Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-08
LACEY'S SLAYER
Continued from page 1

rs day succeeded day and no woman came
to the police to unburdcn her soul Of
secret which even the most hardened
criminal seldom can keep, the motive
for the homicide grew more and more
inexpicable, and the identity Of the
perpetrator receded farther and farther
into the fastness Of inpcnetrablc secrecy.
SEARCH ron THE MAN
Had there been in this city on New
Years night large, powerfully built
stranger whose actions were in any way
suspicious; suspicious enough To link him
with this dastardly crime? And what
chance would there be of picking out in
a city of 10000 inhabitants, thronged
with strangers on New Years night, this
imaginary being?
One must find first that man from
out of town of noticeably large physique
was in Wilmington the night of the
murder
He must have been known to have
sought To hire n taxicab.
lie must by his unusual actions or
words have forced himself thoroughly
upon the memory of several pcrsons
He should have been seen lettering
about at an unusual hour following the
| murder. Either seeking refuge or at
tempting tn leave the city, and he must
answer the description of the fellow who
| is believed To have ordered the taxi and
who was seen lettering about Eighth and
| Shlplcy streets about 925 o'clock the
night of the murder.
And all these conditions If fulfilled
would be cIrcumstantal incidents valtl-
able only as a warrantable basis for further
investigation, difficult as they would be
to pickup. But picked up they were,
and strand by strand one small incident
was woven into another until the cord
was strong enough to cnsnare the two
suspects
DESCRIBES ONE CLOSELY.
A close description of the man who
probably called the taxicab the night of
The murder was given by Mr. and Mrs.
Gilpin S. Woodward, l0l West Eighth
street He was man of perhaps more
than medium height, apparently between
30 and 40 years old, smooth shaven and
wore derby hat Hc was fairly well dress
ed and carried no umbrella
With nothing but the probability TO
20 on that the other man IN the case,
the actual SLAYER, was Of huge stature,
search was begun to see If two such strang-
ers had been seen III town New Year 8
night and whether or not their move
mcnts were suspicious. II was learned
that man answering the requirements for
the big fellow tried to engage room
at the Bulls Head Hotel on West Fourth
street. between Orange and Shipiey
streets. about o'clock the afternoon of
January ]. They SAID he was a man of
forld complexion with a small, light
mustachc.
He could not be accommodated an d
was directed across TO Breuers Hotel :.
lie did not 20 then tut shortly before
midnight man exactly answering bis
description appeared at Breucr's and
peremptorily d manded room IN hurry.
Another man with a derby hat waited
outside. Neither men had umbrellas and
both were fairly well dressed. When he
was refused room he said, This is a
HI of town; man can. get anything
| hc wants. cant even get \ room.
GET ROOM NEARBY
Again. shortly before the hotel closed
at midnight, two men answering the de-
scription rs we now have It. registered at
Pappas Restaurant and Hotel on East
Fourth street below Market, under the
/ names of Frank Parker and J. Vickers, y
giving no address They were assigned
to a room and left a call for 40 a. m
At what hour they departed in the morn
ing cannot be learned before going to
press.
But II any event, two men, again
drsv crlnC the description OF the PAIR
under surveillance. appeared at the ticket
window OF the Pennsylvania station at
!. out 1 Is a m The big fellow paid for
two tickets for Philadelphia, and asked
# thcr could not get i rain 1t All. He
int mated tfI.t they were in a hurry To
get To Pl5l,.,.olphla He vas told that
the first tram they could catch was the
452 Reinarkng that they would then
have time 10 get something to eat thev
left the station
Only fonr tickets were sold for the 80
that morning including those bought by
the pair Policeman Robert Milhgan,
who is an unusually keen observer OF
persons about The station declared that
no such men had taken the / 81 that
morning The whole affair was only y
blind
At ; 3. IA two men again exactly,
answering the description we are con
| sIderng, appeared At a telegraph Office
and sent Il message to tho effect that they
would be unable to get baek To their en-
ploymeDt that morning The big fellow
paid for the telegram and, rs he did SO.
he remarked: This is n HI Of "a town.
q man can't get anything he wants; can't
even get n tancab Neither of the pair
Ill iitti al uilH5itlidt iitOuEtt 1t uao bSNii
drizzling all night and morning.
1t has been well established that a
man sought accommodations for himself
and a woman about 10 o'clock New Years
night al different roomng houses He
used the phone, however, and his de
scription has not yet been obtained What
evidence the police have, if any, to con-
meet this big man described with the
excursion with woman in Howard La
cey's taxicab Is not known II is quite
possible that the mans male companion
ordered the cab and turned it over to the
big fellow who called In the neighoorhood
of Fourth and Walnut streets about $50
and picked up woman.
But some great husky chap killed How
ard Lacey, first probably striking him
with a steel curtain rod, then gashing his
head aud shattering his skull with sledge-
hammer blows from steel or brass knuck-
les The men NOW under suspicion as
knowing something of this crlme may be
! innocent but there actions here are of
such unusual character that the police
are warranted in making the pair come
clean