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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This Etext prepared by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. + + + + + +The Case of the Registered Letter + +by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner + + + + +INTRODUCTION TO JOE MULLER + +Joseph Muller, Secret Service detective of the Imperial Austrian +police, is one of the great experts in his profession. In +personality he differs greatly from other famous detectives. He +has neither the impressive authority of Sherlock Holmes, nor the +keen brilliancy of Monsieur Lecoq. Muller is a small, slight, +plain-looking man, of indefinite age, and of much humbleness of +mien. A naturally retiring, modest disposition, and two external +causes are the reasons for Muller's humbleness of manner, which +is his chief characteristic. One cause is the fact that in early +youth a miscarriage of justice gave him several years in prison, +an experience which cast a stigma on his name and which made it +impossible for him, for many years after, to obtain honest +employment. But the world is richer, and safer, by Muller's +early misfortune. For it was this experience which threw him +back on his own peculiar talents for a livelihood, and drove him +into the police force. Had he been able to enter any other +profession, his genius might have been stunted to a mere pastime, +instead of being, as now, utilised for the public good. + +Then, the red tape and bureaucratic etiquette which attaches to +every governmental department, puts the secret service men of the +Imperial police on a par with the lower ranks of the subordinates. +Muller's official rank is scarcely much higher than that of a +policeman, although kings and councillors consult him and the +Police Department realises to the full what a treasure it has in +him. But official red tape, and his early misfortune ... prevent +the giving of any higher official standing to even such a genius. +Born and bred to such conditions, Muller understands them, and +his natural modesty of disposition asks for no outward honours, +asks for nothing but an income sufficient for his simple needs, +and for aid and opportunity to occupy himself in the way he most +enjoys. + +Joseph Muller's character is a strange mixture. The +kindest-hearted man in the world, he is a human bloodhound when +once the lure of the trail has caught him. He scarcely eats or +sleeps when the chase is on, he does not seem to know human +weakness nor fatigue, in spite of his frail body. Once put on +a case his mind delves and delves until it finds a clue, then +something awakes within him, a spirit akin to that which holds +the bloodhound nose to trail, and he will accomplish the apparently +impossible, he will track down his victim when the entire machinery +of a great police department seems helpless to discover anything. +The high chiefs and commissioners grant a condescending permission +when Muller asks, "May I do this? ... or may I handle this case +this way?" both parties knowing all the while that it is a farce, +and that the department waits helpless until this humble little +man saves its honour by solving some problem before which its +intricate machinery has stood dazed and puzzled. + +This call of the trail is something that is stronger than anything +else in Muller's mentality, and now and then it brings him into +conflict with the department, ... or with his own better nature. +Sometimes his unerring instinct discovers secrets in high places, +secrets which the Police Department is bidden to hush up and leave +untouched. Muller is then taken off the case, and left idle for +a while if he persists in his opinion as to the true facts. And +at other times, Muller's own warm heart gets him into trouble. He +will track down his victim, driven by the power in his soul which +is stronger than all volition; but when he has this victim in the +net, he will sometimes discover him to be a much finer, better man +than the other individual, whose wrong at this particular criminal's +hand set in motion the machinery of justice. Several times that +has happened to Muller, and each time his heart got the better of +his professional instincts, of his practical common-sense, too, +perhaps, ... at least as far as his own advancement was concerned, +and he warned the victim, defeating his own work. This peculiarity +of Muller's character caused his undoing at last, his official +undoing that is, and compelled his retirement from the force. But +his advice is often sought unofficially by the Department, and to +those who know, Muller's hand can be seen in the unravelling of +many a famous case. + +The following stories are but a few of the many interesting cases +that have come within the experience of this great detective. +But they give a fair portrayal of Muller's peculiar method of +working, his looking on himself as merely an humble member of the +Department, and the comedy of his acting under "official orders" +when the Department is in reality following out his directions. + + + + +THE CASE OF THE REGISTERED LETTER + +by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner + + + +"Oh, sir, save him if you can--save my poor nephew! I know he is +innocent!" + +The little old lady sank back in her chair, gazing up at Commissioner +von Riedau with tear-dimmed eyes full of helpless appeal. The +commissioner looked thoughtful. "But the case is in the hands of +the local authorities, Madam," he answered gently, a strain of pity +in his voice. "I don't exactly see how we could interfere." + +"But they believe Albert guilty! They haven't given him a chance!" + +"He cannot be sentenced without sufficient proof of his guilt." + +"But the trial, the horrible trial--it will kill him--his heart +is weak. I thought--I thought you might send some one--some one +of your detectives--to find out the truth of the case. You must +have the best people here in Vienna. Oh, my poor Albert--" + +Her voice died away in a suppressed sob, and she covered her face +to keep back the tears. + +The commissioner pressed a bell on his desk. "Is Detective Joseph +Muller anywhere about the building?" he asked of the attendant who +appeared at the door. + +"I think he is, sir. I saw him come in not long ago." + +"Ask him to come up to this room. Say I would like to speak to him." +The attendant went out. + +"I have sent for one of the best men on our force, Madam," continued +the commissioner, turning back to the pathetic little figure in the +chair. "We will go into this matter a little more in detail and see +if it is possible for us to interfere with the work of the local, +authorities in G--." + +The little old lady gave her eyes a last hasty dab with a dainty +handkerchief and raised her head again, fighting for self-control. +She was a quaint little figure, with soft grey hair drawn back +smoothly from a gentle-featured face in which each wrinkle seemed +the seal of some loving thought for others. Her bonnet and gown +were of excellent material in delicate soft colours, but cut in the +style of an earlier decade. The capable lines of her thin little +hands showed through the fabric of her grey gloves. Her whole +attitude bore the impress of one who had adventured far beyond the +customary routine of her home circle, adventured out into the world +in fear and trembling, impelled by the stress of a great love. + +A knock was heard at the door, and a small, slight man, with a kind, +smooth-shaven face, entered at the commissioner's call. "You sent +for me, sir?" he asked. + +"Yes, Muller, there is a matter here in which I need your advice, +your assistance, perhaps. This is Detective Muller, Miss--" (the +commissioner picked up the card on his desk) "Miss Graumann. If +you will tell us now, more in detail, all that you can tell us about +this case, we may be able to help you." + +"Oh, if you would," murmured Miss Graumann, with something more of +hope in her voice. The expression of sympathetic interest on the +face of the newcomer had already won her confidence for him. Her +slight figure straightened up in the chair, and the two men sat down +opposite her, prepared to listen to her story. + +"I will tell you all I know and understand about this matter, +gentlemen," she began. "My name is Babette Graumann, and I live +with my nephew, Albert Graumann, engineering expert, in the village +of Grunau, which is not far from the city of G--. My nephew Albert, +the dearest, truest--" sobs threatened to overcome her again, but +she mastered them bravely. "Albert is now in prison, accused of +the murder of his friend, John Siders, in the latter's lodgings +in G--." + +"Yes, that is the gist of what you have already told me," said the +commissioner. "Muller, Miss Graumann believes her nephew innocent, +contrary to the opinion of the local authorities in G--. She has +come to ask for some one from here who could ferret out the truth +of this matter. You are free now, and if we find that it can be +done without offending the local authorities--" + +"Who is the commissioner in charge of the case in G--?" asked Muller. + +"Commissioner Lange is his name, I believe," replied Miss Graumann. + +"H'm!" Muller and the commissioner exchanged glances. + +"I think we can venture to hear more of this," said the commissioner, +as if in answer to their unspoken thought. "Can you give us the +details now, Madam? Who is, or rather who was, this John Siders?" + +"John Siders came to our village a little over a year ago," continued +Miss Graumann. "He came from Chicago; he told us, although he was +evidently a German by birth. He bought a nice little piece of +property, not far from our home, and settled down there. He was a +quiet man and made few friends, but he seemed to take to Albert and +came to see us frequently. Albert had spent some years in America, +in Chicago, and Siders liked to talk to him about things and people +there. But one day Siders suddenly sold his property and moved to G--. +Two weeks later he was found dead in his lodgings in the city, +murdered, and now--now they have accused Albert of the crime." + +"On what grounds?--oh, I beg your pardon, sir; I did not mean--" + +"That's all right, Muller," said the commissioner. "As you may +have to undertake the case, you might as well begin to do the +questioning now." + +"They say"--Miss Graumann's voice quavered--"they say that Albert +was the last person known to have been in Siders' room; they say that +it was his revolver, found in the room. That is the dreadful part +of it--it was his revolver. He acknowledges it, but he did not +know, until the police showed it to him, that the weapon was not in +its usual place in his study. They tell me that everything speaks +for his guilt, but I cannot believe it--I cannot. He says he is +innocent in spite of everything. I believe him. I brought him up, +sir; I was like his own mother to him. He never knew any other +mother. He never lied to me, not once, when he was a little boy, +and I don't believe he'd lie to me now, now that he's a man of +forty-five. He says he did not kill John Siders. Oh, I know, even +without his saying it, that he would not do such a thing." + +"Can you tell us anything more about the murder itself?" questioned +Muller gently. "Is there any possibility of suicide? Or was there +a robbery?" + +"They say it was no suicide, sir, and that there was a large sum of +money missing. But why should Albert take any one else's money? +He has money of his own, and he earns a good income besides--we +have all that we need. Oh, it is some dreadful mistake! There is +the newspaper account of the discovery of the body. Perhaps Mr. +Muller might like to read that." She pointed to a sheet of newspaper +on the desk. The commissioner handed it to Muller. It was an +evening paper, dated G--, September 24th, and it gave an elaborate +account, in provincial journalese, of the discovery that morning of +the body of John Siders, evidently murdered, in his lodgings. The +main facts to be gathered from the long-winded story were as follows: + +John Siders had rented the rooms in which he met his death about +ten days before, paying a month's rent in advance. The lodgings +consisted of two rooms in a little house in a quiet street. It was +a street of simple two-story, one and two family dwellings, occupied +by artisans and small tradespeople. There were many open spaces, +gardens and vacant lots in the street. The house in which Siders +lodged belonged to a travelling salesman by the name of Winter. The +man was away from home a great deal, and his wife, with her child +and an old servant, lived in the lower part of the house, while the +rooms occupied by Siders were in the upper story. Siders lived +very quietly, going out frequently in the afternoon, but returning +early in the evening. He had said to his landlady that he had many +friends in G--. But during the time of his stay in the house he had +had but one caller, a gentleman who came on the evening of the 23rd +of September. The old maid had opened the door for him and showed +him to Mr. Siders' rooms. She described this visitor as having a +full black beard, and wearing a broad-brimmed grey felt hat. Nobody +saw the man go out, for the old maid, the only person in the house +at the time, had retired early. Mrs. Winter and her little girl +were spending the night with the former's mother in a distant part +of the city. The next morning the old servant, taking the lodger's +coffee up to him at the usual hour, found him dead on the floor of +his sitting-room, shot through the heart. The woman ran screaming +from the house and alarmed the neighbours. A policeman at the +corner heard the noise, and led the crowd up to the room where the +dead man lay. It was plain to be seen that this was not a case of +suicide. Everywhere were signs of a terrible struggle. The +furniture was overturned, the dressing-table and the cupboard were +open and their contents scattered on the floor, one of the window +curtains was torn into strips, as if the victim had been trying to +escape by way of the window, but had been dragged back into the +room by his murderer. An overturned ink bottle on the table had +spattered wide, and added to the general confusion. In the midst +of the disorder lay the body of the murdered man, now cold in the +rigour of death. + +The police commissioner arrived soon, took possession of the rooms, +and made a thorough examination of the premises. A letter found +on the desk gave another proof, if such were needed, that this was +not a case of suicide. This letter was in the handwriting of the +dead man, and read as follows: + +Dear Friend: + +I appreciate greatly all the kindness shown me by yourself and your +good wife. I have been more successful than I thought possible in +overcoming the obstacles you know of. Therefore, I shall be very +glad to join you day after to-morrow, Sunday, in the proposed +excursion. I will call for you at 8 A.M.--the cab and the +champagne will be my share of the trip. We'll have a jolly day +and drink a glass or two to our plans for the future. + +With best greetings for both of you, +Your old friend, + John +G--, Friday, Sept. 23rd. + +An envelope, not yet addressed, lay beside this letter. It was +clear that the man who penned these words had no thought of suicide. +On the contrary, he was looking forward to a day of pleasure in the +near future, and laying plans for the time to come. The murderer's +bullet had pierced a heart pulsing with the joy of life. + +This was the gist of the account in the evening paper. Muller +read it through carefully, lingering over several points which +seemed to interest him particularly. Then he turned to Miss Babette +Graumann. "And then what happened?" he asked. + +"Then the Police Commissioner came to Grunau and questioned my +nephew. They had found out that Albert was Mr. Siders' only friend +here. And late that evening the Mayor and the Commissioner came +to our house with the revolver they had found in the room in G--, +and they--they--" her voice trembled again, "they arrested my dear +boy and took him away." + +"Have you visited him in prison? What does he say about it himself?" + +"He seems quite hopeless. He says that he is innocent--oh, I know +he is--but everything is against him. He acknowledges that it was +he who was in Mr. Siders' room the evening before the murder. He +went there because Siders wrote him to come. He says he left early, +and that John acted queerly. He knows they will not believe his +story. This worry and anxiety will kill him. He has a serious heart +trouble; he has suffered from it for years, and it has been growing +steadily worse. I dare not think what this excitement may do for +him." Miss Graumann broke down again and sobbed aloud. Muller laid +his hands soothingly on the little old fingers that gripped the arm +of the chair. + +"Did your nephew send you here to ask for help?" he inquired very +gently. + +"Oh, no" The old lady looked up at him through her tears. "No, he +would not have done that. I'm afraid that he'll be angry if he +knows that I have come. He seemed so hopeless, so dazed. I just +couldn't stand it. It seemed to me that the police in G-- were +taking things for granted, and just sitting there waiting for an +innocent man to confess, instead of looking for the real murderer, +who may be gone, the Lord knows where, by now!" Miss Graumann's +faded cheeks flushed a delicate pink, and she straightened up in +her chair again, while her eyes snapped defiance through the tears +that hung on their lashes. + +A faint gleam twinkled up in Muller's eyes, and he did not look at +his chief. Doctor von Riedau's own face glowed in a slowly mounting +flush, and his eyes drooped in a moment of conscious embarrassment +at some recollection, the sting of which was evidently made worse +by Muller's presence. But Commissioner von Riedau had brains enough +to acknowledge his mistakes and to learn from them. He looked across +the desk at Miss Graumann. "You are right, Madam, the police have +made that mistake more than once. And a man with a clear record +deserves the benefit of the doubt. We will take up this case. +Detective Muller will be put in charge of it. And that means, Madam, +that we are giving you the very best assistance the Imperial Police +Force affords." + +Miss Babette Graumann did not attempt to speak. In a wave of +emotion she stretched out both little hands to the detective and +clasped his warmly. "Oh, thank you," she said at last. "I thank +you. He's just like my own boy to me; he's all the child I ever +had, you know." + +"But there are difficulties in the way," continued the commissioner +in a business-like tone. "The local authorities in G-- have not +asked for our assistance, and we are taking up the case over their +heads, as it were. I shall have to leave that to Muller's diplomacy. +He will come to G-- and have an interview with your nephew. Then he +will have to use his own judgment as to the next steps, and as to +how far he may go in opposition to what has been done by the police +there." + +"And then I may go back home?" asked Miss Graumann. "Go home with +the assurance that you will help my poor boy?" + +"Yes, you may depend on us, Madam. Is there anything we can do for +you here? Are you alone in the city?" + +"No, thank you. There is a friend here who will take care of me. +She will put me on the afternoon express back to G--." + +"It is very likely that I will take that train myself," said Muller. +"If there is anything that you need on the journey, call on me." + +"Oh, thank you, I will indeed! Thank you both, gentlemen. And now +good-bye, and God bless you!" + +The commissioner bowed and Muller held the door open for Miss +Graumann to pass out. There was silence in the room, as the two men +looked after the quaint little figure slowly descending the stairs. + +"A brave little woman," murmured the commissioner. + +"It is not only the mother in the flesh who knows what a mother's +love is," added Muller. + +Next morning Joseph Muller stood in the cell of the prison in G-- +confronting Albert Graumann, accused of the murder of John Siders. + +The detective had just come from a rather difficult interview with +Commissioner Lange. But the latter, though not a brilliant man, was +at least good-natured. He acknowledged the right of the accused and +his family to ask for outside assistance, and agreed with Muller +that it was better to have some one in the official service brought +in, rather than a private detective whose work, in its eventual +results, might bring shame on the police. Muller explained that +Miss Graumann did not want her nephew to know that it was she who +had asked for aid in his behalf, and that it could only redound to +his, Lange's, credit if it were understood that he had sent to +Vienna for expert assistance in this case. It would be a proof of +his conscientious attention to duty, and would insure praise for +him, whichever way the case turned out. Commissioner Lange saw the +force of this argument, and finally gave Muller permission to handle +the case as he thought best, rather relieved than otherwise for his +own part. The detective's next errand was to the prison, where he +now stood looking up into the deep-set, dark eyes of a tall, +broad-shouldered, black-bearded man, who had arisen from the cot at +his entrance. Albert Graumann had a strong, self-reliant face and +bearing. His natural expression was somewhat hard and stern, but it +was the expression of a man of integrity and responsibility. Muller +had already made some inquiries as to the prisoner's reputation and +business standing in the community, and all that he had heard was +favourable. A certain hardness and lack of amiability in Graumann's +nature made it difficult for him to win the hearts of others, but +although he was not generally loved, he was universally respected. +Through the signs of nagging fear, sorrow, and ill-health, printed +clearly on the face before him, Muller's keen eyes looked down into +the soul of a man who might be overbearing, pitiless even, if +occasion demanded, but who would not murder--at least not for the +sake of gain. This last possibility Muller had dismissed from +his mind, even before he saw the prisoner. The man's reputation +was sufficient to make the thought ridiculous. But he had not made +up his mind whether it might not be a case of a murder after a +quarrel. Now he began to doubt even this when he looked into the +intelligent, harsh-featured face of the man in the cell. But Muller +had the gift of putting aside his own convictions, when he wanted +his mind clear to consider evidence before him. + +Graumann had risen from his sitting position when he saw a stranger. +His heavy brows drew down over his, eyes, but he waited for the +other to speak. + +"I am Detective Joseph Muller, from Vienna," began the newcomer, +when he had seen that the prisoner did not intend to start the +conversation. + +"Have you come to question me again?" asked Graumann wearily. "I +can say no more than I have already said to the Police Commissioner. +And no amount of cross-examination can make me confess a crime of +which I am not guilty--no matter what evidence there may be against +me." The prisoner's voice was hard and determined in spite of its +note of physical and mental weariness. + +"I have not come to extort a confession from you, Mr. Graumann," +Muller replied gently, "but to help you establish your innocence, +if it be possible." + +A wave of colour flooded the prisoner's cheek. He gasped, pressed +his hand to his heart, and dropped down on his cot. "Pardon me," +he said finally, hesitating like a man who is fighting for breath. +"My heart is weak; any excitement upsets me. You mean that the +authorities are not convinced of my guilt, in spite of the evidence? +You mean that they will give me the benefit of the doubt--that they +will give me a chance for life?" + +"Yes, that is the reason for my coming here. I am to take this +case in hand. If you will talk freely to me, Mr. Graumann, I may +be able to help you. I have seen too many mistakes of justice +because of circumstantial evidence to lay any too great stress +upon it. I have waited to hear your side of the story from +yourself. I did not want to hear it from others. Will you tell it +to me now? No, do not move, I will get the stool myself." + +Graumaun sat back on the cot, his head resting against the wall. +His eyes had closed while Muller was speaking, but his quieter +breathing showed that he was mastering the physical attack which +had so shaken him at the first glimpse of hope. He opened his eyes +now and looked at Muller steadily for a moment. Then he said: "Yes, +I will tell you: my life and my work have taught me to gauge men. +I will tell you everything I know about this sad affair. I will +tell you the absolute truth, and I think you will believe me." + +"I will believe you," said Muller simply. + +"You know the details of the murder, of course, and why I was +arrested?" + +"You were arrested because you were the last person seen in the +company of the murdered man?" + +"Exactly. Then I may go back and tell you something of my +connection with John Siders?" + +"It would be the very best thing to do." + +"I live in Grunau, as you doubtless know, and am the engineering +expert of large machine works there. My father before me held an +important position in the factory, and my family have always lived +in Grunau. I have traveled a great deal myself. I am forty-five +years old, a childless widower, and live with my old aunt, Miss +Babette Graumann, and my ward, Miss Eleonora Roemer, a young lady +of twenty-two." Muller looked up with a slight start of surprise, +but did not say anything. Graumann continued: + +"A little over a year ago, John Siders, who signed himself as coming +from Chicago, bought a piece of property in our town and came to +live there. I made his acquaintance in the cafe and he seemed to +take a fancy to me. I also had spent several years in Chicago, and +we naturally came to speak of the place. We discovered that we had +several mutual acquaintances there, and enjoyed talking over the +old times. Otherwise I did not take particularly to the man, and +as I came to know him better I noticed that he never mentioned that +part of his life which lay back of the years in Chicago. I asked a +casual question once or twice as to his home and family, but he +evaded me every time, and would not give a direct answer. He was +evidently a German by birth and education, a man with university +training, and one who knew life thoroughly. He had delightful +manners, and when he could forget his shyness for a while, he could +be very agreeable. The ladies of my family came to like him, and +encouraged him to call frequently. Then the thing happened that I +should not have believed possible. My ward, Miss Roemer, a quiet, +reserved girl, fell in love with this man about whom none of us +knew anything, a man with a past of which he did not care to speak. + +"I was not in any way satisfied with the match, and they seemed to +realise it. For Siders managed to persuade the girl to a secret +engagement. I discovered it a month or two ago, and it made me very +angry. I did not let them see how badly I felt, but I warned Lora +not to have too much to do with the boy, and I set about finding +out something regarding his earlier life. It was my duty to do this, +as I was the girl's guardian. She has no other relative living, and +no one to turn to except my aunt and myself. I wrote to Mr. Richard +Tressider in Chicago, the owner of the factory in which I had been +employed while there. John had told me that Tressider had been his +client during the four years in which he practiced law in Chicago. +I received an answer about the middle of August. Mr. Tressider had +been able to find out only that John was born in the town of Hartberg +in a certain year. This was enough. I took leave of absence for a +few days and went to Hartberg, which, as you know, is about 140 miles +from here. Three days later I knew all that I wanted to know. John +Siders was not the man's real name, or, rather, it was only part of +his name. His full name was Theodor John Bellmann, and his mother +was an Englishwoman whose maiden name was Siders. His father was a +county official who died at an early age, leaving his widow and the +boy in deepest poverty. Mrs. Bellmann moved to G-- to give music +lessons. Theodor went to school there, then finally to college, and +was an excellent pupil everywhere. But one day it was discovered +that he had been stealing money from the banker in whose house he +was serving as private tutor to the latter's sons. A large sum of +money was missing, and every evidence pointed to young Bellmann as +the thief. He denied strenuously that he was guilty, but the +District Judge (it was the present Prosecuting Attorney Schmidt in +G--) sentenced him. He spent eight months in prison, during which +time his mother died of grief at the disgrace. There must have been +something good in the boy, for he had never forgotten that it was +his guilt that struck down his only relative, the mother who had +worked so hard for him. He had atoned for this crime of his youth, +and during the years that have passed since then, he had been an +honest, upright man." + +Graumann paused a moment and pressed his hand to his heart again. +His voice had grown weaker, and he breathed hard. Finally he +continued: "I commanded my ward to break off her engagement, as I +could not allow her to marry a man who was a freed convict. Siders +sold his property some few weeks after that and moved to G--. +Eleonora acquiesced in my commands, but she was very unhappy and +allowed me to see very little of her. Then came the events of the +evening of September 23rd, the events which have turned out so +terribly. I will try to tell you the story just as it happened, +so far as I am concerned. I had seen nothing of John since he left +this town. He had made several attempts before his departure for +G-- to change my opinion, and my decision as to his marriage to my +ward. But I let him see plainly that it was impossible for him to +enter our family with such a past behind him. He asserted his +innocence of the charges against him, and declared that he had been +unjustly accused and imprisoned. I am afraid that I was hard +towards him. I begin to understand now, as I never thought I +should, what it means to be accused of crime. I begin to realise +that it is possible for every evidence to point to a man who is +absolutely innocent of the deed in question. I begin to think now +that John may have been right, that possibly he also may have been +accused and sentenced on circumstantial evidence alone. I have +thought much, and I have learned much in these terrible days." + +The prisoner paused again and sat brooding, his eyes looking out +into space. Muller respected his suffering and sat in equal +silence, until Graumann raised his eyes to his again. "Then came +the evening of the 23rd of September?" + +"Yes, that evening--it's all like a dream to me." Graumann began +again. "John wrote me a letter asking me to come to see him on that +evening. I tore up the letter and threw it away--or perhaps, yes, +I remember now, I did not wish Eleonora to see that he had written +me. He asked me to come to see him, as he had something to say to +me, something of the greatest importance for us both. He asked me +not to mention to any one that I was to see him, as it would be +wiser no one should know that we were still in communication with +each other. There was a strain of nervous excitement visible in his +letter. I thought it better to go and see him as he requested; I +felt that I owed him some little reparation for having denied him +the great wish of his heart. It was my duty to make up to him in +other ways for what I had felt obliged to do. I knew him for a +nervous, high-strung man, overwrought by brooding for years on what +he called his wrongs, and I did not know what he might do if I +refused his request. It was not of myself I thought in this +connection, but of the girl at home who looked to me for protection. + +"I had no fear for myself; it never occurred to me to think of +taking a weapon with me. How my revolver--and it is undoubtedly +my revolver, for there was a peculiar break in the silver +ornamentation on the handle which is easily recognisable--how this +revolver of mine got into his room, is more than I can say. Until +the Police Commissioner showed it to me two or three days ago, I +had no idea that it was not in the box in my study where it is +ordinarily kept." Graumann paused again and looked about him as +if searching for something. He rose and poured himself out a glass +of water. "Let me put some of this in it," said Muller. "It will +do you good." From a flask in his pocket he poured a few drops of +brandy into the water. Graumann drank it and nodded gratefully. +Then he took up his story again. + +"I never discovered why Siders had sent for me. When I arrived at +the appointed time I found the door of the house closed. I was +obliged to ring several times before an old servant opened the door. +She seemed surprised that it had been locked. She said that the +door was always unlatched, and that Mr. Siders himself must have +closed it, contrary to all custom, for she had not done it, and +there was no one else in the house but the two of them. Siders +was waiting for me at the top of the stairs, calling down a noisy +welcome. + +"When I asked him finally what it was so important that he wanted +to say to me, he evaded me and continued to chatter on about +commonplace things. Finally I insisted upon knowing why he had +wanted me to come, and he replied that the reason for it had already +been fulfilled, that he had nothing more to say, and that I could go +as soon as I wanted to. He appeared quite calm, but he must have +been very nervous. For as I stood by the desk, telling him what I +thought of his actions, he moved his hand hastily among the papers +there and upset the ink stand. I jumped back, but not before I had +received several large spots of ink on my trousers. He was profuse +in his apologies for the accident, and tried to take out the spots +with blotting paper. Then at last, when I insisted upon going, he +looked out to see whether there was still a light on the stairs, and +led me down to the door himself, standing there for some time +looking after me. + +"I was slightly alarmed as well as angry at his actions. I believe +that he could not have been quite in his right mind, that the strain +of nervousness which was apparent in his nature had really made him +ill. For I remember several peculiar incidents of my visit to him. +One of these was that he almost insisted upon my taking away with me, +ostensibly to take care of them, several valuable pieces of jewelry +which he possessed. He seemed almost offended when I refused to do +anything of the kind. Then, as I parted from him at the door, not +in a very good humour I will acknowledge, he said to me: 'You will +think of me very often in the future--more often than you would +believe now!' + +"This is all the truth, and nothing but the truth, about my visit +to John Siders on the evening of September 23rd. As it had been +his wish I said nothing to the ladies at home, or to any one else +about the occurrence. And as I have told you, I destroyed his +letter asking me to come to him. + +"The following day about noon, the Commissioner of Police from +G-- called at my office in the factory, and informed me bluntly that +John Siders had been found shot dead in his lodgings that morning. +I was naturally shocked, as one would be at such news, in spite of +the fact that I had parted from the man in anger, and that I had no +reason to be particularly fond of him. What shocked me most of all +was the sudden thought that John had taken his own life. It was a +perfectly natural thought when I considered his nervousness, and his +peculiar actions of the evening before. I believe I exclaimed, +'It was a suicide!' almost without realising that I was doing so. +The commissioner looked at me sharply and said that suicide was out +of the question, that it was an evident case of murder. He +questioned me as to Siders' affairs, of which I told only what every +one here in the village knew. I did not consider it incumbent upon +me to disclose to the police the disgrace of the man's early life. +I had been obliged to hurt him cruelly enough because of that, and +I saw no necessity for blackening his name, now that he was dead. +Also, as according to what the commissioner said, it was a case of +murder for robbery, I did not wish to go into any details of our +connection with Siders that would cause the name of my ward to be +mentioned. After a few more questions the commissioner left me. +I was busy all the afternoon, and did not return to my home until +later than usual. I found my aunt somewhat worried because Miss +Roemer had left the house immediately after our early dinner, and +had not yet returned. We both knew the girl to be still grieving +over her broken engagement, and we dreaded the effect this last +dreadful news might have on her. We supposed, however, that she +had gone to spend the afternoon with a friend, and were rather +glad to be spared the necessity of telling her at once what had +happened. I had scarcely finished my supper, when the door bell +rang, and to my astonishment the Mayor of Grunau was announced, +accompanied by the same Police Commissioner who had visited me +in my office that morning. The Mayor was an old friend of mine +and his deeply grave face showed me that something serious had +occurred. It was indeed serious! and for some minutes I could +not grasp the meaning of the commissioner's questions. Finally I +realised with a tremendous shock that I--I myself was under +suspicion of the murder of John Siders. The description given by +the old servant of the man who had visited Siders the evening +before, the very clothes that I wore, my hat and the trousers +spotted by the purple ink, led to my identification as this +mysterious visitor. The servant had let me in but she had not +seen me go out. + +"Then I discovered--when confronted suddenly with my own revolver +which had been found on the floor of the room, some distance from +the body of the dead man, that this same revolver had been identified +as mine by my ward, Eleonora Roemer, who had been to the police +station at G-- in the early afternoon hours. Some impulse of loyalty +to her dead lover, some foolish feminine fear that I might have +spoken against him in my earlier interviews with the commissioner +had driven the girl to this step. A few questions sufficed to draw +from her the story of her secret engagement, of its ending, and of +my quarrel with John. I will say for her that I am certain she did +not realise that all these things were calculated to cast suspicion +on me. The poor girl is too unused to the ways of police courts, to +the devious ways of the law, to realise what she was doing. The +sight of my revolver broke her down completely and she acknowledged +that it was mine. That is all. Except that I was arrested and +brought here as you see. I told the commissioner the story of my +visit to John Siders exactly as I told it to you, but it was plain +to be seen that he did not believe me. It is plain to be seen also, +that he is firmly convinced of my guilt and that he is greatly +satisfied with himself at having traced the criminal so soon." + +"And yet he was not quite satisfied," said Muller gently. "You see +that he has sent to the Capital for assistance on the case." Muller +felt this little untruth to be justified for the sake of the honour +of the police force. + +"Yes, I'm surprised at that," said Graumann in his former tone of +weariness. "What do you think you will be able to do about it?" + +"I must ask questions here and there before I can form a plan of +campaign," replied Muller. "What do you think about it yourself? +Who do you think killed Siders?" + +"How can I know who it was? I only know it is not I," answered +Graumann. + +"Did he have any enemies?" + +"No, none that I knew of, and he had few friends either." + +"You knew there was a sum of money missing from his rooms?" + +"Yes, the sum they named to me was just about the price that he +had received for the sale of his property here. They did me the +honour to believe that if I had taken the money at all, I had done +so merely as a blind. At least they did not take me for a thief +as well as a murderer. If the money is really missing, it was for +its sake he was murdered I suppose." + +"Yes, that would be natural," said Muller. "And you know nothing +of any other relations or connections that the man may have had? +Anything that might give us a clue to the truth?" + +"No, nothing. He stood so alone here, as far as I knew. Of course, +as I told you, his actions of the evening before having been so +peculiar--and as I knew that he was not in the happiest frame of +mind--I naturally thought of suicide at once, when they told me +that he had been found shot dead. Then they told me that the +appearance of the room and many other things, proved suicide to have +been out of the question. I know nothing more about it. I cannot +think any more about it. I know only that I am here in danger of +being sentenced for the crime that I never committed--that is +enough to keep any man's mind busy." He leaned back with an intense +fatigue in every line of his face and figure. + +Muller rose from his seat. "I am afraid I have tired you, Mr. +Graumann," he said, "but it was necessary that I should know all +that you had to tell me. Try and rest a little now and meanwhile +be assured that I am doing all I can to find out the truth of this +matter. As far as I can tell now I do not believe that you have +killed John Siders. But I must find some further proofs that will +convince others as well as myself. If it is of any comfort to you, +I can tell you that during a long career as police detective I have +been most astonishingly fortunate in the cases I have undertaken. +I am hoping that my usual good luck will follow me here also. I am +hoping it for your sake." + +The man on the cot took the hand the detective offered him and +pressed it firmly. "You will let me know as soon as you have found +anything--anything that gives me hope?" + +"I will indeed. And now save your strength and do not worry. I +will help you if it is in my power." + +After leaving the prison, Muller took the train for the village of +Grunau, about half an hour distant from the city. He found his way +easily to Graumann's home, an attractive old house set in a large +garden amid groups of beautiful old trees. When he sent up his card +to Miss Graumann, the old lady tripped down stairs in a flutter of +excitement. + +"Did you see him?" she asked. "You have been to the prison? What +do you think? How does he seem?" + +"He seems calm to-day," replied Muller, "although the confinement +and the anxiety are evidently wearing on him." + +"And you heard his story? And you believe him innocent?" + +"I am inclined to do so. But there is more yet for me to investigate +in this matter. It is certainly not as simple as the police here +seem to believe. May I speak to your ward, Miss Roemer? She is at +home now?" + +"Yes, Lora is at home. If you will wait here a moment I will send +her in." + +Muller paced up and down the large sunny room, casting a glance +over the handsome old pieces of furniture and the family portraits +on the wall. It was evidently the home of generations of well-to-do, +well-bred people, the narrow circle of whose life was made rich by +congenial duties and a comfortable feeling of their standing in the +community. + +While he was studying one of the portraits more carefully, he became +aware that there was some one in the room. He turned and saw a tall +blond girl standing by the door. She had entered so softly that +even Muller's quick ear had not heard the opening of the door. + +"Do you wish to speak to me?" she said, coming down into the room. +"I am Eleonora Roemer" + +Her face, which could be called handsome in its even regularity of +feature and delicate skin, was very pale now, and around her eyes +were dark rings that spoke of sleepless nights. Grief and mental +shock were preying upon this girl's mind. "She is not the one to +make a confidant of those around her," thought Muller to himself. +Then he added aloud: "If it does not distress you too much to talk +about this sad affair, I will be very grateful if you will answer +a few questions." + +"I will tell you whatever I can," said the girl in the same low +even tone in which she had first spoken. "Miss Graumann tells me +that you have come from Vienna to take up this case. It is only +natural that we should want to give you every assistance in our +power." + +"What is your opinion about it?" was Muller's next remark, made +rather suddenly after a moment's pause. + +The directness of the question seemed to shake the girl out of her +enforced calm. A slow flush mounted into her pale cheeks and then +died away, again leaving them whiter than before. "I do not know +--oh, I do not know what to believe." + +"But you do not think Mr. Graumann capable of such a crime, do you?" + +"Not of the robbery, of course not; that would be absurd! But has +it been clearly proven that there is a robbery? Might it not have +been--might they not have--" + +"You mean, might they not have quarreled? Of course there is +that possibility. And that is why I wanted to speak to you. You +are the one person who could possibly throw light on this subject. +Was there any other reason beyond the dead man's past that would +render your guardian unwilling to have you marry him?" + +Again the slow flush mounted to Eleonora Roemer's cheeks and her +head drooped. + +"I fear it may be painful for you to answer this," said Muller +gently, "and yet I must insist on it in the interest of justice." + +"He--my guardian--wished to marry me himself," the girl's words +came slowly and painfully. + +Muller drew in his breath so sharply that it was almost like a +whistle. "He did not tell me that; it might make a difference." + +"That ... that is ... what I fear," said the girl, her eyes +looking keenly into those of the man who sat opposite. "And then, +it was his revolver." + +"Then you do believe him guilty?" + +"It would be horrible, horrible--and yet I do not know what to +think." + +There was silence in the room for a moment. Miss Roemer's head +drooped again and her hands twisted nervously in her lap. Muller's +brain was very busy with this new phase of the problem. Finally +he spoke. + +"Let us dismiss this side of the question and talk of another phase +of it, a phase of which it is necessary for me to know something. +You would naturally be the person nearest the dead man, the one, the +only one, perhaps, to whom he had given his confidence. Do you know +of any enemies he might have had in the city?" + +"No, I do not know of any enemies, or even of any friends he had +there. When the terrible thing happened that clouded his past, +when he had regained his freedom, after his term of imprisonment, +there was no one left whom he cared to see again. He does not seem +to have borne any malice towards the banker who accused him of the +theft. The evidence was so strong against him that he felt the +suspicion was justified. But there was hatred in his heart for one +man, for the Justice who sentenced him, Justice Schmidt, who is now +Attorney General in G--." + +"The man who, in the name of the State, will conduct this case?" +asked Muller quickly. + +"Yes, I believe it is so. Is it not an irony that this man, the +only one whom John really hated, should be the one to avenge him +now?" + +"H'm! yes. But did you know of any friends in G--?" + +"No, none at all." + +"No friends whom he might have made while he was in America and +then met again in Germany?" + +"No, he never spoke of any such to me. He told me that he made few +friends. He did not seek them for he was afraid that they might +find out what had happened and turn from him. He was morbidly +sensitive and could not bear the disappointment." + +"Why did he return to Germany?" + +"He was lonely and wanted to come home again. He had made money +in America--John was very clever and highly educated--but his +heart longed for his own tongue and his own people." + +Muller took a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "Do you know +this handwriting?" + +Miss Roemer read the few lines hastily and her voice trembled as +she said: "This is John's handwriting. I know it well. This is +the letter that was found on the table?" + +"Yes, this letter appears to be the last he had written in life. +Do you know to whom it could have been written? The envelope, as +I suppose you know from the newspaper reports, was not addressed. +Do you know of any friends with whom he could have been on terms +of sufficient intimacy to write such a letter? Do you know what +these plans for the future could have been? It would certainly be +natural that he should have spoken to you first about them." + +"No; I cannot understand this letter at all," replied the girl. "I +have thought of it frequently these terrible days. I have wondered +why it was that if he had friends in the city, he did not speak to +me of them. He repeatedly told me that he had no friends there at +all, that his life should begin anew after we were married." + +"And did he have any particular plans, in a business way, perhaps?" + +"No; he had a comfortable little income and need have no fear for +the future. John was, of course, too young a man to settle down +and do nothing. But the only definite plans he had made were that +we should travel a little at first, and then he would look about +him for a congenial occupation. I always thought it likely he +would resume a law practice somewhere. I cannot understand in the +slightest what the plans are to which the letter referred." + +"And do you think, from what you know of his state of mind when +you saw him last, that he would be likely so soon to be planning +pleasures like this?" + +"No, no indeed! John was terribly crushed when my guardian insisted +on breaking off our engagement. Until my twenty-fourth birthday I +am still bound to do as my guardian says, you know. John's life and +early misfortune made him, as I have already said, morbidly sensitive +and the thought that it would be a bar to anything we might plan in +the future, had rendered him so depressed that--and it was not the +least of my anxieties and my troubles--that I feared ... I feared +anything might happen." + +"You feared he might take his own life, do you mean?" + +"Yes, yes, that is what I feared. But is it not terrible to think +that he should have died this way--by the hand of a murderer?" + +"H'm! And you cannot remember any possible friend he may have +found--some schoolboy friend of his youth, perhaps, with whom he +had again struck up an acquaintance." + +"Oh, no, no, I am positive of that. John could not bear to hear +the names even of the people he had known before his misfortune. +Still, I do remember his once having spoken of a man, a German he +had met in Chicago and rather taken a fancy to, and who had also +returned to Germany." + +"Could this possibly have been the man to whom the letter is +addressed?" + +"No, no. This friend of John's was not married; I remember his +saying that. And he lived in Germany somewhere--let me think--yes, +in Frankfort-on-Main." + +"And do you remember the man's name?" + +"No, I cannot, I am sorry to say. John only mentioned it once. It +was only by a great effort that I could remember the incident at all." + +"And has it not struck you as rather peculiar that this friend, the +one to whom the cordial letter was addressed, did not come forward +and make his identity known? G-- is a city, it is true, but it is +not a very large city, and any man being on terms of intimate +acquaintance with one who was murdered would be apt to come forward +in the hope of throwing some light on the mystery." + +"Why, yes, I had not thought of that. It is peculiar, is it not? +But some people are so foolishly afraid of having anything to do +with the police, you know." + +"That is very true, Miss Roemer. Still it is a queer incident and +something that I must look into." + +"What do you believe?" asked the girl tensely. + +"I am not in a position to say as yet. When I am, I will come to +you and tell you." + +"Then you do not think that my guardian killed John--that there +was a quarrel between the men?" + +"There is, of course, a possibility that it may have been so. You +know your guardian better than I do, naturally. Our knowledge of +a man's character is often a far better guide than any circumstantial +evidence." + +"My guardian is a man of the greatest uprightness of character. But +he can be very hard and pitiless sometimes. And he has a violent +temper which his weak heart has forced him to keep in control of +late years." + +"All this speaks for the possibility that there may have been a +quarrel ending in the fatal shot. But what I want to know from +you is this--do you think it possible, that, this having happened, +Albert Graumann would not have been the first to confess his +unpremeditated crime? Is not this the most likely thing for a man +of his character to do? Would he so stubbornly deny it, if it had +happened?" + +The girl started. "I had not thought of that! Why, why, of course, +he might have killed John in a moment of temper, but he was never +a man to conceal a fault. He is as pitiless towards his own +weakness, as towards that of others. You are right, oh, you must +be right. Oh, if you could take this awful fear from my heart! +Even my grief for John would be easier to bear then." + +Muller rose from his chair. "I think I can promise you that this +load will be lifted from your heart, Miss Roemer." + +"Then you believe--that it was just a case of murder for robbery? +For the money? And John had some valuable jewelry, I know that." + +"I do not know yet," replied Muller slowly, "but I will find out, +I generally do." + +"Oh, to think that I should have done that poor man such an +injustice! It is terrible, terrible! This house has been ghastly +these days. His poor aunt knows that he is innocent--she could +never believe otherwise--she has felt the hideous suspicion in my +mind--it has made her suffering worse--will they ever forgive me?" + +"Her joy, if I can free her nephew, will make her forget everything. +Go to her now, Miss Roemer, comfort her with the assurance that you +also believe him to be innocent. I must hasten back to G-- and go +on with this quest." + +The girl stood at the doorway shaded by the overhanging branches of +two great trees, looking down the street after the slight figure of +the detective. "Oh, it is all easier to hear, hard as it is, easier +now that this horrible suspicion has gone from my mind--why did I +not think of that before?" + +Alone in the corner of the smoking compartment in the train to G--, +Muller arranged in his mind the facts he had already gathered. He +had questioned the servants of John Siders' former household, had +found that the dead man received very few letters, only an +occasional business communication from his bank. Of the few others, +the servants knew nothing except that he had always thrown the +envelopes carelessly in the waste paper basket and had never seemed +to have any correspondence which he cared to conceal. No friend +from elsewhere had ever visited him in Grunau, and he had made few +friends there except the Graumann family. + +The facts of the case, as he knew them now, were such as to make it +extremely doubtful that Graumann was the murderer. Muller himself +had been inclined to believe in the possibility of a quarrel +between the two men, particularly when he had heard that Graumann +himself was in love with his handsome ward. But the second thought +that came to him then, impelled by the unerring instinct that so +often guided him to the truth, was the assurance that in a case of +this kind, in a case of a quarrel terminating fatally, a man like +Albert Graumann would be the very first to give himself up to the +police and to tell the facts of the case. Albert Graumann was a +man of honour and unimpeachable integrity. Such a man would not +persist in a foolish denial of the deed which he had committed in +a moment of temper. There would be nothing to gain from it, and +his own conscience would be his severest judge. "The disorder in +the room?" thought Muller. "It'll be too late for that now. I +suppose they have rearranged the place. I can only go by what the +local detectives have seen, by the police reports. But I do not +understand this extreme disorder. There is no reason why there +should be a struggle when the robber was armed with a pistol. If +Siders was supposed to have been interrupted when writing a letter, +interrupted by a thief come with intent to steal, a thief armed +with a revolver, the sight of this weapon alone would be sufficient +to insure his not moving from his seat. I can understand the open +drawers and cupboard; that is explained by the thief's hasty search +for booty. But the torn window curtain and the overturned chairs +are peculiar. + +"Of course there is always a possibility that the thief might have +entered one room while Siders was in the other; that the latter +might have surprised the robber in his search for money or valuables, +and that there might have been a hand-to-hand struggle before the +intruder could pull out his revolver. Oh, if I could only have seen +the body! This is working under terrific difficulties. The marks +of a hand-to-hand struggle would have been very plain on the clothes +and on the person of the murdered man. But this letter? I do not +understand this letter at all. It is the dead man's handwriting, +that we know, but why did not the friend to whom it was addressed +come forward and make himself known? As far as I can learn from the +police reports in G--, there was no personal interest shown, no +personal inquiries made about the dead man. There was only the +natural excitement that a murder would create. Now a family, +expecting to make a pleasure excursion with a friend in a day or +two and suddenly hearing that this friend had been found murdered +in his lodgings, would be inclined to take some little personal +interest in the matter. These people must have been in town and at +home, for the excursion spoken of in the letter was to occur two +days after the murder. Miss Roemer's remark about the dread that +some people have as to any connection with the police, is true to +a limited extent only. It is true only of the ignorant mind, not +of a man presumably well-to-do and properly educated. I do not +understand why the man to whom this letter was addressed has not +made himself known. The only explanation is--that there was no +such man!" A sudden sharp whistle broke from the detective's lips. + +"I must examine the dead man's personal effects, his baggage, his +papers; there may be something there. His queer letter to Graumann +--his desire that the latter's visit should be kept secret--a visit +which apparently had no cause at all, except to get Graumann to the +house, to get him to the house in a way that he should be seen +coming, but should not be seen going away. What does this mean? + +"Graumann was the only person against whom Siders had an active +cause of quarrel for the moment. There was one other man whom he +hated, and this other man was the prosecuting attorney who would +conduct any case of murder that came up in the town of G--. + +"Now John Siders is found murdered--is found killed, in his +lodgings, the morning after he has arranged things so that his +antagonist, his rival in love, Albert Graumann, shall come under +suspicion of having murdered him. + +"What evidence have we that this man did not commit suicide? We +have the evidence of the disorder in the room, a disorder that +could have been made just as well by the man himself before he ended +his own life. We have the evidence of a letter to some unknown, +making plans for pleasure during the next days, and speaking of +further plans, presumably concerning business, for the future. In +a town the size of G--, where every one must have read of the murder, +no one has come forward claiming to be the friend for whom this +letter was written. Until this Unknown makes himself known, the +letter as an evidence points rather to premeditated suicide than to +the contrary. Oh, if I could only have seen the body! They tell +me the pistol was found some little distance from the body. Is it +at all likely that a murderer would go away leaving such evidence +behind him? If Graumaun had killed Siders in a hasty quarrel, he +might possibly, in his excitement, have left his revolver. But I +have already disposed of this possibility. A man of sufficient +brains to so carefully plan his suicide as to conceal every trace +of it and cast suspicion upon the man who had made him unhappy, such +a one would be quite clever enough to throw the pistol far away +from his body and to leave no traces of powder on his coat or any +such other evidence. + +"If I were to say now what I think, I would say that John Siders +deliberately took his own life and planned it in such a way as to +cast suspicion upon Albert Graumann. But that would indeed be a +terrible revenge. And I must have some tangible proof of it before +any court will accept my belief. This proof must be hidden +somewhere. The thing for me to do is to find it." + +The evidence gathered at the time of the death went to show that +Siders had been paid a considerable sum in cash for the sale of +his property at Grunau. And there was no trace of his having +deposited this sum in any bank in G-- or in Grunau, in both of +which places he had deposited other securities. Therefore the +money had presumably been in his room at the time of his death. +A search had been made for this money in every possible place of +concealment among the dead man's belongings, and it had not been +found. Muller asked the Police Commissioner to give him the key +to the rooms, which were still officially closed, and also the +keys to the dead man's pieces of baggage. Commissioner Lange +seemed to think all this extra search quite unnecessary, as it +did not occur to him that anything else was to be looked for +except the money. + +It was quite late when Muller began his examination of the dead +man's effects. He was struck by the fact that there was scarcely +a bit of paper to be found anywhere, no letters, no business papers, +except bank books showing the amount of his securities in the bank +in G-- and in Grunau, and giving facts about some investments in +Chicago. There was nothing of more recent date and no personal +correspondence whatever. The same was true of the pockets of the +suit Siders had been wearing at the time of his death. A man of +any property or position at all in the world gathers about him so +much of this kind of material that its absence shows premeditation. +The suit Siders had been wearing when he was killed was lying on +the table in the room. It was a plain grey business suit of good +cut and material. The body had been prepared for burial in a +beseeming suit of black. Muller made a careful examination of the +clothes, and found only what the police reports showed him had +already been found by the examination made by the local authorities. +Upon a second careful examination, however, he found that in one of +the vest pockets there was a little extra pocket, like a change +pocket, and in it he found a crumpled piece of paper. He took it +out, smoothed and read it. It was a post office receipt for a +registered letter. The date was still clear, but the name of the +person to whom the letter had been addressed was illegible. The +creases of the paper and a certain dampness, as if it had been +inadvertently touched by a wet finger, had smeared the writing. +But the letter had been sent the day before the death of John +Siders, and it had been registered from the main post office in +G--. This was sufficient for Muller. Then he turned to the desk. +Here also there was nothing that could help him. But a sudden +thought, came to him, and he took up the blotting pad. This, to +his delight, was in the form of a book with a handsome embroidered +cover. It looked comparatively new and was, as Muller surmised, a +gift from Miss Roemer to her betrothed. But few of the pages had +been used, and on two of them a closely written letter had been +blotted several times, showing that there had been several sheets +of the letter. Muller held it up to the looking-glass, but the +repeated blotting had blurred the writing to such an extent that it +was impossible to decipher any but a few disconnected words, which +gave no clue. On a page further along on the blotter, however, he +saw what appeared to be the impression of an address. He held it +up to the glass and gave a whistle of delight. The words could be +plainly deciphered here: + + MR. LEO PERNBURG, + "FRANKFURT AM MAIN, + "MAINZER LANDSTRASSE." + +and above the name was a smear which, after a little study, could +be deciphered as the written word "Registered." + +With this page of the blotter carefully tucked away in his +pocketbook, Muller hurried to the post office, arriving just at +closing hour. He made himself known at once to the postmaster, and +asked to be shown the records of registered letters sent on a +certain date. Here he found scheduled a letter addressed to Mr. +Leo Pernburg, Frankfurt am Main, sent by John Siders, G--, Josef +Street 7. + +Muller then hastened to the telegraph office and despatched a +lengthy telegram to the postal authorities in Frankfurt am Main. +When the answer came to him next morning, he packed his grip and +took the first express train leaving G--. He first made a short +visit, however, to Albert Graumann's cell in the prison. Muller +was much too kind-hearted not to relieve the anxiety of this man, +to whom such mental strain might easily prove fatal. He told +Graumann that he was going in search of evidence which might throw +light on the death of Siders, and comforted the prisoner with the +assurance that he, Muller, believed Graumann innocent, and believed +also that within a day or two he would return to G-- with proofs +that his belief was the right one. + +Three days later Muller returned to Grunau and went at once to the +Graumann home. It was quite late when he arrived, but he had +already notified Miss Roemer by telegram as to his coming, with a +request that she should be ready to see him. He found her waiting +for him, pale and anxious-eyed, when he arrived. "I have been to +Frankfurt am Main," he said, "and I have seen Mr. Pernburg--" + +"Yes, yes, that is the name; now I remember," interrupted the girl +eagerly. "That is the name of John's friend there." + +"I have seen Mr. Pernburg and he gave me this letter." Muller laid +a thick envelope on the girl's lap. + +She looked down at it, her eyes widening as if she had seen a ghost. +"That--that is John's writing," she exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. +"Where did it come from?" + +"Pernburg gave it to me. The day before his death John Siders sent +him this letter, requesting that Pernburg forward it to you before +a certain date. When I explained the circumstances to Mr. Pernburg, +he gave me the letter at once. I feel that this paper holds the +clue to the mystery. Will you open it?" + +With trembling hands the girl tore open the envelope. It enclosed +still another sealed envelope, without an address. But there was +a sheet of paper around this letter, on which was written the +following: + + +My beloved Eleonore: + +Before you read what I have to say to you here I want you to promise +me, in memory of our love and by your hope of future salvation, that +you will do what I ask you to do. + +I ask you to give the enclosed letter, although it is addressed to +you, to the Judge who will preside in the trial against Graumann. +The letter is written to you and will be given back to you. For +you, the beloved of my soul, you are the only human being with whom +I can still communicate, to whom I can still express my wishes. +But you must not give the letter to the Judge until you have assured +yourself that the prosecuting attorney insists upon Graumann's guilt. +In case he is acquitted, which I do not think probable, then open +this letter in the presence of Graumann himself and one or two +witnesses. For I wish Graumann, who is innocent, to be able to +prove his innocence. + +You will know by this time that I have determined to end my life by +my own hand. Forgive me, beloved. I cannot live on without you +--without the honour of which I was robbed so unjustly. + +God bless you. + +One who will love you even beyond the grave, +Remember your promise. It was given to the dead. + JOHN. + +"Oh, what does it all mean?" asked Eleonora, dropping the letter +in her lap. + +"It is as I thought," replied Muller. "John Siders took his own +life, but made every arrangement to have suspicion fall upon +Graumann." + +"But why? oh, why?" + +"It was a terrible revenge. But perhaps--perhaps it was just +retribution. Graumaun would not understand that Siders could have +been suspected of, and imprisoned for, a theft he had not committed. +He must know now that it is quite possible for a man to be in danger +of sentence of death even, for a crime of which he is innocent." + +"Oh, my God! It is terrible." The girl's head fell across her +folded arms on the table. Deep shuddering sobs shook her frame. + +Muller waited quietly until the first shock had passed. Finally +her sobs died away and she raised her head again. "What am I to +do?" she asked. + +"You must open this letter to-morrow in the presence of the Police +Commissioner and Graumaun." + +"But this promise? This promise that he asks of me--that I should +wait until the trial?" + +"You have not given this promise. Would you take it upon yourself +to endanger your guardian's life still more? Every further day +spent in his prison, in this anxiety, might be fatal." + +"But this promise? The promise demanded of me by the man to whom +I had given my love? Is it not my duty to keep it?" + +Muller rose from his chair. His slight figure seemed to grow +taller, and the gentleness in his voice gave way to a commanding +tone of firm decision. + +"Our duty is to the living, not to the dead. The dead have no right +to drag down others after them. Believe me, Miss Roemer, the +purpose that was in your betrothed's mind when he ended his own +life, has been fulfilled. Albert Graumann knows now what are the +feelings of a man who bears the prison stigma unjustly. He will +never again judge his fellow-men as harshly as he has done until +now. His soul has been purged in these terrible days; have you +the right to endanger his life needlessly?" + +"Oh, I do not know! I do not know what to do." + +"I have no choice," said Muller firmly. "It is my duty to make +known the fact to the Police Commissioner that there is such a +letter in existence. The Police Commissioner will then have to +follow his duty in demanding the letter from you. Mr. Pernburg, +Sider's friend, saw this argument at once. Although he also had +a letter from the dead man, asking him to send the enclosure to +you, registered, on a certain date, he knew that it was his duty +to give all the papers to the authorities. Would it not be better +for you to give them up of your own free will?" Muller took a +step nearer the girl and whispered: "And would it not be a noble +revenge on your part? You would be indeed returning good for evil." + +Eleonora clasped her hands and her lips moved as if in silent +prayer. Then she rose slowly and held out the letters to Muller. +"Do what you will with them," she said. "My strength is at an end." + +The next day, in the presence of Commissioner Lange and of the +accused Albert Graumann, Muller opened the letter which he had +received from Miss Roemer and read it aloud. The girl herself, +by her own request, was not present. Both Muller and Graumann +understood that the strain of this message from the dead would +be too much for her to bear. This was the letter: + + G.-- September 21st. + +My beloved: + +When you put this letter in the hands of the Judge, I will have +found in death the peace that I could never find on earth. There +was no chance of happiness for me since I have realised that I love +you, that you love me, and that I must give you up if I am to remain +what I have always been--in spite of everything--a man of honour. + +Albert Graumann would keep his word, this I know. Wherever you +might follow me as my wife, there his will would have been before +us, blasting my reputation, blackening the flame which you were to +bear. + +I could not have endured it. My soul was sick of all this secrecy, +sick at the injustice of mankind. In spite of worldly success, my +life was cold and barren in the strange land to which I had fled. +My home called to me and I came back to it. + +I kissed the earth of my own country, and I wept at my mother's +grave. I was happy again under the skies which had domed above my +childhood. For I am an honest man, beloved, and I always have been. + +One day I sat at table beside the man--the Judge who condemned me, +here in G-- in those terrible days. He naturally did not know me +again. I, myself, brought the conversation around to a professional +subject. I asked him if it were not possible that circumstantial +evidence could lie; if the entire past, the reputation of the +accused would not be a factor in his favour. The Judge denied it. +It was his opinion, beyond a doubt, that circumstantial evidence was +sufficient to convict anyone. + +My soul rose within me. This infallibility, this legal arrogance, +aroused my blood. "That man should have a lesson!" I said to +myself. + +But I had forgotten it all--all my anger, all my hatred and +bitterness, when I met you. I dare not trust myself to think of +you too much, now that everything is arranged for the one last +step. It takes all my control to keep my decision unwavering while +I sit here and tell you how much your love, your great tenderness, +your sweet trust in me, meant to me. + +Let me talk rather of Albert Graumann. I will forgive him for +believing in my guilt, but I cannot forgive him that he, the man +of cultivation and mental grasp, could not believe it possible for +a convicted thief to have repented and to have lived an honest life +after the atonement of his crime. I still cannot believe that this +was Graumann's opinion. I am forced to think that it was an excuse +only on his part, an excuse to keep us apart, an excuse to keep you +for himself. + +You are lost to me now. There is nothing more in life for me. If +the injustice of mankind has stained my honour beyond repair, has +robbed me of every chance of happiness at any time and in any place, +then I die easily, beloved, for there is little charm in such a +life as would be mine after this. + +But I do not wish to die quite in vain. There are two men who have +touched my life, who need the lesson my death can teach them. These +men are Albert Graumann and the prosecuting attorney Gustav Schmidt, +the man who once condemned me so cruelly. His present position +would make him the representative of the state in a murder trial, +and I know his opinions too well not to foresee that he would declare +Graumann guilty because of the circumstantial evidence which will be +against him. My letter, given to the Presiding Judge after the +Attorney has made his speech, will cause him humiliation, will ruin +his brilliant arguments and cast ridicule upon him. + +Do not think me hard or revengeful. I do not hate anyone now that +death is so near. But is it inhuman that I should want to teach +these two men a lesson? a lesson which they need, believe me, and +it is such a slight compensation for the torture these last eight +years have been to me! + +And now I will explain in detail all the circumstances. I have +arranged that Albert Graumann shall come to me on the evening of +September 23rd between 7 and 8 o'clock. I asked him to do so by +letter, asking him also to keep the fact of his visit to me a secret. +To-night, the 22nd of September, I received his answer promising +that he would come. Therefore I can look upon everything that is +to happen, as having already happened, for now there need be no +further change in my plans. I will send this letter this evening +to my friend Pernburg in Frankfurt am Main. In case anything should +happen that would render impossible for me to carry out my plans, +I will send Pernburg another letter asking him not to carry out +the instructions of the first. + +I can now proceed to tell you what will happen here to-morrow +evening, the 23rd of September. + +Albert Graumann will come to me, unknown to his family or friends, +as I have asked him to come. I will so arrange it that the old +servant will see him come in but will not see him go out. My +landlady will not be in my way, for she has already told me that +she will spend the night of the 23rd with her mother, in another +part of the city. It is to be a birthday celebration I believe, +so that I can be certain her plans will not be changed. + +Graumann and I will be alone, therefore, with no reliable witnesses +near. I will keep him there for a little while with commonplace +conversation, for I have nothing to say to him. If he moves near +the desk I will upset the inkbottle. The spots on his clothes will +be another evidence against him. I will endeavour to get him to +keep my jewelry which is, as you know, of considerable value. I +will tell him that I am going away for a while and ask him to take +charge of it for me. I, myself, will take him down to the door and +let him out, when I have satisfied myself that the old servant is +in bed or at least at the back of the house. The revolver which +shall end my misery is Graumann's property. I took it from its +place without his knowledge. + +The 10,000 gulden which I told my landlady were still in the house, +and which would therefore be thought missing after my death, I have +deposited in a bank in Frankfort in your name. Here is the +certificate of deposit. + +I will endeavour not to hold the revolver sufficiently close to have +the powder burn my clothes. And I will exert every effort of mind +and body to throw it far from me after I have fired the fatal shot. +I think that I will be able to do this, for I am a very good shot +and I have no fear of death. One thing more I will do, to turn +aside all suspicion of suicide. I will write a letter to some +person who does not exist, a letter which will make it appear as if +I were in excellent humour and planning for the future. + +And now, good-bye to life. People have called me eccentric, they +may be right. This last deed of mine at least, is out of the +ordinary. No one will say now that ended my life in a moment of +darkened mind, in a rush of despair. My brain is perfectly clear, +my heart beats calmly, now that I have arranged everything for my +departure from this world of falsehood and unreality. My last deed +shall go to prove to the world how little actual, apparent facts +can be trusted. + +The one thing real, the one thing true in all this world of +falsehood was your love and your trust. I thank you for it. + + THEODOR BELLMANN, + known as + JOHN SIDERS. + +Joseph Muller refuses to take any particular credit for this case. +The letter would have come in time to prevent Graumann's conviction +without his assistance, he says. The only person whose gratitude he +has a right to is Prosecuting Attorney Gustav Schmidt. He managed +to have the Police Commissioner in G-- read the letter in detail to +the attorney. But Muller himself knows that it failed of its effect, +so far as that dignitary was concerned. For nothing but open +ridicule could ever convince a man of such decided opinions that he +is not the one infallible person in the world. + +But Albert Graumann had learned his lesson. And he told Muller +himself that the few days of life which might remain to him were a +gift to him from the detective. He felt that his weak heart would +not have stood the strain and the disgrace of an open trial, even +if that trial ended in acquittal. Two months later he was found +dead in his bed, a calm smile on his lips. + +Before he died he had learned that it was the undaunted courage of +his timid little old aunt that had brought Muller to take charge of +the case and to free her beloved nephew from the dreaded prison. +And the last days that these two passed together were very happy. + +But as aforesaid, Muller refuses to have this case included in the +list of his successes. He did not change the ultimate result, he +merely anticipated it, he says. + + + + + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Case of the Registered Letter + |