Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1923-01-26

Barley, that 1t won't need any OF
your skill to solve it. The doctor
won't need to hold long inquest. It's
as clear a case of suicide as / have
ever seen. He undressed, got in bed
and then shot himself. There is the
gun in his hand. Not much in this
case Is there?'
The doctor half nodded in agree
ment; but BARLEY, as if he had not
heard, bent again over the bed, his
face stern, and examined the revolver
When he Strengthened up, he said
simply. Its serious enough, Chief
Murder always is, and this Is mur.
der"
At his words Miss Potter, who had
been standing beside me, eagerly
watching everything that was done
gave little cry AS for myself,
was not greatly surprised at his
words. His manner had been SO
serious that l had been expecting
something of the sort. Roche grunted
in amusement, and turned to King.
do you hear the man now! Muir
der! Why, that's foolish, Mr.. Bart
ley. It's suicide. He has the gun
in his hand"
BARLEY gave him an amused glance
as he answered, "It may be foolish,
but it's murder. True, he has the
gun in his hand; and that makes it
look something like suicide. / agree
but that's just what someone wanted
us to think"
This statement seemed to make
Roche angry. His face flushed and
he sneered, ooh, come now, how do
you expect to prove thatY'
BARLEY did not answer but simply
pointed to the gun. l think we all
looked at it rather foolishly, as if
we expected to find In it, by some
miracle, clue to his statement
AS we did not speak, he replied
Roche, you think that the fact he is
found dead with the gun in his han"
proves that he committed suicide.
TO me, that gun and the way il i '"5
proves murder. Not only murder, but
that the gun was placed in his hand
after death. Look at the way the
hand grasps the revolver. 1t is not
held so firmly but that with some
effort it can be removed. The testi-
mony Of all medico-legalistS is that in
cases of suicide or of accidents, the
attitudes and acts Of the person
whose life is suddenly ended are con-
tinued for some seconds after death"
Roche was listening attentively, but
Bartley'S last words were little over
his head. Perceiving that he did not
understand, BARLEY explained at
greater length:
What mean by that is simply
this: In cases of suicide or where
man shoots himself by accident and
dies suddenly, the hand clutches the
weapon so tightly that after death it
is almost impossible to loosen his
grip. There is a muscular spasm that
follows death which causes the hand
to grip the weapon even more tightly
than In life. Most medicOlegal books
agree that weapon so held is the
best evidence of suicide"
Roche was not willing to accept this
statement. That's fine theory" he
sneered Just the sort of thing
you city detectives dig up. You have
got to have more than that to make
me think he was murdered"
BARLEY gave a little shrug Of his
shoulders, as if bored by the whole
thing. "As you wish! had an idea
you might want more evidence than
that" He paused, and we waited
breathlessly for his next words.
Look at his eyes. They are tightly
closed. 1t is recognized fact by all
medical men that, when death comes
by violence, the eyes of the victim
are wide open and staring On the
other hand, in cases where death
comes slowly. they may be half shut.
In neither instance are they ever fully
closed. When we find a case where
the eyes are tightly closed, we know
that someone has closed them, and
that it was done after the man was
dead
"Here we find the eyes closed. II
he committed suicide, they would be
open. If he had been murdered, they
would be open also. Though the fact
they are closed does not help US to
decide between murder and suicide, it
does point to the fact that someone
has been in the room and closed them
after he died. May we not suppose
that the same person that placed the
gun in his hand to make his death
appear to be suicide, was also the one
who closed his eyes, not knowing that
they should have remained open, no
matter how he diedY'
He paused, as if waiting for some
one to speak, then as no one did, he
continued:
But that is not all, Roche. You
should use your common sense. Here
is Slyke, dead, with both hands by
his sides, and the bedclothes up
around his neck and over his chin.
You don't expect me to believe that
he could have shot himself, pulled the
clothes around his neck, and then
nlacod his arms hv his SidaS Ho did