The Post Mirror. (Pilot Point, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, April 24, 1896 Page: 5 of 10
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|JJY tUaAV/NU DOWNEY.
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BT^l lw, * Wlftv,ly ^
CJy
lOopyright, JHW. by TU!o*on & Ekm.|
on. You s©6 1 am, an I tol<l yon, r«aoy
to flounder in a quagmire uf opinions
tonight Now I have another opinion tc
jjut before yon. I have given some
thought to that person who entered this
house last night. It was some one who
knew the house, some one who caleulat
od it. was empty, and^me one who had
an object which I coil partly fathom.
That object was doubtless a laudable
ono to get, hold of the notes. But Mr.
Thief wt* confronted with a locked door
peTton, would concern lnmnelf only with
that mysterious door which had perplex
ed and puzzled tiie coroner’s jury and
poliei*.
Briggs had not long to wait before he
hem d a sound outMde the bedroom door,
a hocoel of shuffling foot. 'Hie cupboard
i in which he had conoealed himwelf had
. mo shelves, end when the two doors were
| pulled to without being closed tight
there was a narrow slit between the
door.-*, and through this the pn]|nf» i»>
CHAPTER XXL
▲ RETURN VISIT.
I: MI wd afraid, ’ ’ said Inspector Briggs
(be stood inside Albert Bteinworth’s
‘that Red Riding Hood is
—this door in which there was no key. j special- could see the whole of th i bed
It would not suit him to break open the , room door.
| was obtained Le entered Mrs. Oa*rom’s
l room for some reason which I canuoc
i fathom. If he
j door.
I “Why?**
I “That l will explain later. It would
________ ^ not suit him to break open the door.
gaal to the talk*of*teachlng'her rcand- Thereforethe n,'xt »**» **»>“<? tww to get
Wtber to suck eggs. “ au impression of the lock, After this
“Yon’re a dear, good fellow,” said
tage. ‘‘The strain is off now. I have
treating yon somewhat hardly, I ,
lug your temper perhaps. Rut you’ll wera’ Uu,re vva8 uo ooca*lou f,ir to
iva me, I know. And now I’ll die- I wasts Pre«ous time knocking that room
KB fay secret thoughts to you But i to piece*‘ n,lle8“ he ,»uo»«ld lh"™ "«*
it and foremost take this in your i mmo m0Dcy tbere' or «“*!«*—*»•>«
ad and say after me The ovi-Lirce onIy n“ °l”r-ion, remember—his object
|pu shall give in this case shall he the ! ^ to ««PloioT. in the wrong
■pth, the whole truth, and nothing but i (lUi^tor
■tottutli." X can st o yon are harboring another i
‘ of those fearful opinions. You fancy 1
the same man will return again and wiil
come the uoxt time with a key to open
the ioek of this door. ’
"That is my very httmble opinion.
I In order to help Mr. Thief in his lauda-
| hie search for the hidden treasure 1 l„.ve
j ilaxeXully opened the kitchen window
tonight, leaving the kitchen and the win-
X found
itruth.
'Almost mechanically Briggs, who
Ijkns a trifle bewildered by tlio sadden
Hwnge from grave to gay in Goringe’s
■tanner and voice, was about to lift to
*f* Up* the oblong packet which the de-
pMtive handed to him.
‘Tnm year fcnllreye on that tecta
at, inspector,” said Goringe.
“Yon
A rattle in the look.
Iu a few moments he would know
who the villain woe—the thief and the
would be murderer—or was this u dif
ferent piece of villainy altogether?
With a qui(k Irtish the door was open-
ed, and a man stepped into the room.
Briggs could get a view of only a jxir-
knew where the notes i tion of the intruder’s face, and that only
for a moment, as the man closed the
door to quietly, the catch making a
( licking sound which denoted that it
was safe in its place. Then the stranger
stood still, his back toward the cup
board.
A tali man, stout; and with a full,
dark heard. Not Steinworth, uot Vick-
ery, not I ,-eoiero. At least not unless it
was one of theme In disguise.
After standing still for a moment the
burglar, who wore a long brown over-
coat, put his hand into one of the pork ■
ets of the overcoat and drew something
out. Probably a jimmy.
don’t mean it snrelv!” ex- , .
med Briggs as he flashed the light d«w tho ^ oondition
the packet ‘‘The notes!” thom thls »oruing. The outer world is
of opinion this is
’Yen. I haven’t counted them yet,
£tmt I fancy they are in order. ’ ’
“You are very clever,” said Brigge,
erfag the packet lovingly.
“Not half so clever as you think.
Bt let mo explain my discovery to
. and also let me tell you that I am
in a position tonight to cleanup
i than half of the mystery. I am
|U puzzled, but os I have already Btat
'. the strain is off. I have performed
| share of the work, and X feel free to
an empty house,
guarded only by n ghost. My lighting
of the kitchen ftro this morning was a
.quiet operation. There lias been no light
in the house since 9 o’clock, and Loudon
doesn’t awake much earlier on .Sunday
Now let us stop talking, go out. on the
landing and listen for a sound in the
kitchen. ”
"And suppose we have our watch for
nothing? Suppose Mr. Thief doesn’t ar-
rive?"
“Evidently my ii ml is quite of opin- I
IVl fhht ii* ol/V , . ill i lw. Iwinnn ’ ’
wo are none the worse
morning light comes, wo i
,ver myself and my thoughts to yon 1 Th®u
Ww*-,"W you wish it, to revel in sua- I
icions and opinions. ’’ 1 !:hu:i<1°- hop® until tomorrow night, and
“I think you have cleared up even- !btf * TiU *®U you. how the door was
‘ng except the extraordinary lie told I to*?d,**“ mt’n^s
, Mr. Vickery. You liave lockod your- L l1 RilllH °° htpse <«,m the cold, the
M into this room, leaving the key in I darJ“?88 on& tho HTlsPcafle by 6 o’clock. ”
.« lock outside. Even tbo foreman of I hat a sybarite you arc!"
~e coroner’s jury ooaldii’t do that. ’’ ! 41ftWhatl\ T
“It is a straugely aiciplo trick a,ft«r \ J, youyntfXt to
»* a gentleman oi taiglaucl living at home
* Something of the Columbus and the ' “‘.f080’ *f a you. ”
R’dgg type, no doubt. ’ ’ I detective Goriuge and Inspector Briggs
•Columbus need not have played it hvare uow 8'*nd,in« tosher on the
pAown so low m breaking the shell A j speaking in the faintest of whis-
VweH «nj«nifitid SiinWxigof tfco egg would i ?XTK, , . „ ,
have been suffloienb—that is, unless it . Ixick lioth d>x>rs-—SteiawO( th s rts.ua
, -1m ga egg specially constructed for l Md, 'il ke,7 *h* koye fa your
( Win in the Xxwdon market. ” n,ld we cmi hoth totem to the
;,ohall w. tight up tho room? A1. »<>1> of tlmb-msc -tud interview thatrraa- j
though the darkness isn’t like it was in U"uWl tr.'m “r r11 ‘“^c a
Ithat horrible dcathroom below, still it ^*“'r Let mo i.vk you into
| Steinworth h room. You can hide your-
J self in one of tiie cupboards there or in.
.dor the bed and wotdh tiie visitor’s p;o
oeedings. He won’t bother about iny-
1 thing in tho room except the door if l,e
I i* the gentleman we want Ho will give
j vou what Is ( nllid mi object lesson ki
| the i.iyMcry of the door. It will i* ilet-
ter timii a demonstration from me at
ion that Jie is alo; i iu the house,” re-
flected Briggs. "Hi seems in no violent
hurry. Now, then, he is about to turn
his face tills way I”
But Inspector Briggs was wrong. The
man mere! slightly round, and then,
lifting his hands and standing quite
dose to the door, ho proceeded to do
something with a jimmy.
Was it a jimmy? No, decided tiie in-
sjsietor, wateliing the stranger's move-
ments nairowly. It was a tnrnscrew.
Tho stranger worked with the tnrnscrew
for a couple of minutes. Then he went
down on his knees nnd continued his
operations oil the frame of the door.
What did it mean? And why couldn't
the fellow jriiii. give him one fair look Bt
his face? it WM meet tantalizing. How
long would bo have to stand In the
cupboard eying the stranger? It would
never do to interrupt him..now. He was
evidently engaged on some jbh which he
was certain he could accomplish easily
and 'cisureiy, He was not giving any
attention t . the lock of the door. But.
why should he? The door was now un-
locltcd. Or was it? PerhRps that sardonic
humorist, Gcringe, was now outside the
door turuiug the key slowly and quiet-
m
t
.V
"Don't raise ymir roicc.”
prevents you from explaining your ex-
parimeot to me. I ata anxious to have a
goqd look at that puzzling door now, “
auaMvtring with his hullseyc. ”
“No Not. yet. I want to enlighten
you sad to seek enlightenment from
yon iu the dark, in the first place, I
want to know, was 'he search of the
fcotnEi on tho 11th a thorough one?”
“As thorough a. Job as I ever superin-
Csnded. ”
“If there hail been in MrH. Davom’s
room a bandgerohief v hich onghi. uot
to have been there—say one belonging
to Hr. Iieclerc—would you have noticed
It?”
“How e*»» yon ask me such a ques-
tion?"
‘ Then if I find such a haliukuivliief
uf Hr. Lwlaro’s in the dead woman’s
room I may take si that it got there
since the lltli?”
“Cert! inJy. ”
a\m.!>>. 'i... \ i.ad -elt * ud . Us.
then?”
“Yes. ’’
"I have found a handkerchief mark
od with the young doctor « initials in
the dead woman's room. ”
’ “Whan?’"
“Early this morning. Tt may bo a
Mind, but it, is confusing for the mo
[mti, Hello, there goes 13 o’clock!”
bn’.'w a rummy bnsiueas about the
r fellow’s handkerchief ”
"/(Bey it wi 11 cvplmn itself later
•eeondhaud. I will look you
take the keys up s.talrs with m«.
!n and
Ah tho hi >.< 1 bearded man s’ -xl in the
center of tht room he graspial the brass
knob of the bedstead with one hand to
steady himself Inspector Briggs had
I now the full light from the street lamp
thrown on half his face. Fingering his
revolver, he pi ned the onpboard door
noiseless ly, sprang round by the foot of
I the bed, and an . on grip was tixisl ou
tie throat of the man who had solved
the problem of the locked door
The stranger uttered a hestese nimall-
mg cry ;u- the police insisctor |friIqied
him, and his captor Lad to drop his re-
volt er and use both hia tirms to prevent
his prisoner from falling ou the floor
He pushed him toward the last and
tried to place him upon it, but the man’s
laxly felt like lead, and the inspector
could only throw the upper oart uf the
body ou the side of tho bed and then
grip him by the legsoud lay him on the
bed. He knew tiie man was iu a fit.
powerless to offer any active resistance.
A kiuck at the d(sir of the room star
tied him.
"Shove the door hack into its pbioe,”
oried Detective Goriuge.
Jbeaving the
door back, ami a moment afterward it,
was opened from the outside, and tiie
defective stood in the doorway, a lighted
candle in his hand.
“The fellow has gone off in some sort
of fit, ” said Briggs, great (hops of sweat
falling from his brow
"Yes; 1 heard his cry, the same cry
an wlie-n he fell down in the oroner’s
court.
“He I Who?” asked the bewildered in
spector. “ Ton my soul, my nerves and
my senros are all gone wrong for the
moment. ’ ’
The detective led tho way quickly to
the bedside.
"Tear o[ien his collar first,” said ho,
"and then pulloff his wig and the black
beard and mustache. ”
He held the candle on high.
"8temworth, by nil thut’s good!”
gasped Inspector Briggs as he followed
out Goringe’s instructions and stared at
the helpless man on the bed.
CHAPTER XXHX.
X STRANGE CONFESSION.
It was abort a quarter of an hour be-
fore Albert Bteiuworth had recovered
sufficiently to utter an articulate sound.
in the meantime Goring ■ had fetched
and lighted the lamp from the dining
room and hiul drawn down ( he blinds of
the bedroom window, while Briggs, aft
es divesting Steinworth of two heavy
overcoats which he wore inside the long
brown snrtont, tried to bring the sense
’less man back to life.
Steliiwcriii now seemed an u
different pc'son from the voluble
somewhat slangy young oitui who I
snimnnnod ('onstabh Metoalf to h!s a
Bu tane mi the previous Thursday morn
I mg. He H]K’kn in a guttural voice, bit
sentences were short, and his staccato
| mainici of delivering them sounded
i strangely in the ears of the two officers
if the law.
| “You take it .coolly, ” observed < lor-
! ingc, “for a now hand. You aro just
after recovering from a fainting fif.—
j y .u are all unstrung. Do you think yon
are wise in making a statement just
now which will be used against you?
Take timo to consider. Give yourself a
chance.
“1 am quite well—quite myself again.
Thank you for your caution. But you
know my secret. You have the money.
Perhaps the law will take into account
that 1 have helped tlio inquiry.”
| "All I you are lieginning, I see, to tie
a reasonable human being. Yon were
| only the mouthpiece of rage before.
Now you are looking forward and talk-
I ing House. All right The inspector and
lad, Briggs pushed the ; I will attend to you. Take your time.
Don’t flurry yourself. ”
Steinworth bit his under lip savagely
with his long v'hito teeth. Goriuge’s
pleasant manner, his coeksureness, the
fact that ho had trapped him, were all
biting deeply into the young man’s soul,
and ho was about to declare he won Id
reconsider Ids decision and remain si-
lent. Then ne felt that it, would be bet-
ter for him to kjh ak. It would save
time, and it would prevent him from
lying any longer under the suspicion,
which he knew still clung to him iu the
minds of many, of having in some way,
however mysteriously, contributed to
the death of Mrs. Davorn. .Stcimvorth
was an arrant coward, and as vain ns he
was cowardly. But his vanity did not
reach to the sublime height of wishing
to lie regarded as a murderer or aa ac-
cessory to a murder. a ;
“Yes. I will tell you all, ” he said,
with painful deliberateness.
"You will go slow, if you please,”
said Goringe, "for my friend and 1 nud
bettor help each other In taking n note of
th#'principal part of your statement. ”
Inspector Briggs sat down at the ta-
bic (-ear Goringe and took out his note-
book. Ho was a mine of pec t up auger.
Steinworth ’a contemptuous leference to
him and to the Clay tie Ids police onxu-
polled the inspector to be silent, lest if
he did Hjx-ak his auger might become
volcan (;..
”1 learned—to begin at the baginrfag
—that Mrs. Davorn had take* the bias-
When the two officers considered the ! £ ^ ? 'h<) ^ ^
young man was sufficiently restored, “ ’ 7 m 1
they jiropjjed him up in an easy chair,
and then placing a small table in front
boiugclose to her as tbo cashier was pay-
ing over the notes to her Thiti was *up
of him Goringe turned the lamp up to ! 1 ^ uocoucr’scourt, as you will
its full ! toto’-tober.
Stemvvorlh Seemed utterly nerveless j ' pir you. Bris-gE, said Goringe.
■is he glanced slowly round tha room i that was yu.ir discovery- or opinion.
Then making a strong effort to pull him j sba*‘ 'v,ra'!
«lf together ho mutter©'*, ilisolosiag nu ' * A.ii t»piniou, * stiid the inspector;^!
7L-
cler his iunBtar:holcM3 lips aVt of long. \ »*nile oiirving his lips. “ I don’lwt^
Isud me your revolver. 1 saw you
fingering one. ”
"Certainly. You won’t want it, I ex-
pect, bat it may help to make yon feel
less lonely, poor fuiiow I You Iniic a pair
'**T *••).( \I?li r- «m1 f l, Hi M/I’i,il«-H«
’•* ----J -H-*. »1 IIJ , VV A I II W1PI 1.1 A |1 i
nnd the liandcuITs, and a bullseye, vou
will feel quite as if you were having a
levee. Lonely indeed I But what do you
think of my idea.?”
“An excellent one, if we a re going to
have a visit from your guest, ” Inspect-
or Briggs smiled a quiet smile ail to
himself in the darkness. “If not, it will I what prompts him to keep his full face
“Steinworth, bv all that’s oo.xl!”
ly, a self satisfied grin on his fain. That
would lw capital, thought Inspector
Briggs. Indeed he was so much carried
away by tho notion that ho was very
near forgetting himself and indulging in
a quiet, chuckle.
"What tho deuce is he at now, and
bo the devil’s own wearisome job. ”
| “Sail I” gripping Ihe inspector by the
arm. “Don’t raise your voice. I think
I hour a sound. ”
I Both men strained their ours.
| “That’s the gentleman I In you go,
, Briggs. Not a moment to bo lost.. And
j be ns quiet as the grave. "
; CHAPTER AXIL
I THK STRANUEK.
| Inspector Bri-gs suddenly lost all bis
! apathy and became as alert as a oat on
i the pounce. He felt in his beet, form,
j There won a mystery to lie solved, work
j to b-> done, and a reasonable amount of
i danger to be incurred, for the burglar
might he armed and desperate.
! The street, lamp sent suffleient light
I into the room, and the inspector's (>ye«
Imd now grown so accustomed to the
! dark that he could see almost every oh
! left iu the bedroom plainly.
, lie Ii'.io'd undiir tho Ivsi. It seemed
r.n awkward place to plant himself, and
i ,t would leave him at the mercy of iui
i rjiued man
or even half hist face out of my line of
Briggs as tho strnu-
“Ho has unscrewed
vision?” wondered
! gei rose to his feet.
I something— tho hinges of the door,
j How on earth has he done that, though?”
| Inspector Briggs was tantalized Here
| was his prey within Iiih grasp, nnd yet
i be must, not stir. Even his breath he
1 lmd to draw arrfnUy lert he mi. ht dis
thrb tho man who was silently operating
on the door
The stronger now got the screwdriver
slowly and cautiously in between the
door and frame, and as quietly ns if ho
was an engraver or a wood carver p rk
ing out a difficult bit of his work he
gradually worked the back of tho door
in toward him until the back of the door
itself was wholly parted from the frame
and stood in the room.
Inspector Briggs could scarcely con
tain himself as he saw this strange oper-
ation performed.
Then tiie black be-irdoil man put out
his left I in ml, iKil.liug the buck of t he
('"•IT steadily with his right hand, and
pm the fingers i f his left hand into name
■at loiiKt
There were two ciiplK.urdf
| in lie room both tilling up spaces in rlie I groove or iiiug m the disir-
' (vails iuid both standing at nght tingle.-
j to tiie rtiKii (>uo of these otxplviortlH was
I placed in the wall at the guide end of
j the house, and the ls>d sto d letween it
I and the door. Into this e.upboara In
sfsxstor Briggs stepped, scx'ure In ’)v
so it ap/iearetl to the inspector, though
he could not tell exactly what the man
| was doing
, Suddenly, with a hoarse cry, tho
stronger fell buck several pAces. threw
. „ _ ... tip his hands, and in a thick, guttural
’opinion” of Detective Goringe that the • voice one word ten from him
visitor, tl he happeneil to be'he right “Gonej”
white, fimgliko tcoth:
| "I see I am trapped. You aro very
I olever," ho added r-fte- u brief pause,
glaring nr, Detective Goringe and ignor-
ing the imposing figure of Inspector
Briggs. ’It wus of you I was afraid—
not of the piuir creature* tn uniform. ’’
“Recollect, “ said Inspector Briggs
wjth dignity, "that whatever y< may
say now e ill Is. taken down in evideuct
against you. ”
"I believe that 1m the formula,” said
L’tel.nworth, grinning. “Why should I
mind what I say to yon now ? Mr. De
teotivn there emi te’.l yon ;■!! that has
happened. He has discovered the rer ret
of my little puzzle It was so simple it
baffled nil the poor creatures who strut
about thin neighborhood in uniform and
all the miserable donkeys whom the
same police selix-t for coroners’ juries
That was the reason I first confided my
troubles to a policeman. Bah 1”
Stcimvorth seemed to speak with dif
Acuity He was almost choked with rage
—rage at being discovered, ut his trick
being found oat He did uot troubl
himself about the future. It was only
the present which for the moment oon
coined him
“I will g<vo you credit, too,” said
Goringe “for being a very clever young
uihu, but you selected a bud time to
commit a theft—when you were in se
rious money difficulties. And then
corpses aro extremely kittle cattle. ”
“That was a most unlucky accident—
Mrs. Davom’s death." A convulsive
shudder shook Steinworth “It, makes
me almost sick to think of tt. Every
thing would have gone well but for that
and the diot Vickery’s confession. You
are puzzled about that confession. Mr.
Detective. Come,” with a short, un
pleasant laugh, “do not deny It. !f you
like, I will be perfectly-candid with you
now. You have discovmed tuy little w
cret. Y ou have got hold of the money.
What have I to hide? Indoed, it will
help mo as much u It will help you
gentlemen aud thpso mutton hnmled jn
rymen to let, you know what did bap
pdn. i nm only a poor player at thiev-
ing, whose first, move lias landed him
into a hideous mess I have lost every-
thing. 1 have nothing now to hide,
iv thing to seek for, thunks ’"you, sir,”
smiling at Goringe.
to certainties now.
"Ahl'*w.ts tei ii tv nih's "Dly
i-ioiit u« he ffdzed from the detective to
the innjHvior. “i was, to put it shurUv.
iu de'.|n r.i’e need "f money, and the
sight of Mrs Davo n holding •» h»r
hands tiie bits of paper thin would save
me from hopeless ruin fired inc. Btxides
I will tel! yon—though ! do not see how
it will help yon very maeh—that I imd
some excuse for my greedy fit. I hoped
—.uid I thought it was no foolish hope
— that 1 should havo been able to sup-
plant that currish young Dr. Leclero.
whom I ’loathe acd that, having him
ouog out of my way, Miss Rodney would
turn from him to me I did uot know
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39
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Moffitt, D. J. The Post Mirror. (Pilot Point, Tex.), Vol. 9, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, April 24, 1896, newspaper, April 24, 1896; Pilot Point, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth982916/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .