |
resolved not to test them on this
point until the next day, during the
opening proceedings at the inquest.
This was to be held, I knew, at the
hotel, and I reckoned upon having
White Gables to myself so far as
the principal inmates were con-
cerned.
So in fact it happened. By the
time the proceedings at the hotel
had begun, l was hard at work at
White Gables. l had a camera with
me. | made search, on principles
well known to and commonly prac-
tised by the police, and often enough
by myself for certain indication
Without describing my search, |
may say at once that l found and
was able to photograph two fresh
finger prints, very large and distinct,
on the polished front of the right
hand top drawer of the chest OF
drawers in Manderson's bedroom;
five more (among number OF
smaller and less recent impressions
made by other hands, on the glasses
of the French window in Mrs. Man.
derson's room, window which al
ways stood open at night with a cur
tain before it.; and three more upon
the glass bowl in which Manderson's
dental plate had been found lying.
: I took the bowl with me from
White Gables. I took also a few
articles which I selected from Mar
loves bedroom, as bearing the most,
distinct of the innumerable finger
prints which are always to be found
upon toilet articles in daily use. |
already had in my possession made
upon leaves cut from my pocket
diary, some excellent finger prints
of Marlowe's which he had made in
my presence without knowing it. I
had shown him the leaves, asking
if he recognized them; and the few
seconds during which he had held
them in his fingers had sufficed 10
leave impressions which | was after
ward able to bring out.
By E o'clock in the evening, two
hours after the jury had brought in
their verdict against person or
persons unknown, l had completed
my work, and was in a position to
state that two of the five large prints
made on the window glasses, and
the three on the bowl, were made
by the left hand of Marlowe; that
the remaining three on the window
and the two on the drawer were
made by his right hand.
BY 8 o'clock I had made at the
establishment of Mr.. H. T. Copper,
photographer, of Bishopbridge, and
with his assistance, a dozen enlarged
prints of the finger marks of Mar
lowe, clearly showing the identity
of those which he unknowingly
made in my presence and those left
upon articles in his bedroom, with
those found by me as l have de-
scribed, and thus establishing the
facts that Marlowe was recently in
Manderson's bedroom, where he had
in the ordinary way no business, and
in Mrs. Manderson's room, where he
had still less. ! hope it may be pos
sible. to reproduce these prints for
publication with this dispatch.
At 9 o'clock I was back in my
room at the hotel and sitting down
TO begin this manuscript l had
my story complete.
I bring it to a close by advancing
these further propositions: that on
the night of the murder the imper
senator of Henderson, being in
Manderson's bedroom, told Mrs.
Henderson, as he had already told
Martin, that Marlowe was at that
moment on his way to Southampton;
that having made his dispositions in
the room, he switched off the light,
and lay in the bed in his clothes;
that he waited until he was assured
that Mrs. Henderson was asleep;
that he then arose and stealthily
crossed Mrs. Manderson's bedroom
in his stocking feet, having under
his arm the bundle of clothing and
shoes for the body; that he stepped
behind the curtain, pushing the doors
of the window a little further open
with his hands, strobe over the
iron railing of the balcony, and let
himself down until only a drop of a
few feet separated him from the soft
turf of the lawn.
What followed your readers and
the authorities may conjecture for