Omaha daily bee., 1919-07-04

As for his suggestion that Mander-
son came in by way of the window
after leaving Marlowe and the car,
that's right enough, l should say. l.
questioned the servant who swept
the room next morning, and she
tells me there were gravelly marks
near the window, on this plain drug
get that goes round the carpet. And
there's a footprint in this soft new
gravel just outside" The inspector
took a folding rule from his pocket
and with it pointed out the races.
Zone of the patent shoes Mander-
son was wearing that night exactly
fits that print-you'll find Them"
he added, ION the top shelf in the
bedroom, near the window-end, the
only patents in the row. The girl
who polished them in the morning
picked them out for me-"
Trent bent down and studied the
faint marks keenly. "GoodT he
said. you have covered a lot of
ground, Munich, | must say. That
was excellent about the whisky
you made your point finely. l felt
inclined to shout 'Encorer It's
thing that shall have to think
over"
Il thought you might have fitted
it in Already said Mr.. Murch
Come, Mr.. Trent, we're only at the
beginning of our inquiries, but what
do you say to this for a preliminary
theory? There's a plan Of burglary
say a couple of men in it and
Martin squared. They know where
the plate is, and all about the handy
little bits of stuff in the drawing
room and elsewhere. They watch
the house; see Henderson off to
bed; Martin comes to shut the win
dow, and leaves it ajar-accidental-
ly on purpose. They wait till Mar
tin goes to bed at 1880; then they
just walk into the library, and be-
gin to sample the whisky first thing.
Now suppose Henderson isn't
asleep, and suppose they make
noise opening the window, or how
ever it might be. He hears it;
thinks of burglars; gets up very
quietly to see if anything's wrong;
creeps down on them, perhaps, just
as they're getting ready for work.
They cut and run; he chases them
down to the shed, and collars one;
there's fight; one of them loses
his temper and his head, and makes
a swinging job of it. Now, Mr..
Trent, pick that to pieces"
Very WELL" said Trent. Gust to
oblige you, Murch-especially as l
know you don't believe a word of
it. First: no traces of any kind left
by your burglars, and the window
found fastened in the morning-ac-
cording to Martin. Not much force
in that, I allow. Next: nobody in
the house hears anything of this
stampede through the library, nor
hears any shout from Henderson
either inside the house or outside.
Next: Henderson goes down with
out word to anybody, though
| Bunner and Martin are both at
hand. Next: did you ever hear in
your long experience of a house
holder getting up in the night to
pounce on burglars, who dressed
himself fully, with underclothing,
shirt, collar and tie, trousers, waist
coat and coat, socks and hard
leather shoes; and who gave the
finishing touches to somewhat
dandifed toilet by doing his hair
and putting on his watch and
chain9 Personally, I call that over
dressing the part. The only decora-
tive detail he seems to have forgot
ten is his teeth"
| The Inspector leaned forward
thinking, his large hands clasped
before him. mo" he said at last
"Of course there's no help in that
theory. rather expect we have
some way to go before we find out
why man gets up before the ser
wants are awake, dresses himself
fully, and is murdered within sight
of his house early enough to be
cold and stiff by ten in the morn.
ing"
| Trent shook his head. eve cam,
build anything on that last consid-
Grafton. I've gone into the subject
with people who know. I shouldn't
wonder" he added, If the tradition.
al notions about loss of temperature
and rigor after death had occasion.
alyy brought an innocent man tc
the gallows, or near it. DR.. Stock
has them all, I feel sure: most gen.
eral practitioners of the older gen.
Grafton have. That DR.. Stock will
make an ass Of himself at the in.
quest is almost as certain as tina,
tomorrow's sun will rise. I've seer
him. He will say the body mus,
have been dead about so long, be.
cause of the degree of GOODNESS anc
rigor mortis. | can see him nosine
it all out in some textbook thai
was out of date when he was 4
student. Listen, Murch, and I will
tell you some facts which will be q
great hindrance to you in your pro.
fessional career. There are many
things that may hasten or retarc
the cooling of the body. This one
was lying in the long dewy grass or
the shady side of the shed. AS fol-
rightly, if Henderson died in &
struggle, or laboring under sudden
emotion, his corpse might sitter
practically instantaneously: there are
dozens of cases noted, particularly
in cases of injury to the skull, like
this one. On the other hand, the
stiffening might not have begun 'un
til eight or 10 hours after death
You can't hang anybody on rigol
morris nowadays, inspector, much
as you may resent the limitation
No; what we can say is this. If he
had been shot after the hour a
which the world begins to get Ut
and go about its business, it woulc
have been heard and very ikel.
seen, too. In fact, we must rea