Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1916 — An Innocent Murderer [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

An Innocent Murderer

At the Sutherland Detective agency one morning, when Felix Hazard was summoned into his chief’s office, he was not a little startled on perceiving that his superior was closeted with thevery man of whom he had been thinking as he walked along the hall from one room to the other. It was not so singular that this particular man should have been occupying his thoughts as that he should have been present at the moment. He was one of the city’s foremost physicians, and had never been in the Sutherland offices before. But at the very instant that Hazard’s chief called him on the office telephone he and hisYei-’ low operative, Miss Helen Bertel, were ■ discussing a case which affected the physician, the newspaper accounts of which presented some unfommon, not to say sensational,' features. It was these uncommon features that had attracted his and Miss Bertel’s professional interest —as, Indeed, a great many newspaper stories did, so that they were frequently together in one or the other’s private room. Hazard's surprise, however, was but momentary: he reflected at once that ft must be ,thls same case that had brought the well-known physician to the Sutherlands. Such, as a matter of fact, proved to be the case. "Doctor Hendrix,’’ said the chief, “this is Mr. Felix Hazard, of whom Twas speaking; JusttelThftn all the facts, then we will decide how best to act.” Doctor Hendrix, a dignified man. well along in the sixties, wore a worried, harassed look; but the manner with which he shook hands with Hazard was cordial, and his unmistakable force of character at once prepossessed the detective in his favor. But before the doctor had time to begin his recital the chief added: “By the way, we might as well have Miss Bertel in, and let her hear the story, too; we may need her help.” So Helen Bertel was sent for, and Doctor Hendrix addressed Hazard. "Have you read the published accounts of Mrs. Francis Forsythe’s death?” he asked. .. , . The detective nodded, adding: "Just to save time and needless repetitions, I will tell you briefly just how much Miss Bertel and I know about It. Besides, I want to check up the allegations the newspapers have made. “On the morning of May 16—three days ago—at about 8:30, Captain Forsythe -sent an urgent call for you to come Immediately to his residence In South Edgelake, declaring that he believed his wife to be In a dying condition. You were delayed, and it was nearly eleven before you arrived at the house, only to learn that Mrs. Forsythe had been dead two hours. Or, In other words, she died 30 minutes after her husband phoned. “Yesterday It developed that Mrs. Forsythe’s life was heavily Insured—that is, tor a married woman. There are three policies: One for S6OO, a second for $l,lOO and a third for $16,000, total of $17,700. The first two are payable to her estate; which, I presume, as there are no children, means her husband, "The third, and largest, however, Is In your favor —$16,000. "These particulars, I believe, cover everything that has.been given to the public through the columns of the press.” When the speaker had finished, Doctor Hendrix nodded. “That about covers the case as the public knows it,” said he. “and the facts are true as far as they go. You see, I trust, how they reflect not alone upon my reputation as a physician, but actually stigmatize me with the perpetration of a crime. I don’t know all the truth myself; that’s where I want your help, because I believe <ny name can be cleared only by unearthing every detail bearing on the case. “But I do know more than the public has as yet found out. For example, the poison that caused her death was strophanthus.” Hazard s eyes narrowed as he regarded the speaker. n “Strophanthus,” he soberly repeated. “Nobody but a physician would be likely to have access to a drug so deadly." » “That is true. Besides, it is one unfamiliar to the laity. So dangerous and uncertain is its action that it can be prescribed only with the greatest caution, and when the diagnosis indubitably indicates that it is required. It sometimes is used instead of digitalis in certain affections of the heart, when it would not be safe or advisable to prescribe the latter drug. I administered strophanthus to Mrs: Forsythe only the night before her death ’ Hazard gave him a queer look. •Administered it, you say?" he caught at the word. “You- mean that you did not trust to a written prescrip- * "Precisely. The dose had to be determined by a careful examination at the time it was taken. Mr. Hazard, I will stake my reputation as a physician that the strophanthus 1 gave Mrs. Forsythe did hot cause het death,” Doctor Hosbdria solemnly ■ and earnestly averred.

Taken from the .. Notebook of an Old Detective

by Charles Edmonds Walk

And With Names and Places Hidden Published as a Proof That Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction

This story throbs with reai- ■ Ism In the word's narrowest ’ meaning. It is a faithful ren- : dering of an authentic experl- > ence in the career of a high ■ official of a detective agency ; whose npme is a household : word throughout the English- • speaking world. Real names of ; persons and places are some- ; times disguised, in ail other re- ’ spects the amazing, often thrill- » ing, always gripping facts are • recorded Just as they happened.

1 For some moments Hazard sat quiet and thoughtful, then once more fixing his regard on the physician he asked: “If Mrs. Forsythe was afflicted with heart disease, how did she obtain so much life insurance?” . The doctor’s eyes lighted with a strange gleam. “Ah,” he breathed, “now you an touching upon a crueial point. The newspapers declare that I have been in attendance on Jber ever since the family took up their residence in South Edgelake. That is not true. She required no medical attendance. She was in perfect health up to something like two weeks previous to her death. “I have, though, been a frequent caller at her home, because I have known Mrs. Forsythe since she was a miss of twelve. Until her father died he and I were the closest of friends, and in this connection, I believe I can account for the policy in my favor. “Mrs. Forsythe's maiden name was Fernbrook—Ethel Fernbrook. The Fernbrooks were an upper-class English family, but poor. In 1872 George Fernbrook, youngest son of the family, married and went to South Africa. He prospered there, and there Ethel—the only child of their union—was born. In 1885 Mrs. Fernbrook died and George returned to England with Ethel, settling in London. It was there that he and I were thrown together, and a friendship grew up between us so close that we trusted each other absolutely.

“I needn’t go much into detail. I was a young sawbones with just enough practice to scrape along on, but I had something over six thousand pounds, which represented my patrimony. George. was interested in various enterprises, but needed more qapital. I had no inclination to abandon my profession, but was not averse to increasing my inheritance, so I turned this over to him. For a time things prospered—prospered amazingly, for he was a natural-born money maker. I had no reason to regret our partnership until a sudden and wholly unexpected business and financial depression caught him, and barely enough was saved from the wreck for him to return to South Africa and try to develop his interests there. “To make a long story short, George would send me various amounts from time to time to apply upon what he stoutly maintained was his indebtedness to me. Finally he had repaid nearly half of the six thousand pounds. Then he died. “Now I was in total ignorance of the sixteen thousand-dollar policy; but it is accounted for now. In her poor way Ethel tried to repay me the balance of the six thousand pounds—probably a charge put upon her by her father.

“It was in 'Africa that Ethel met Captain Forsythe— a—gay,—dashing blade, I suppose, who captivated her girlish I know very little about him. She was a very beautiful woman, but their married life was not altogether happy I don’t know just where the trouble lay, but I suspect that Captain Forsythe believed that Ethel would bring him a considerable fortune and that the disappointment embittered him and estran o ’ed tkem. “I might as well say candidly, since it seems to bear upon the case, that Forsythe has always been extremely reticent respecting, his past. He is a well-bred Englishman and unquestionably was at some time an English army officer. That he has seen much of Africa the trophies that adorn the whqle house testify. There are skins and mounted heads and elephant tusks, to say nothing' of a large collection of native weapons—spears, Zulu assegais, war clubs, bows and arrows and the like. The captain is an interesting talker and cgn be a most charming entertainer. He’ll talk about his collection of weapons, his hunting experiences, and so od; but any question touching upon hie private life or the army will make him shut up like a clam. ‘‘Naturally I never questioned Ethel, and abe never volunteered any information concerning her husband’s history; but there was something that saddened her and that clouded his “Now here's a factor that I consider of considerable importance. As I said before, Mrs. Forsythe’s health was excellent until about two weeks ago, at which time she complained to me of symptoms that caused me to give her if thoroogk exuninatios. I vm considerably surprised when I discovered un-

mistakable signs of a cardiac trouble, because, owing to its nature, it should have manifested itself to me long before ever she complained. “When I told her husband he appeared greatly distressed and questioned me closely regarding every feature of the trouble. I assured him that it was not necessarily serious and that I hoped for a Speedy recovery. I was honest ir this statement AS might be expected, Captain Forsythe is overwhelmed by his wife’s sudden and unexpected end —and, I might add, I can’t account for it myself.” When the speaker had finished Hasand said: “Your statement of the case has been quite comprehensive and understandable, doctor. The inquest, I understand, will not be held until after an autopsy, a time for which has not yet been set. I suppose I can get you at your office during hours?” “Yes. I shall hold myself in readiness ' for any summons ' from you. may I ask, will be your first step? I want the cloud removed from my name as soon as possible. Spare no expense.” ~~ It was with an abstracted air that Hazard saw the doctor depart, and in the same preoccupied fashion he went to his private office and shut himself in, ignoring Helen uttterly. Among the equipment for his caTI iug Felix Hazard possessed a thorough knowledge of poisons, but respecting strophanthus his memory was a trifle hazy. There were certain associations connected with it upon which he wanted to refresh his mind. Alone in his room, he went directly to the well-filled book shelves that stood beside his desk and, after running rapidly over their titles, selected one. It was a standard work on toxics. But by and by he closed the volume, replaced it upon its shelf, and slumped down in his desk-chair with a wearied •air, where he sat brooding many minutes. After a while resolution came to him and he reached for the telephone. He called'for the coroner’s office and in a moment had that, official on the wire. After disclosing his identity he said:

“I want to be one of your deputies this afternoon. lam going out to Captain Forsythe’s in South Edgelake. Miss Bertel is going with me as an undertaker’s assistant.” "See here, old top," came back over the wire, “what have you got wise to?” “A whole lot that you don't know and will never find out unless you do as I say. But I tell you this: If I don’t mlsa my guess a mile the case will be cleared by night—without an autopsy, either.” “Well, I hope to heaven you can. It’s creating a dickens of a stir owing to the prominence of the people concerned, and if you can get Doctor Hendrix out’ of it it will not hurt me any/ I suppose you have your depntycoroner’s badge. Good. Go to it, and may the gods shower blessings upon your head.” “Don’t make any move till you hear from me,” was the detective’s parting injunction. . i Hazard then dispatched a cable to the Sutherlands' London branch, after which he summoned an operative to whom he gave a card bearing Capt. Francis Forsythe’s name. “Find out all you can about this man’s financial condition and report to me as soon as possible,” wer? his Next he hastened to Helen’s room. She was busy at her desk, but he unceremoniously broke in upon her labors. “You are to be a lady undertaker this afternoon,” he announced. Her fine, clear gray eyes surveyed him soberly. “Oh, am I!” she said calmly. “And what are you?” > Never but once had he seen her otherwise than steady and self-pos-sessed; a dreadful night when he had thought her drowned, and his frantic, unnerved condition when he beheld her alive and well had moved her to tenderness. ' “Now, see here, Helen,” said he in a tone of expostulation, “don’t look at me in that way if you don’t want me to forget thyself. No mortal man could look into your eyes as they are now and- think of anything else.” He broke off. The eyes continued to look at him, unwaveringly; but an expression all at once came, into them that brought Hazard’s senses back to the normal with a jerk. Helen Bertel was the only person in the world who had the power of so effectively dashing his spirits—or of raising them again. Noting his crestfallen look, her manner once more swiftly changed. A smile seemed to kindle behind her lovely countenance, grow, then all at radiating her features, dimpHng her cheeks, and making the gray eyes quite irresistible. “You needn‘t tell me what you are,” she said; “I know. You’re a big silly. Sit down and tell me all about it” . Re rumpled bis hair with a savage, despairing gesture and dropped into - ■ a" «• • _ /■. *. -icr.

the chair that faced her across the desk. Then abruptly be began telling het about bis plans for the afternoon. It was quite two o’clock before the answer to the cablegram came. Almost at the same instant the Operative who had been sent out to investigate the captain’s financial condition entered and handed Hazard a sheet o( paper which was covered all over with figures. The detective studied this before opening the envelope, then passed it over to Helen with the comment: “Just what I expected—up his ears in debt; bank balance overdrawn; home mortgaged. That must be a pretty nifty place up at South Edgelake to secure $25,000.” Be turned his attention to the cablegram. In sending for Captain Forsythe's record he knew that if there were any black marks against it before the man came to America, the London office would have his career card-indexed and filed where one’s hand might be laid upon it at a i oment’s notice? He was not disappointed. He read aloud to Helen: “Forsythe—Francis Ethelbert Vivian, 4th son Hon. Francis Forsythe and Edith (formerly Lady Edith Merton), of Tilbury Wells, Kent.; born June 24, 1869. Record bad; dismissed from Oxford; father bought commission in army; served India 1889-1900; stationed Durban and Cape Town 19014; cashiered for cheating: mining broker Johannesburg till 1906 where prospered by crooked deals. June, 1909, married Ethel Fernbrook; both left Africa for America September, 1910. Record ends.” "Ends! Well, I guess not,” was the reader’s grim comment. "My dear Helen, let’s hurry to South Edgelake and See whether we can’t add something to it.” The Forsythe home was, in good truth, a pretentious place, situated close to the lake in the-midst of ample, well-kept grounds. Hazard and Helen encountered no trouble in gaining admittance to the house, though they were informed by the maid who let them in that the captain was so overcome with grief that he had shut himself in his room and

denied himself to all callers. Plainly the maid was very reluctant to dis* turb him. This suited Hazard’s plans admirably. “Tell Captain Forsythe,” said he to the girl, “that I fully appreciate the circumstances. I shall give him ample time to compose himself and prepare for an interview later on in case it should prove, necessary for me to bother him at all. Meanwhile, I can be of some assistance to Miss Bertel. . . . There don’t seem to be many servants about,” he concluded irrelevantly. “No,” explained the girl, “Captain Forsythe dismissed them all yesterday—all but me t the cook, and a worn an who does the rough housework. I reckon he means to close the house and go away.” Hazard and Helen exchanged glances. They placed a different interpretation upon the captain’s conduct in dismissing the servants, and it must have required a regiment of them, to keep up so showy a home. The house was built upon a generous scale. The walls were adorned with all sorts of barbanc instruments of warfare and of the chase. There was more than one magnificent tiger and lion skin upon the polished floors, besides the skins of numerous other beasts that Hazard did not know. If all these were-the results of Captain Forsythe's individual skill With the rifle, then indeed he must have been a mighty hunter. When the detective expressed an interest in the trophies upon the walls, the maid saw no reason why the deputy coroner should not gratify his curiosity by looking at them, inasmuch as he revealed —unexpected by Helen—a surprising knowledge of the many different kinds; a knowledge, asserted the maid, that would have pleased the captain at a less distressing time, awvy with the girl who was to show her where the unfortunate lady’s body lay, and Hazard, for the time being left to his own devices, called after her, “It you need me I”1 be amusing myself with Captain Forsythe’s interesting museum.” Scarcely bad the two disappeared

than Hazard’s manner underwent a sudden remarkable change. His eyes gleamed between two. narrow slits as, one after another, he rapidly inspected in turn each grouping of weapons. Each was identified by a small tag describing its nature and telling the rggrsn from which it came, it was to these tags that Hazard directed his attention as he moved through the large room to the left and then around to the right to a much sipaller room that had been fitted up as a sort of lounge. Here the savage arsenal was of a cruder, more primitive type, consisting mostly of small arrows with firehardened woodeh points. Of a sudden he halted abruptly. Before him was a cluster of perhaps a dozen and arranged with them were four bows of as many different models. "Arrows from Somaliland,’ he read upon the tag. He whipped a lens from his pocket, and one after another he subjected the point of each to a scrutiny that was galvanic in its quick, nervous in* tensity, j In a few seconds he drew back with a sigh, then moved quickly back to the reception hall as the sound of a step on the stair struck his hearing. It proved to be only the maid, however, who came to inform him that the captain would see him if he insisted, but if the reason was not imperative, he was so utterly broken and unstrung that he hoped he might be excused. “All right—very well," returned Hazard, doubtfully. "Perhaps later will do. I’ll wait for Miss, Bertel.” He remarked a change in the maid’s manner and surmised that she had been instructed not to lose sight of him as long as he remained in the house. And why should this order have been given—to a coroner’s deputy? Had she mentioned his interest in the arrow collection ? At this juncture Helen came down the long, wide hall, • She cast a doubtful side-glance at the girl as She drew near; but the latter merely regarded her with curios-

ity with which was mingled an expression of frank admiration. Turning her head so that the maid could not see her face, she formed with her lips the word, “Nothing.” For a moment Hazard stood bowed in thought, then, rousing himself, from a pocket he produced a wooden toothpick, and with his penknife fashioned a small, smooth splinter. Disregarding the maid, he handed this to Helen without a word. Then, apparently dis-, missing the matter from his mifad, he fell to inspecting his nails as if anyway they were the only things in the, world worth while. Helen hestitated a moment, as If waiting for him to speak; but he merely smiled and remarked: “Whenever you’re ready; we’ll go.” They exchanged a long look, then Helen turned and went back the way she had come. Slowly the minutes dragged. And thus possibly five minutes passed. Of a sudden Hazard’s attention was caught by two distinctly different sounds. Somewhere in the house a door had opened and shut —softly, one might say stealthily. This he recognized as the door to the mortuary room, and knew that Helen was coming back again. But the other sound he located as emanating from the small weapon room, where he had been so interested in the arrows from Somaliland. It, too, was stealthy—in point of fact, so slight a sound that when it was not repeated Hazard directed his whole attention to Helen, who once more appeared, "her bright countenance overspread with an Unusually serious expression. The maid was watching him curiously, and so did not see Helen hold up the middle finger of her right hand. But she did observe Hazard’s short nod of recognition, and wheeled sharply, to bestow upon Helen a look that bristled with suspicion. This silent little play, however, was rudely and startlinglyinterrupted. There was the crash of a pistol shot and the fall of a heavy body to the floor. With a muttered imprecation, Hazard dashed through the larger room and into the lounge where the Somaliland arrows were. Clasping a revolver in his right

hand, Capt. Francis Forsythe lay upon the fiodr, dead, • - ...■. ', t . •’•• • • • • “But what I can’t see,” Doctor Hendrix was saying—they were all gathered in Felix Hazard's private office—the doctor, Helen, Hazard and the cfil®-—"w'hai’ I eafa’t see is how you arrived at your conclusions so quickly. It is amazing—astounding*" ‘ Really, it was all very simple, Indeed one of the simplest problems I ever was called upon to solve,” Hazard returned modestly. “As a matter of fact, I knew the answer within five minutes after you left me this morning. All that Miss Bertel and I did this afternoon was to confirm—or, rather, find a means of establishing the conclusions. "There were three factors, which, taken together, made the conclusions inevitable. These were the fact that you had administered strophanthus to Mrs. Forsythe the night before she died, that her husband had a collection of African wedpofis and that there were three insurance policies—though he never suspected that .the largest, upon which she had been paying premiums, was doubly beyond his reach. His thoughts and sensations must have been horrible when he realized that the murder of his wife had produced so paltry an amount. “But before moving in the case, I satisfied myself upon two aspects of the affair that strengthened my position: I obtained the man’s record, and I obtained a full statement of his bankrupt condition. The rest was merely a matter of happening to be possessed of a scrap of uncommon knowledge." Hazard fell silent, and sat musing a moment before taking up- the thread of his recital. "It’s trite to repeat that whenever a crime is committed, no matter how shrewd or intelligent the criminal, or how carefully every factor that might leave a clue pointing toward detection it provided against, some detail is invariably overlooked; the one thing Justice is sure to pounce upon to bring down retribution upon the perpetrator. “This case is a pointed Illustration of the truism. It is probable thaCForsytfie had no idea that strophanthus has an established place in materia medica; it is possible that he didn’t even know the drug by that name; he did know, however, its deadly properties and that under the various names of inee, Poison of Pollonias, or Komba, it has from time immemorial been used by many African tribes to poison their spears and arrows. Especially in the region round about Somaliland is to be found the deadliest of all the genus, the strophanthus hispidus, from the seeds of which is obtained a glucoside so fatal that an elephant wounded by one of the little arrows impregnated with it will drop dead before it can run ten miles. “But today I made one blunder: when I»let the maid carry to her master information of a deputy coroner’s., surprising interest in hia collection, while at the same time there was a strange woman with the dead, albeit she was an undertaker’s assistant” "How did you guess about the splinter?” asked the doctor. "Well, that touches upon another instance of the diabolical deliberation with which he went about murdering his wife. In the beginning he made a solution from several of the arrowtips, but the poison doubtless has lost much of its potency through age and long exposure to the air. At any rate it was not strong enough to produce fatal results when administered internally, But I found one arrow from which a splinter had recently been cut, and when Miss Bertel reported that the body bore not the slightest mark, I, by signs—for the maid was watching us closely—conveyed the message to her that she look under the finger-nails. She found the splinter under the third nail of the right hand —probably placed there while Ms wife was in a fainting or unconscious state.” By and by Helen Bertel and Hazard were alone. They sat in silence, each busy with his or her own thoughts. The minutes ticked away until fully a quarter of an hour had passed, when something caused Hazard to glance up quickly at the girl’s sweet face. He was surprised to see her lovely eyes suffused with tears. “What, Helen—what is it?” ha asked solicitously. ——— She met his look. “Oh, it’s so sad, Fhlix. That poor, poor woman. Even in death the shadow of a great sorrow lies upon her face. And she was so beautiful." Hazard considered thisViiew of the affair, then — "I must confess that I was giving her but scant consideration. 1 was thinking of the doctor.' May the Lord keep him from eveff putting two and two together." “Why, what do you mean?” "Can’t you see? For two Weeks Forsythe has been giving his wife ths age-weakened poison from the arrowheads in some sort of solution. That is what produced the symptoms oi heart disease. This method failing, he tried the splinter. The dose of strophanthus that Doctor Hendrix administered, adddd to the other bolson, was in reality an what finally killed her. is an innocent murderer, and being innocert he must never know.”

He Whipped a Lens From His Pocket and, One After Another, He Subjec ted the Point of Each to Scrutiny.