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Synopsis ol Preceding Chapters.
T HE handsome residence of Silas Van Bur-
nam in Gramercy Park adjoins that of
Mira Amelia Buttarworth, a lady of Inde
pendent moans and spirit, who tells tho story.
At mldnlKht, peering through her curtains, Miss
Rutterworth sees a oab drive up with a young
man and woman, who enter the Van Burmin
house Ten minutes later she sees the young
msn leave the house alone and walk rapidly
avt&y Knowing the house to be vacant owing
to the absence of Bllas Van Bumain In Europe,
this midnight Incident astonishes Miss Butter-
worth
Next morning she 1s present when a police
man. summoned by Mrs. Boppert, a scrub
woman, discovers the dead body of a young
woman lying under a heavy piece of fallen
furniture
Detective Oryoe, summoned from Police Head
quarters, arrives with a physician Miss But-
torwerth tells of the midnight Incident—the
young women’s companion seemed to resemble
one of the Van Burnsm mom—Franklin, or How
ard. the latter understood to be estranged from
his family owing to an unsuitable marriage,
wnd spending the Bummer with his bride In
Connecticut It was Franklin Van Burnam—
who spent his nights at Long Branch—who hod
sent Mrs. Boppert to make the house ready for
his father an<l sisters, arriving to-day. A clock
which had fallen with the cabinet under which
the dead girl lay had stopped at three minutes
to five.
The cabinet botng raised, Miss Butterworth
sees 'that the body is clothed In a new. blue
serge drees, and that the hat—lying crushed
under It ban been worn but once, revealing but
one prink of a hatpin.
Fran kin Van Burnam arrives and soon his
father. There Is myaterv In their muttered
mention of "Howard. 1, M1hs rtutterworth also
sees mystery 1n the ms.nner of Mrs Boppert.
the ecrub woman A crowd gathers. Miss But-
terworth Invites the Van Burnam daughters
to her house From her window—Just as the
body of the dead girl is being carried out to an
arxfbuiance—ehe sees Howard Van Burnam
drive up. His faoe Is ghastly w*h1te.
Continued from Last Sunday.
F RANKLIN VAN BURNAM had evidently
come to the door with the rest; for
Howard no sooner showed his faoe
the second time than we saw the for
mer dash down the steps and try to part
, the crowd In a rain attempt to reach his
brother's side. Mr. Oryce was more success
ful. He had no difficulty in winning his way
acros. the street, and presently I perceived him
standing near the carriage exchanging a few
words with Its occupant. A moment later hp
drew back, and, addressing the driver, Jumped
Into the carriage with Howard, and was speedily
driven off. The ambulance followed and some
of the Towd, and as Boon a, a hack could be
obtained Mr. Van Juroam and fils son took
the same road, leaving us three women In a
state of suspense, which, as far as one of us
was concerned, ended in a nervous attack that
was not unlike heart failure.
"They probably did not consider the fate of
this unknown woman a matter of any Impor
tance to you.” I said.
The Van Burnam girls were unlike In appear
ance anu character, but they showed an equal
embarrassment at this, casting down their eyes
and ’ cl aving so strangely that I was driven
to wonder, without any show of hysterics I am
happy to say, what would be the upshot of this
matter, and how faj I would become involved In
It before the troth came to light.
At dinner they displayed what 1 should call
their best society manner. Seeing this, I as
sumed my society manner also. It Is formed
on a different pattern from theirs, but Is fully
as Impressive. I Judge.
In the evening their father came in. He was
looking very dejected, and half his bluster was
gone. He held a telegram crushed In his hand,
and he talked very rapidly. But he confided
none of his secrets to me, and I was obliged
to say good night to‘ these young ladies without
knowing much more about the matter engross
ing us than when I left their house in the after
noon.
But others were not as ignorant as myself.
A dramatic and highly exciting scene had taken
place that evening at tho undertaker's to
which the unknown's body had neon removed,
and as I have more than onci heard It minutely
described, I will endeavor to transcribe it here
with all the Impartiality of an outsider.
When Mr. Gryoe entered the carriage In
which Howard sat, he noted, first, that t.ha
young man was frightened; and secondly, that
he made no effort to hide It. He had heard al
most nothing from the detective. He knew
that there had been a hne and cry for him
ever since noon, and that he was wanted to
Identify a young woman who had been found
dead In his father's honse, but beyond these
tacts he had been told little, and yet he seemed
to have no curiosity nor did he venture to ex
press any surprise.
A quiver passed down the young man's side
where he came In contact with the detective.
“And did not they—my father and brother,
I mean—-recognise her 7"
"It would be difficult for any one to recognise
her who was not well acquainted with her."
A horrified look crossed the features of How
ard Van Burnam, which. If a part of his acting,
showed him to have genlns for his role. Hls
head sank back on the cushions of the carriage,
end for a moment he closed his eyes. When
he openod them again, the carriage had stopped,
and Mr. ryee, who had not noticed hls emotion,
of ooursa, was looking out of the window with
his hand on the handle of the door.
"Are we there already?" asked the young
man, with a shudder. “I wish you had not con
sidered tt necessary for me to see her. I shall
detoct nothing familiar In her. I know."
Mr. Gryoe bowed, repeated that It was a
mere formality, and followed the young gen
tleman into the building and afterward into
the room where the dead body lay. A couple
of doctors and one or two officials stood about.
In whose faces the young man sought for
something like encouragement before casting
hls eyes In the direction Indicated by the de
tective. But there was little in any of these
faces to calm him, and, turning shortly away,
he walked manfully across the room and took
bis stand by the detective.
"1 am positive,” he began, "that it is not
my wife” At this moment the cloth that
covered the body was removed, and he gave
s great start of relief. "1 said so," he re
marked: coldly. "This Is no one I know."
Hls sigh was echoed In double chorus from
the doorway. Glancing that way he eneoun-
t-. : pd the faces of hls father and elder brother,
rnd moved toward them with a relieved air
that made quite another man of him in ap
pearance.
"1 have had my say," he remarked. "Shall 1
wait outside till you have had yours?"
•We have already said all that we had to."
Franklin returned. “We declared that we did
' not recognize this person.”
"Of course, of course," assented the other.
“I don’t see why they should have expected us
to know her. gome common suicide who
thought the house empty But how did she
get In?"
Don't you know’" said Mr. Oryce. "Can It
be that 1 forgot te tell you? Why. she was let
In at night by a young man of medium height”
--hls eye ran up and down the graceful figure
of the young elegant before him as he spoke—
"who left her Inside and then went away. A
young man who had a key"
"A key? Franklin, I”
Was It a look from Franklin which made
Mm stop? It Is possible, for he turned on hls
heel as he reached this point, and, tossing his
head with quite a gay air, exclaimed: “But It
Is of no consequence! The girl is s atranger.
and we have satisfied. 1 believe, all the re
quirements of the law in saying so, and may
now drop the matter. Are you going to the
chib, Franklin?"
"Yes, but” Here the elder brother drew
seam and whispered something into the
other's ear, who at that whisper turned again
toward the place where the dead woman lay.
Seeing this movement, his anxious father
wiped the moisture from hls forehead. Silas
Van Burnam had been silent up to this mo
ment and seemed Inclined to continue so, but
he watched hls younger son with painful In
tentness.
"Nonsense!” broke from Ilownrd's lips as
hls brother ceased hls oommunlcatlon; but he
took a step nearer the body, notwithstanding,
and then another and another till he was at
Its side again.
Tho hands had not. heen Injured, as we hare
said, and upon these hls eyes now fell.
"They are like hers! O God! they are like
hers!" he muttered, growing gloomy at once.
“But where are the rings? There are no rings
to be seen on these fingers, and she wore five.
Including her wedding ring."
"Is It of your wife yon are speaking?" in
quired Mr. Oryce, who had edged up close to
hls side.
The young man was caught unawares.
He flushed deeply, hut answered up boldly
and with great appearance of candor:
"Yes; my wife left. Haddam yesterday to
come to New York, and I have not. seen her
since. Naturally I have felt some doubts lest
this unhappy victim should be she. But I do
not recognize her clothing; I do not recog
nize her form; only the hands look familiar.”
"And the hair?"
“Is of the same color as hers, but It’s a very
ordinary color. I do not dare to say from any
thing I see that this Is my wife."
"We will call you again after the doctor has
finished hls autopsy,’ said Mr. Oryce. "Per
haps you will hear from Mrs. Van Burnam
before then."
But this Intimation did not seem to bring
comfort with It. Mr Van Burnam walked away,
white and sick, for which display of emotion
there was certainly some cause, and. rejoin
ing hlB father, tried to carry off the moment
with the aplomb of a man of the world.
But that father’s eye was fixed too steadily
upon him; he faltered as he sat down and
finally spoke up, with feverish energy:
"If It Is she, so help mo God, her death Is a
mystery to me! We have quarrelled more than
onoo lately, and I have sometimes lost my pa
tience with her, but she had no reason to wish
for death, and I am ready to swear In defiance
of those hands, which are certainly like hers,
snd the nameless something which Franklin
calls a likeness, that It Is a stranger who lies
there, and that her death In our house Is a
coincidence.”
CHAPTER VI.
flew Faof*.
AIR VAN BURNAM and hls sons had gone
through the formality of & supper and
were conversing In the haphazard way natural
to men filled with a subject they dare not dls
cuss, when the door opened and Mr. Gryoe
came In.
Advancing very calmly, he addressed himself
to the father:
"I am sorry." said he, "to be obliged to In
form you that this affair Is much more serious
than we anticipated. This young woman was
dead before the shelves laden with brlc-a brae
fell upon her. It Is a case of murder; obviously
RO, or I should not presume to forestall the
Coroner’s Jury In their verdict.”
Murder! I* Is s word to shako the stoutest
heart!
The older gentleman reeled as he half rose,
and Franklin, hls son, betrayed in hls own
way an almost equal amount of emotion. But
Howard, ahrugglng hls shoulders as If relieved
of an immense weight, looked about with a
cheerful air, and briskly cried:
"’Then It Is not the body of my wife you
have there. No one would murder Louise. I
shall go away and prove the truth of my
words by hunting her up at onoe.”
The detective opened the door, beckoned In
the doctor, who whispered two or three words
Into Howard's ear.
They failed to awake the emotion he evi
dently expected. Howard looked surprised, but
answered without any change of voice:
"Yes, Louise had such a scar; and If It. Is
true that this woman is similarly marked,
then It Is a mere coincidence. Nothing will
convince me that my wife has been the victim
of murder."
"Had you not better take a look at the scar
just mentioned?"
“No. I am so sure of what I say that I will
not even consider the possibility of my being
mistaken. I have examined the clothing on
this body you have shown me, and not one ar
ticle of It oame from my wife's wardrobe; nor
would my wife go, as you have Informed me
this woman did. Into a dark house at night
with any other man than her husband.”
"And so you absolutely refuse to acknowl
edge her."
"Most certainly."
The detective paused, glanced at the troubled
faces of the other two gentlemen, faces that
had not perceptibly altered during these dec
larstlona. and suggestively remarked:
"You have not asked by what moans she
was killed."
"And I don’t care!" shouted Howard.
"It was by very peculiar means, also new In
my experience."
“It does not interest me.” the other retorted.
Mr. Gryce turned to hls father and brother.
'Does it interest you?” he asked.
The old gentleman, ordinarily so testy and
so peremptory, silently nodded his head, while
Frar.klin cried:
"IJpeak. up quick. Vou detectives hesitate so
A Thrilling Story of Love, Mystery and Intrigue.
over the disagreeables. Was she throttled or
stabbed with a knife?”
"I have said the means were peculiar. She
was stabbed, but not—with a knife."
] know Mr. Gryce well enough now to be
sure that he did not glance toward Howard
while saying this, and yet at the same time
that he did not miss the quiver of a muscle on
his part or the motion of an eyelash. But
Howard’s assumed sang frold remained undis
turbed and hls countenance Imperturbable.
"The wound was so small," the detective
went on. "that It Is a miracle It did not escape
notice. It was made by the thrust of some
slender Instrument through"
"The heart?" put In Franklin.
“Of course, of course,” assented the deteo-
tive; "what other spot Is vulnerable enough to
cause death?”
"Is there any reason why we should not go?"
demanded Howard, Ignoring the extreme In
terest manifested by the other two, with a de
termination that showed great doggedness of
character.
The detective Ignored him.
"A quick stroke, a sure stroke, a fatal stroke.
The girl never breathed after."
"But what of those thiifgs under which she
lay crushed?”
"Ah, In them lies the mystery! Her aesall-
BDt must have been as subtle as he was sure."
And still Howard showed no Interest.
"I wish to telegraph to Haddam," he de
clared, as no one answered the last remark.
Haddam was the place where he and hls wife
had been spending the Summer.
“We have already telegraphed there,” ob
served Mr. Gryce. “Your wife has not yet re-
turned.
“There are other
places,” defiantly in
sisted the other. "I can
find her If you give me
the opportunity."
Mr. Gryce bowed.
mains, you made the remark that it had heen
worn but once. I had already come to the same
conclusion, but by other means, doubtless. Will
you tell me what it was that gave point to your
assertion?”
"There was but one prick of a hat pin in it,”
I observed. "If you have been in the habit of
looking into young women's hats, you will ap
preciate the force of my remark.”
"The deuce!’’ was hls certainly uncalled for
exclamation. "Women’s eyes for women’s mat
ters! I am greatly Indebted to you, ma’am.
You have solved a very Important problem for
us. A bat pin! humph!” he muttered to him
self.
“The woman who was killed In that room
owed her death to the stab of a thin, long pin.
We had not thought of a hat pin, but upon your
mentioning It, I am ready to aocept It as the
Instrument of death. There was no pin to be
seen In the hat when you looked at It?”
“None. I examined It most carefully.”
He shook hls head and seemed to be medita
ting. As I had plenty of time I waited, expect
ing him to speak again. My patience seemed
to impress him. Alternately raising and lower
ing hls hands like one In the act of weighing
something, he soon addressed me again, this
time in a tone of banter.
’’This pin—If pin It was—was found broken
in the wound. We hare been searching for the
end that was left In the murderer’s hand, and
we have not found It. It Is not on the floors of
the parlors nor In this hallway. What do you
think the Ingenious user of such an Instrument
would do with it?’’
"He would not have
carried It away,” I rea
soned, shortly, “at least
not far. He did not „
throw it aside on reach. fevVL
detective turned the conversation back to busi-
“By the way,’’ said he, “your woman’s knowl
edge can help me out at another point. If you
are not afraid to remain In this room alone for
a moment, I will bring an article in regard to
which I should like your opinion.”
I assured him I was not in the least bit
ifralrl, at which he made me another of hls
xnomalous bows and passed Into the adjoining
parlor. He did not stop there. Opening the
sliding doors communicating with the dining
room beyond, he disappeared In the latter room,
shutting the doors behind him. Being now alone
for a moment on the scene of the crime, I
eroesed over te the mantel shelf a*d lifted the
clock that lay there.
Why I did this I scarcely know. I am natu
rally very orderly and It probably fret
ted me to see so valuable an object
out of Its natural position. However
that was, I lifted It up and set It upright, when
to my amazement it began to tick. Had the
hands not stood as they did when my eyes first
fell on the clock lying face up on the floor at the
dead girl’s side I should have thought that the
works had been started since that time by Mr.
Gryce or some other officious person. But they
pointed now as then to a few minutes before 5
and the only conclusion I could arrive at was
that the clock had been In running order when
it fell, startling as this fact appeared In a housa
which had not been Inhabited for months.
But If It had been In running order and was
only stopped by Its fall upon the floor, why did
the hands, point at Ji instead of 12, which was
the hour at which the accident was supposed to
have happened? Here was matter for thought,
and that I might be undisturbed In my use of
If, I hastened to lay the clock down again, even
taking the precaution to restore the hands to
the exact position they had occupied before I
“I. as well as
others, was
glancing
toward
the door
beyond
which the
Van Burnams
were
supposed
to sit.”
T am to give orders, then for this body to
be removed to the Morgue.”
It was an unexpected suggestion, and for an
instant Howard showed that he had feelings
with the best. But he quickly recovered him
self, and, avoiding the anxious glances of hls
father and brother, answered with offensive
lightness:
“1 have nothing to do with that. Y'ou must
do as you think proper.”
And Mr. Gryce felt that he had received a
check, and did not know whether to admire
the young man for 1 hls nerve or to execrate
him for hls brutality. That the woman whom
he had thus carelessly dismissed to the igno
miny of the public gaze was hls wife, the detec
tive did not doubt.
1 was almost as Ignorant of what I wanted
to know at 10 o'clock on that memorable night
as I was at B, but I was determined not to re
main so. When the two Misses Van Burnam
had retired to their room 1 slipped away to
the neighboring house and boldly rang the bell.
I had observed Mr. Gryce enter It a few min
utes before, and I was resolved to have some
talk with him.
The hall lamp was lit, and we could discern
each other's faces as he opened the door. Mine
may have been a study, but I am sure hls waa
He had not expected to be confronted by an
elderly lady at that hour of night.
"Well!” be dryly ejaculated, "I am sensible
of the honor, Miss Butterworth.” But he did
not ask me In.
"I expected no less.” said I. "I saw you come
in, and 1 followed as soon after as 1 could. 1
have something to say to you.”
He admitted me then and carefully closed ths
door. Feellug free to be myself. I threw off
the veil 1 had tied under my chin and con
fronted him with what I call the true spirit.
"Mr. Gryce,” I began, “let us make an ex
change of civilities ?ell me what you have
done with Howard Van Burnam, and I will tell
you what I have observed In the course of this
afternoon’s Investigation."
He laughed; this sly, old, almost decrepit
man laughed outright.
"It Is my very good fortune to have made
your acquaintance. Miss Butterworth. You and
1 ought to be able to work out this case In a
way that will be satisfactory to all parties.”
He meant it for sarcasm, but I took it quite
seriously—that is, to all appearance.
"Then let us to work.” said I. "Yon have
your theories about this murder, and I have
mine; let us see how they compare."
Changing hls whole manner to one more In
neeordunee with business, he observed after a
moment's reflection:
"You came to a conclusion this afternoon.
Miss Butterworth. for which I should like some
explanation In investigating the hat which had
beau drawn froaj under the murdered girl's re
watched hls movements so
closely that I would hare
observed him had he done
this. It Is in the house, then,
and presumably In the parlor,
even if you did not find it
on the floor.”
“Would you like to look
for it?" he impressively asked.
"Would I?” I repeated; and being spare in
figure and much more active in my movements
than one would suppose from my age and digni
fied deportment, 1 ducked under his arms and
was in Mr. Van Burnam's parlor before he had
recovered from hls surprise.
Nerving myself for the task thus set me, I
peered hither and thither, taking in every arti
cle in the room before I made a step forward.
There had been some attempt to rectify its dis
order. The broken pieces of china had been
lifted and laid carefully away on newspapers
upon the shelves from which they had fallen.
The cabinet stood upright in Its place, and the
clock, which had tumbled face upward, had
been placed upon the mantel shelf in the same
position. The carpet was therefore free, save
for the stains which told such a woful story of
past tragedy and crime.
"You have moved the tables and searched be
hind the sofas,” I suggested.
"Not an inch of the floor has escaped our at
tention, madam.”
My eyes fell on the register, which my skirts
half covered. It was closed; I stooped and
opened It. A square box of tin was visible be
low. at the bottom of which I perceived the
round bead of a broken hat pin.
Never In my life had I felt as X did at that
minute. Rising up. pointed at the register and
let some of my triumph become apparent; but
not all. for I was by no means sure at that mo
aient, nor am I by any means sure now, that he
had not made the discovery before I did and
was simply testing my pretensions.
However that may be, he came forward quick
ly and after some little effort drew out the
broken pin and examined It curiously.
"I should say that this Is what we want,” be
declared, and from that moment on showed me
a suitable deference.
"I account for Its being there In this way,” I
argued. “The room was dark; for whether he
lighted it or not to commit hls crime, he cer
tainly did not leave it lighted long. Coming
out, hts foot came In contact with the iron of
the register and he was struck by a sudden
thought. He had not dared to leave the head of
the pin lying on the floor, for he hoped that he
had covered up his crime by pulling the heavy
cabinet over upon his victim; nor did he wish
to carry away such a memento of hls cruel
deed. So he dropped it down the register,
where he doubtless expected It would fall into
the furnace pipes out of sight. But the tin box
retained It. Is not that plausible, sir?”
“I could not have reasoned better myself
madam. We shall have you on the force, yet.’’
But at the familiarity shown by this sugges
tion. 1 bridled angrily. "I am Miss Butter
worth.” w’as m.v sharp retort, “and any Interest
I may take in this matter is due to my sense of
Justice."
Seeing that ho had offended me, the astute
had started up the works. If Mr. Gryce did not
know their secret, why so much the worse for
Mr. Gryce.
I was back in my old place by the register
before the folding doors unclosed again. I was
conscious of a slight flush on my cheek, so I
took from my pocket that perplexing grocer bill
and was laboriously going down Its long line of
figures, when Mr. Gryce reappeared.
He had, to my surprise, a woman’s hat In hls
hand.
"Well!” thought I, "what does this meant”
It was an elegant specimen of millinery, and
was In the latest style. It had ribbons and
flowers and bird wings upon It, and presented,
as it was turned about by Mr. Gryce's deft hand,
an appearance which some might have called
charming, but to me was simply grotesque and
absurd.
"Is that a last Spring’s hat?” he Inquired.
"I don’t know, but I should say It had come
fresh from the milliner’s.”
“I found it lying with a pair of gloves tucked
Inside It on an otherwise empty shelf In the
dining room closet. It struck me as looking too
new for a discarded hat of either of the Misses
Van Burnam. What do you think?"
“Let me take it," said I.
“Oh, It's been worn,” he smiled, ‘’several
times. And the bat pin Is in it, too.”
"There is something else I wish to see.”
He handed It over.
“1 think it belongs to one of them,” I de
clared. “It was made by La Mole of Fifth
avenue, whose prices are simply—wicked.”
“But the young ladles have been gone—let me
see—five months. Could this have been bought
before then?”
"Possibly, for this Is an Imported hat. But
why should It have been left lying about In that
careless way? It cost twenty dollars, If not
thirty, and If far any reason Its owner decided
not to take It with her, why didn’t she pack It
away properly? X have no patience with the
modern girl; she Is made up of recklessness and
extravagance.”
"I hear that the young ladles are staying
with you,” was hls suggestive remark.
'They are.”
’Then you can make some inquiries about this
hat; also about the gloves, which are an ordi
nary street pair.”
"Of what color?”
"Gray; they are quite fresh, size six.”
"Very well; I will ask the young ladles about
them.”
CHAPTER VII.
Devel opmenfu.
pROMPTLY at 10 o’clock I entered the room
*• reserved for the inquest, and was ushered
to the seat appointed me. The Coroner was
ilrqidy in his seat when I entered, and though
l did not perceive the good face of-Mr. Gryca
anywhere In hls vicinity I had no doubt he
was within earshot. Of the other people I took
small note, save of the honest scrubwoman, of
whose red face and anxious eyes under a pre
posterous bonnet (which did not come from La
Mole’s), I caught vague glimpses as the crowd
between us surged to and fro.
None of the Van Burnams was visible, but
this did not neoessarly mean that they were
absent. Indeed, I was very sure, from certain
indications, that more than one member of the
family could be seen in the small room connect
ing with the large one in which we witnesses
sat with the Jury.
The policeman. Carroll, was the first man to
talk. He told of my stopping him on hls beat
ludi of hls entrance into Mr. Yen Burnam's
Uouse with the scrubwoman. He gave the de
tails of hls discovery of the dead woman’s body
on the parlor floor, and insisted that no one—
here he looked very hard at me—had been al
lowed to touch the body till relief had come to
him from Headquarters.
Mrs. Boppert, the scrubwoman, followed him;
and If she was watched by no one else In that
room, she was watched by me. Her manner be
fore the Coroner was no more satisfactory, ac
cording to my netlon, than it had been In Mr.
Van Burnam's parlor. She gave a very percep
tible start when they spoke her name, and
looked quite scared when the Bible was held ouJ
towards her. Bnt she took the oath, notwith
standing, and with her testimony the Inquiry
began In earnest.
"What Is your name?” asked the Coroner.
As this was something she conld not beta
knowing, she uttered the necessary words
glibly, though in a way that showed she re
sented hls Impertinence in asking her what he
already knew.
"Where do you live? And what do you do for
a living?” rapidly followed.
She replied that she was a scrubwoman and
cleaned people's houses, and having said this,
ghe assumed a very dogged air, which I thought
strange enough to raise a question in the minds
of those who watched her. But no one else
seemed to regard It as anything but the em
barrassment of ignorance.
"How long have you known the Van Burnam
family?” the Coroner went on.
"Two years, sir, come next Christmas.”
"Have you often done work for them?”
"I clean the house twice a year. Fall and
Spring.”
"Why were yon at this house two days ago?”
‘‘To scrub the kitchen floors, sir, and put the
pantries In order.”
"Had you received notice to do so?"
"Yes, sir, through Mr. Franklin Van Bu»
Dam.”
"And was that the first day of your work
there?"
"No, sir; I had been there all the day before.”
"You don’t speak loud enough,” objected the
Coroner; “remember that every one in ibis room
wants to hear you.”
She looked up, and with a frightened atr sur
veyed the crowd about her. Publicity evidentl;r
made her most uncomfortable, and her voc e
sank rather than rose.
"Where did you get the key of the house, and
by what door did you enter?”
"I went in at the basement, sir, and I got
the key at Mr. Van Burnam's agent in Dey
street. I had to go for It; sometimes they send
It to me; but not this time.”
“And now relate your meeting with the po
liceman on Wednesday morning, in front of Mr.
Van Burnam's house.”
She tried to tel! her story, hut she made
awkward work of It, and they had to ply her
with questions to get at the smallest fact. But
finally she managed to repeat what we already
knew, how she went with the policeman into
the house, and how they stumbled upon the dead
woman In the parlor.
Further than this they did not question her,
und I, Amelia Butterworth, had to sit In'silence
nnd see her go back to her seat, redder than
before, but with a strangely satisfied air that
told me she had escaped more easily than she
had expected. And yet Mr. Gryce had been
warned that she knew more than appeared, and
by one In whom he seemed to havo placed some
confidence!
The doctor was called next Hls testimony
was most Important, and oontalned a surprise
for me and more than one surprise for the oth
ers. After a short preliminary examination, ha
was requested to state how long the woman
had been dead when he was called In to ex
amine ber.
"More than twelve and less than eighteen
hours,” was hls quiet reply.
"Did you examine tho wounds made by th#
falling shelves and the vases that tumbled with
them?”
"I did."
"Will you describe them?”
He did so.
"And now”—there was a pause in the Coro
ner’s question which roused us all to Ite im
portance, "which of these many serious wound*
was In your opinion the cause of her death?”
The witness was accustomed to such scenes,
and was perfectly at home In them. Surveying
the Coroner with a respectful air, he turned
slowly towards the Jury and answered In a slow
and Impressive manner:
“I feel ready to declare, sirs, that none of
them did. She was not killed by the falling of
the cabinet upon her.”
"Not killed by the falling shelves! Why notT
Were they not sufficiently heavy, or did they
not strike her In a vital place?”
"They were heavy enough, and li>ey struok
her in a way to kill her If she had not been al
ready dead when they fell upon her. As It was,
they simply bruised a body from which life had
already departed."
As this was putting It very plainly, many of
the crowd who had not been acquainted with
these facts previously showed their Interest In
eery unmistakable manner; but the Coroner,
ignoring these symptoms of growing excite
ment, hastened to say:
“This Is r very serious statement you are
making, doctor. If she did not die from the
wounds Inflicted by the objects which fell upon
her, from what cause did she die? Can you
say that her death was a natural one, aDd that
the falling of the shelves was merely an un
happy accident following It?”
"No, sir; her death was not natural. She
was klllpd. but not by the falling cabinet."
“Killed, and not by the cabinet? How then?
Was there any other wound upon her which
you regard as mortal?”
“Yes, sir. Suspecting that she had perished
from other means than appeared, I made a most
rigid examination of her body, when I discov
ered under the hair in the nape of the neck, a
minute spot, which, upon probing, I found to
be the end of a small, thin point of steeL It
had been thrust by a careful hand into the most
vulnerable part of the body, and death must
have ensued at once.”
This was too much for certain excitable p*»-
sons present, and a momentary disturbance
arose, which, however, was nothing to that In
my own breast.
So! so! it was her neck that had been
pierced, and not her heart. Mr. Gryce had at
lowed us to think It was the latter, but It wa*
not this fact which stupefied me. but the skill
and'diabolical coolnees of the man who had !»■
Meted this death-thrust.
After order had been restored, which I wfH
say was very goon, the Coroner, with an added
gravity of tone, went on with his questions
"Did you recognize this bit of steel as be
longing to any instrument In the medical pro*
fession?”
Continued Next Sunday