The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1922-08-31
True
Detective Stories
THE 3 HAND
III LL aboard All aboard !

81 ITW
ospyrtsht ~ Tho Whssisr syndicsts. Ia.
<@ i IL aboard / Ali aboard II
IA The guards who had charge
OF the London local which was
y to stop at Hackney shortly after
six o'clock IN the evening, were even.
more insfstent than usual iii their de-
nands one night In the suInmer, for the
train was already late, and trying To
make up time. But q cry of conster-
nation from one BIZ the men who was
boarding the train brought the at-
PENDANTS docking around him.
Look III he cried, pointing through
the glass of the compartment toward
the cushions OF the seat on the far.
side. nv God, mani Don't Won
see They are soaked with bloodl
And there's 4 mans walking stick and
= black leather bag Where's the oc-
cunant OF this compartment n
That was the question which puz-
Fled every member Of the London po-
Ice forge, and especially Col. James
Fraser, head Of the department.
Where was the man who had very
evidently been murdered IA the coachf
Who was he7
The black bag contained no informa-
tiDn whatever, and the walking stick
was merely an ordinary one, lacking
even initials The guard who had
charge 81 that car said that he
seemed to recall two men getting into
that compartment at Fenchurst street,
IN London" but he wasn't sure.
When Colonel Fraser examined the
ear carefully. however, he found the
print Of a. bloody hapd--a hand with
short, squat .fngers-on the wall Of
the coach, evidently where the mur-
derer had steadied himself after COM
uniting the crime. But where was
the body3 S ID
This angle Of the case was. soon
cleared up by the discovery Of the
body OF a man near the railroad
trucks In Victoria park. The head.
and face had been so disfigured that
Identification would have been almost
impossible, had It not been for the
card which was found I'M his vest
pocket. BY meanss Of this it was
found that the dead man was a GER
tain Thomas Briggs, chief clerk Of a
London banking house, who had been
on his way to visit his daughter In
Peckham. According to his assoc
ciates, he was In the habit of carrying
A. nc}d o,.o hInM cr,xo 3FJcf ,cnrnr rx,9+h
him. and also wore a very, handsome.
watch and chain. When the body
was discovered, however, the watch,
chain and the money were missing.
Immediately after the body was dis
covered Colonel Fraser measured the:
fingers Of the left hand, but found that
they were entirely too long and we'll
shaped to at the bloody IMPRINT on
he wall Of the coach.
Pinning his faith to the fact that
the murderer would probably try to
sell Briggs watch and chain, the po-
lice settled down to watch all the
pawn brokers In and around London,
but days passed without any develop
ments from this end Of the case. 7
Finally, just as Fraser was nearing
the end of his patience a. secondhand
dealer in Cheapside reported that q
chain, similar to the one worn by.
the dead man, had been brought into
his establishment on the day after the
murder. The chain. he said, had been
placed In with some others, and had
slipped his mind, until he commenced
20 60 owe his stock. The only de-
scription he could give Of the man
who sold II was that he was sforeign-.
looking" In fact he felt certain he
was q German. *
More III order to quiet the press
than because he attached any real I'M
portance to the discovery, Colonel
Fraser made public the details OF the
Dealers story, and the following norm
ing a man called at police headquar-
tiers, bringing with him a card which
he said his. daughter had found on the
floor OF the room recently occupied BY.
Franz Muller. The card bore the
name of the secondhand dealer who
had purchased the chain
Muller, stated Fraser,s informant,
was a German who had boarded inEshis
house for Aome time past, but who.
had suddenly disappeared, leaving
most OF his effects behind him.
Didn't happen to leave i photo
graph, did he?" 8
eyes, sir, he did. HeeAre II Id. and
the man produced a picture which the
secondhand dealer Immediately iden-
Tiled as the man whoshad sold him
the chain.
IL was a matter OF only a few hours
% trace the German to a steamship
once and TO fnd chat he had sailed,
10 hours before, for America. Wish
Ing his own men TO have credit for
the capture. Fraser dispatched two OF
them to New York on a fast boat,
and when Muller stepped on the
gangplank he was arrested for the
murder of Thongs Briggs. although he
Vigorously n Cksted his innocence,
and stated ne had bought the,
chain from man on the street. Az
Further nroofaof his assertion, he pro-
duced Briggs watch. which he said
he had bought at the same time as the.
chain
Inasnuch ID the, guard who had
seen the men enter the coach at Fem.
church street could not positively iden-'
lily Muller. the use against him ap
peared TO beverS fimsy-until Colonel
Fraser compared the mans hand with
the bloody outline on the wall Or the
coach. The two were identical to the