The Ordway new era., 1922-06-23


side. My God. man. Don't Won
see? They are soaked with blood
And there's mans walking stick and
a black leather bag! Where's the oc.
cupant of this compartments"
That was the question which puz-
zled every member of the London no.
lice force, and especially Col. James
Fraser, head of the department.
Where was the man who had very
evidently been murdered In the coacb7
Who was he?
The black bag contained no informa-
tion whatever. and the walking stick
was merely an ordinary one, lacking
even initials. The guard who had
charge of 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
car carefully. however. he found the
print of a bloody hand-a hand with
short, squat fingers-on the wall of
the coach, evidently where the mur-
derer had steadled himself after com
nitting the crime. But where was
the body?
This angle of the case was soon
cleared up by the discovery Of the
body OF man near the railroad
tracks In Victoria park. The head
and face had been so dlsfigured that
Identification would have been almost
impossible, had it not been for the
card which was found In his vest
pocket. BY means of this 1t was
found that the dead man was 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 asso-
ciates, he was in the habit of carrying
a considerable sum of money with
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 well
shaped TO fit the bloody imprint on
the 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.
Finally, just rs Fraser was nearing
the end of his patience secondhand +
L H. a..
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 |
to go over his stock. The only de-
scriptiOn he could give of the man
who sold 1t was that he was foreign
looking" In fact he felt certain he
was German.
More in 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 morn
ing man called at police headquar-
ters, bringing with him 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 Frasers informant,
was a German who had boarded in his !
house for some time past, but who :,
had suddenly disappeared. leaving
most of his effects behind him.
"Didn't happen to leave photo
graph, did he?"
ayes, sir, he did. Here it is" and
the man produced picture which the
secondhand dealer Immediately iden-
titled ns- the mun who had sold him