Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1923-02-23


investigate a mysterious attempted rob-
berry of the Robert Slyke home at Circle
Lake, near Saratoga. Peculiar clrcum-
stances of the case interest BARLEY. and
he accepts.
CHAPTER u.-With his friend Pelt,
BARLEY goes to Circle Lake, the pair
becoming the guests Of Bob Currle, an
old friend. The three visit the Slyke
he =. Slyke apparently resents Bartley's
c. G,ng, saying he Is satisfied the two
nan in prison for the attempted robbery
were guilty. BARLEY Is not Next morn
ing Slyke is found dead in bed, apparent
ly having shot himself.
CHAPTER III.-Miss Potter, the dead
mans sister-in-law, the village ponce
chief Roche, and the family physician,
Doctor King, all agree Slyke killed him
Investigating, Barley finds evidence that
Slyke. after q card party he had given,
was shot on the tower of the house un-
dressed, and placed in bed During his
absence from the room someone removes
the revolver from Sykes hand.
CHAPTER IVA boy working in the
garage asserts he heard shot during the
night, apparently in the air., OF course
really on the tower.
CHAPTER V.-Pelt starts out to inter
view the members of the card party. he
ly wealthy broker had offered to sell his
friends whisky. He finds evidence that
the men in Jail for attempted robbery OF
Slyke were Framed.
II was not mucn OF q cIue, sui II
was better than nothing. 1t did estab
lish the fact that there had beer
someone else with Slyke that night
That is, If he were telling the truth
The burning question in my mind was
who was that second person? Was he
the one who had killed Slyke? The
odds seemed to favor it. Lawrence
had little further information to give
me. He said that Slyke had not beer
especially nervous, nor had he acted
like a man afraid of anything.
/ rose to go, but paused at a new
thought.
"Oh, Mr.. Lawrence, did Slyke give
you drink"
he had accompanied me to the door
and paused, one hand on the knob
Eyes, he did, up In the room over his
sleeping room. He got out bottle
and two glasses aud we had a drink
"You did not see three glasses, die
your
NO" he answered, surprised at my
question. mo, only two"
Thanking him, l said goodby and
left.
When I returned to the newspaper
Office, found the files of the past
voor ouoi+ipp mo Tho C+orv tbot
Rogers told us in Bartley's library
and the account of the crime in the
paper were substantially the same
There were, however, one or two
slight differences that seemed to me
important | had understood Rogers
to say that the step-daughter, Ruth
had positively identified the men now
In prison: but nowhere in the news.
paper was it stated that this had been
the case. What she had actually SAID
was Il think one of them is the mar
I saw in the room" There had beer
no positive Identification Of tha nv.
by her, or by anyone else, for that
matter. Slyke himself had testified
u6 UlO uOl hLOW WASLAOA IAASy
were the men or not.
Three things had convicted them.
First, the piece Of paper found In the
room where the burglary had taken
pI. e, and which fitted into a torn
corner of newspaper discovered
later in the coat of one Of the men
second, the piece of cloth said to have
been found on a rose bush beneath
the window of the room entered, and
which fitted the torn place in a pair
of trousers belonging to one OF the
men-there was some doubt as to
whether the trousers had been torn at
the time the man was arrested-and
last Of all, the footprints under the
window. Thus their conviction rested
on a piece Of torn newspaper and a
hole In mans trousers-rather
feeble evidence, 1t seemed to me.
Moreover the police had not discov-
cred any of it until some days after
the crime. The more l thought Of 1t,
the more / agreed with BARLEY that
the case was remarkably like that
old burglary case In England.
Leaving the newspaper Office,
called on some Of the other men who
had been at the card party. They all
agreed that 1t was Slyke who had sug-
gested Lawrence's staying, and
laughed at the idea that he knew any
thing about his death. One Of them
told me that, several weeks before he
had bought three cases of whisky
from Slyke. / could not understand
why a man of Sykes position should
wish to sell whisky to his friends. To
this man also he had given the excuse
that he had more than he needed for
his own use.
AS / passed the court house on my
way home, / noticed the words "Dis-
trict Attorneys Office" on a window,
and 1t occurred to me that stored
away somewhere In there would be
the exhibits In the burglary case.
entared and asked TO see the tou