The crime of the century

Front matter

Class ~PZi 3

Bnnlc .Q?n Caj

Copyright

Chapter I. A Mysterious Case

“ T AM delighted to see you,” exclaimed Mr. Mitchel, entering his library, and advancing to meet his visitor, with hand outstretched in cordial greeting. “ Here I have been over to the other side, and, in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, in fact everywhere, I find that our fame has preceded us. As soon as a man learned that my name is Leroy Mitchel, he would ply me with questions about the great New York detective, Mr. Barnes. And now, within twenty-four hours after leaving shipboard, here you are in propria persona , to answer for yourself. Well, tell me, what is the latest, the newest, the most mysterious case which may be troubling your waking hours, and disturbing your slumbers with nightmares of escaping criminals, and crimes undiscovered ? There is some great case on hand I am sure, or you would not look me up so quickly. But of course, you have solved it, eh ? You do not need any hints from

THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY.

me?” Here he nudged Mr. Barnes playfully, while a sly twinkle enlivened his eye.

“ No ! I cannot say that I have solved it yet,” replied Mr. Barnes, releasing his hand from Mr. Mitchel’s hearty grasp, and resuming his seat. “ In fact, if I had done so, I suppose I should not be here.”

“ Just so ! ” said Mr. Mitchel with a dry laugh.

“ I saw your name in the published list of arrivals by the Paris” continued Mr. Barnes, “ and as I knew that the case with which I am occupied would interest you, I thought I would look in and talk it over with you.”

“ And incidentally get my assistance, eh ? ”

“ Nothing would please me better than to have your co-operation,” said Mr. Barnes eagerly. “ May I count upon it ? ”

“ That must depend upon the nature of your case. What is it ? A common police-court affair, which has baffled the uniformed force, because the criminal, by chance or design, has managed to enshroud the facts with a thin veil of mystery ? Or have you really run across a classic crime ? ”

“ It will prove to be the crime of the century,” said the detective with a touch of enthusiasm in his voice.

“ The crime of the century ! ” repeated Mr. Mitchel musingly. “ You speak without fully weighing your words, Mr. Barnes. A common fault. Every word in the language has a definite meaning, and no two words, unless they be names for the same thing, express the

A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

same shade of thought. If this be true of a single word, how much more so must it be, when we unite several into a phrase ? This one, ‘ the crime of the century,’ means more than you have perhaps intended to convey. The crime of the century has not been committed by one man. It is too stupendous. It is the problem to which I, myself, have given much study, without having as yet reached any ultimate conclusions. No, Mr. Barnes ! Your case is not the crime of the century. Mine is. Some day I will tell you about it. When I have traced it to the end, you know. But now about your case ? ”

“ Mr. Mitchel,” said Mr. Barnes, “ I do not know what crime it is, to which you have given so much attention, and which you choose to consider so great, but if it be more startling, more mysterious, or more difficult to unravel, than the one upon which I am engaged, then I shall look forward with keen expectancy to the time when you can give me the history of it.”

“ I may perhaps talk it over with you some day ; I may even avail myself of your assistance. But tell me of your affair. It may have a connection with mine, after all. I should not be at all surprised.”

“ It is possible. Crimes are not uncommonly interdependent.”

“ Ah ! You have discovered that, have you ?”

Mr. Mitchel said this so quickly, that Mr. Barnes was puzzled. He gazed at Mr, Mitchel intently for a mo-

4 THE CRIME OF TIIE CENTURY.

ment, and then replied, without having fully comprehended his companion’s meaning.

“ Why, yes,” said he. “ It is certainly a fact that one crime may lead to another. But what point do you make of that ? ”

“ An important one,” said Mr. Mitchel, with a wave of his hand towards his guest. “ I find that I am in the presence of a detective with brains enough to look beyond the immediate case in hand. For surely, if you have found by experience that crime breeds crime, — pardon the harsh phrase, which however, exactly expresses the truth, — it follows that you cannot hope to fully comprehend a specified case, until you have searched back into the past, to learn whether it be merely a result of previous wrongdoing, or an initial departure from rectitude. You agree with me ? ”

“ Oh, I suppose so, theoretically at least ; though you are carrying me deeper than a practical detective would go.”

“ Oh, very well, we will go no deeper.” Mr. Mitchel dismissed the line of thought with that incisive manner so peculiar to himself. “ I did not know how far you would care to go ; we will return to the shallow waters of regular detective work, by all means. Pardon the digression, and proceed with your narrative.”

Mr. Barnes felt slightly annoyed. He realized that Mr. Mitchel was depreciating his talents, placing him on the plane of the common thief-taker, a plane which

A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

he knew that Mr. Mitchel considered a very low one intellectually. Nevertheless he did not, even now, know wherein he had offended. Was it not true, that the practical detective should confine himself to the immediate facts connected with the crime in hand, if he hoped to bring the wrongdoer to justice, rather than to make speculative pilgrimages into the remote past ? He still believed so, yet it annoyed him to find that he was evidently at variance with Mr. Mitchel on this point, for though he thought that gentleman egotistical in the highest degree, nevertheless he fully appreciated his intellectual capabilities. He would now have preferred to discuss the question, but it was not easy fb reopen the subject, Mr. Mitchel having dismissed the topic. This made him irritable, as he often was when in Mr. Mitchel’s society, despite the uniform courtesy with which he was always treated. Mr. Barnes therefore found himself obliged to confine himself to the relation of his case.

“ Well then,” began the detective, after a pause, “about a week ago, a most startling murder aroused the interest of the community. The victim was no less a man than Matthew Mora, a many times millionaire, prominent in Wall Street banking circles, as well as in Fifth Avenue drawing-rooms, and conspicuous for his many deeds of philanthropy.”

“ How was the killing effected ? ”

“ In a most brutally horrible manner. The old man was clubbed to death. This is not speculation, but fact.

THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY.

The murderer did not deign to hide the weapon, but left it upon the floor near the body. This was shrewd, because, had he taken it away from the house, its discovery might have been a clue which would have led us to a solution. But as it appears that the bludgeon was one of a collection of Indian implements of war, owned by Mr. Mora, its presence in the bedroom tells us nothing.”

“ Oh, yes, it tells you something,” interjected Mr. Mitchel. “ Every known fact connected with a crime, tells its quota of the truth, and is therefore more important than the theoretical or circumstantial evidence, which may be gathered.”

“ Of course I know that,” said the detective testily. “ What I mean is, that the weapon left in the room, having belonged to the dead man, gives us no direct clue to the identity of the murderer. It does, however, tell us something, and it may even, however indirectly, point to the right man. For example, it is positive that the murderer did not bring this club with him. From this postulate there are two possible deductions. First, the man may not have intended murder when he entered the house. Second, he may not have entered the house at all.”

“ Ah ! Now you are doing better, Mr. Barnes,” said Mr. Mitchel with a pleasant smile. “ You mean that the criminal may have been an inmate of the house, and therefore did not need to look for a weapon, being familiar with those at hand, eh ? ”

A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

“ Exactly ! And this is the more plausible of the two theories, because the Indian weapons were kept locked in a case in the library, on the floor below Mr. Mora’s bedchamber.”

“ This case was not broken open, I suppose ? ”

“ No. But as the key was commonly in the lock, this counts for nothing. The condition of the' cabinet, however, together with the weapon used, furnishes us with another safe deduction. As you know, it is often difficult to decide whether a crime be premeditated or not. In this instance it was certainly planned.”

“ This is interesting. How do you prove it ?„”

“ The cabinet, as I have said, is usually locked, though the key is left sticking. On the morning after the murder, the door was found open. Thus it is evident that the master of the house had not himself taken the club to his room ; for, being a man of exceedingly orderly habits, he would have locked the door. No, the murderer, knowing that a weapon of this kind was to be had, took it from the cabinet, but in his excited or abstracted frame of mind, he might naturally have left the door open.”

“You said awhile ago, Mr. Barnes, that the more plausible theory is, that the criminal was an inmate of the house. This may be, but do not overlook the possibility that, coming from outside, and planning against detection, the murderer may have chosen this weapon for th6 very reason that it would divert the attention of a detective, away from himself, and towards some other

THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY.

man. He would need of course to have knowledge of the existence of the Indian weapons, and of the fact that they were within easy reach.”

“ He would also have needed the opportunity of entering the house, and of escaping unobserved. Now, in the first place, the only way of getting into the house is through the front door, a large storage warehouse occupying all of the street at the back ; and secondly, Mr. Mora had a special night-watchman patrolling the front of his premises.”

“ And this night-watchman saw no one go in, or come out of the house ? ”

“ On the contrary he saw a man do both. This man entered through the front door, using a latch-key, some time between one and two o’clock. He came out again about an hour later. But the watchman recognized him both times. It was Matthew Mora, Jr.”

“ The son ? ”

“ The only son ! ”

“ And heir, I suppose ? ”

“ And heir. The only child. Mother dead.”

“ That is suspicious ! ”

“ Very ! ”

“ Anything else against the young man ? ”

“ He returned to the house at five o’clock in the morning, differently dressed, and ”

“ Differently dressed, you say? ”

“Yes. Of this the watchman is positive.”

A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

“ That ought to be significant ? ”

“ I should say so. He went in, but within a few minutes he emerged again in great excitement. Passing the watchman he exclaimed : ‘ My father has been murdered ! Let no one enter the house until I return ! * ”

“ And then ? ”

“ Then he went directly to the police station, and reported the case.”

“ A clever young man ! ”

“ You will continue to hold that view, the more you hear. Two policemen were detailed to return to the house with him, and the central office was notified, so that within an hour experienced detectives were on the spot. One of these, my friend Mr. Burrows, was kind enough to stop for me, and ask me to accompany him. So that I was present at the first official investigation.”

“ You were fortunate.”

“ Yes ! I always dislike to take up a case after others have moved things about, and tramped over the scene of the tragedy. We found the room in great disorder. Furniture overturned ; the rugs about the room in tangled heaps, where the struggling men must have kicked them about ; bric-a-brac strewn on the floor and broken ; in fact, every evidence to prove that the old man had yielded up his life only after a desperate encounter with his assailant.”

“ Was he a powerful man ? You said he was old ? ”

“ Old is a figure of speech. He was something over

IO THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY.

fifty, but he had been an athlete in his youth, and could give a good account of himself in a boxing-bout at any time. If his son was the murderer, the men were evenly matched. He is not so heavy as his father was, but he is sinewy, and has muscles of steel. I found Mr. Mora’s watch under the bed, where it must have been knocked from the dressing-table. The fall had caused it to stop, and the hands indicated seven minutes of two, agreeing with the time during which the watchman testifies that young Mora was at home.”

“ Yes,” said Mr. Mitchel, “ but do not go too fast. The watch may have run down. It is uncommon for a good watch to stop, merely because it falls to the floor.”

“ Both of your points are good, in theory,” replied the detective. “ But neither applies in this instance. If a watch runs down, it cannot be started again without winding. By merely shaking this one I set it going, and to make assurance doubly sure, 1 let it run for an hour, when it was still keeping time. Next, though it be true that most watches would not be so easily stopped, this one, for some reason, is very sensitive to a blow. I tried the experiment of pushing it from the table to the floor, and at every attempt I found that it would cease its movement.”

“You certainly have been thorough on this point,” admitted Mr. Mitchel, “ and I presume we may consider it established that the first attack upon Mr. Mora occurred at or near two o’clock.”

A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

II

“ During the hour when the watchman claims that young Mora was at home,” added Mr. Barnes.

“The watchman’s testimony must be remembered, certainly,” said Mr. Mitchel.

“ Of course,” continued the detective, “ the first theory in these cases is naturally that of the midnight marauder, in search of plunder. But a careful examination showed that nothing had been abstracted, though various articles of furniture, and especially Mr. Mora’s writing-desk, had been ransacked. I ought to mention that an open package containing several thousand dollars in notes, was conspicuously in view in a small drawer, and was untouched.”

“ Untouched ? Is not that merely a presumption ? Why may not this shrewd criminal have taken half, or two thirds, of the cash found, leaving the rest, as he did the club, to baffle detectives ? ”

“ I have said that Mr. Mora was most methodical. We found a note-book in which was entered, from time to time, a detailed account of his worldly possessions. This included a statement of the cash balances in various banks, and the cash on hand. Under a date two days previous to the murder, is an entry, giving the balance of cash on hand, which is only about a hundred dollars more than the amount of the notes found in his desk.”

‘VWellthen, if not money, what did the murderer seek, in the desk which you say was ransacked ? ”

THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY.

“ Why not the will ? ”

“ Ah ! Of course, the will. Do you know that there was a will ? ”

“ His lawyers declare that they made one for him recently ; within a month, in fact. He bequeathed one half of his fortune to his son, and the other half was distributed among various charitable institutions.”

“ What was the total ? ”

“ It is estimated that the fortune amounts to eighteen millions.”

“ One half of which is nine millions,” mused Mr. Mitchel. “ Enough, quite enough to be considered an incentive for murder. A legal incentive, I mean.”

“Yes. The will cannot be found, and if not found, Charity loses, and young Mora gains, nine millions. Now we come to another point. We, that is I, found blood-stains upon the young man’s clothing.”

“ Did I not understand you to say that he came back to the house in different clothing ? ”

“ That could only apply to his outer garments, for of course the watchman could not observe whether he had changed his underwear. The blood-stains were on the wristband of his shirt, and on the sleeve of the right arm.”

“ Did you call his attention to this ? ”

“ I did. For an instant he seemed disconcerted, but quickly recovered himself. Then he claimed the stains got on his shirt when he examined his father’s body, and was feeling his breast to see whether life was extinct.”

A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

“ He is a clever young man, Mr. Barnes.”

“You said so before, and I told you that you would not alter your opinion. But I next asked him to explain how it happened that blood was upon the wristband, while none showed upon his cuffs ? ”

“ Of course. A good point. He might have changed his cuffs, when he changed his other clothing. That was your idea was it not ? How did he answer ? ”

“ He said he had been away from home all night — ”

“ Away from home all night ? ”

“ So he claimed. And that returning about five in the morning, he had first thought of retiring, and had thrown off his coat and removed his cuffs, when, a light burning in his father’s room attracted his attention thither, as it was the old man’s habit to sleep in darkness. Thus he had no cuffs on, when he examined the body, but put them on again before going out to the police station.”

“ He is shrewd, Mr. Barnes, very shrewd. This is a point of which I have often thought. The prosecution says, ‘ Prisoner, there is blood upon your garments ! ’ Prisoner foolishly replies, ‘ That is not blood, but rust, or if blood, it is chicken blood ! ’ Then the expert stalks in and testifies, * It is blood ! human blood ! * But this young man disarms the prosecutiou at the outset. He says , 1 Yes, it is blood ! The blood of my father ! ’ Then he explains plausibly how it happens to be upon him.”

“ Ah ! yes, very good, Mr. Mitchel. But if he were really innocent, why should he wash, or attempt to wash the stain off, and why should he stop to replace his cuffs, if he were really in a hurry to report to the police ? ”

“ So ! He had attempted to wash away the blood. That was an error, I fear. But they all make mistakes. How did he answer these questions, that is if you asked them.”

“ Yes, I asked them, and he replied.” Mr. Barnes spoke rather reluctantly. “ He said that he had noticed the blood upon his wristband, and washed it off because he thought some fool of a detective might conceive the idea that he had killed his father. That he had put on his cuffs, because he was in too great a hurry to stop to change the shirt, and he had hoped that the cuff would hide the fact that the wristband had been washed.”

“ By heavens, Mr. Barnes, a brilliant answer. A very brilliant answer.” Mr. Mitchel laughed heartily.

“ It may be brilliant,” retorted Mr. Barnes, “but it is false. And I will prove it so, if it be so.”

“ If it be so ! Ah ! Wisely added, Mr. Barnes. If it be so ! ”

“You, of course, agree that the crucial point in this affair is the conflicting statements of the watchman, and young Mora. The watchman asserts positively, that he saw the son enter the house and leave it again. He has been in the employ of the deceased for several years,

A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

and was acquainted therefore with his son. Yet the young man stoutly denies that he was at home before five o’clock in the morning. Evidently one of these men is lying.”

“ Pardon me, Mr. Barnes ; but you say that one of the men lies, because you think that young Mora is telling a falsehood. You do not mean that by any possibility the watchman is lying. Yet it may be that Mora tells the truth, and also that the watchman believes that his own statement is accurate.”

“ You mean that the watchman was perhaps mistaken, and that it was some other person who entered the house ? ”

“ Precisely so. It is possible.”

“ Possible, yes. But far from probable. It seems that Mora has been wearing a peculiar brown plaid suit of late. The material he procured in Scotland, and it is not likely that another bit of cloth like it could be found in this city. The watchman was familiar with this suit of clothing, and swears that the man who entered the house that night wore that suit of Scotch plaid. Yet, in the face of this positive assertion, young Mora denies that he wore that suit at all that night, and suggests that the murderer, after committing the crime, may have dressed himself in this suit, wearing it over his own clothing. He claims that the watchman may have been mistaken about what was worn by the man going in, though he seems to have been quite accurate about what was worn by him who came out, for, oddly enough, the plaid suit is missing.”

“ And young Mora says that the murderer may have taken it. Well, it is a very believable proposition.”

“ Believable,” returned Mr. Barnes, hotly. “ Yes, that is the worst of it. They have believed it. The coroner’s jury, I mean.”

“ Ah, matters have proceeded as far as that, have they?”

“Yes! The full account of yesterday’s proceedings is in the morning paper. You may read it.”

“ No,” said Mr. Mitchel. “ I would rather have you read it to me.”

Mr. Barnes turned, so that the light from the window fell across his paper, and read the following :

“THE MORA MYSTERY.

“the inquest brings no solution.

“ THE SON ACQUITTED.

“ The inquest in the Mora case ended yesterday, the jury bringing in the usual commonplace verdict, ‘ Died from wounds inflicted by parties unknown.’ Thus, despite the many hints that the District Attorney and the detectives had discovered damaging evidence against young Matthew Mora, nothing has been proven. ' The evidence offered was entirely speculative and theoretical, and the jury rightly declined to cast a stain upon the young man’s character, upon such flimsy testimony.

A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

The main points upon which the police relied, were the discovery of blood upon the young man’s sleeve, and the positive assertion of the watchman that he had been seen dressed in a plaid suit, known to be his, entering and leaving the house at or near one o’clock. The first point Mr. Mora easily disposed of, by openly admitting that the blood was that of his father, and that he had been smeared with it while examining the corpse, to ascertain whether the heart might not be beating. He denied the alleged visit to the house, as claimed by the watchman, and candidly confessed that he did not know what had become of the missing suit of clothing. He suggested, however, that the murderer may have worn it over his own blood-stained garments, when leaving the house, a theory that was evidently acceptable to the jury. This might not have been, had not Mr. Mora satisfactorily accounted for his time during the night. It seems that he has been taking an interest lately in the East Side slums, and has been studying the labor problem. On the night of the murder he attended a ball at Apollo Hall, hoping by associating with the inhabitants of the section, to gain a closer insight into their needs, and thus, perhaps, later on to apply the money which he knew would be his, and which has now come to him so unexpectedly, towards alleviating the distress of the poor slum dwellers. In support of this story he produced two witnesses, who testified that he was at Apollo Hall throughout the ball, dancing with some of the fair

THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY.

Jewish maidens, and making merry with the men. They declare that he did not leave for home until about four o’clock, which tallies nicely with the time of his actual arrival there.”

“ Too nicely,” growled the detective. “ I need not read further. The reporter seems to be making an effort to whitewash young Mora, for the rest of the article is devoted to sounding his praises. You may look it over later if you like.”

" Thank you. I will, ” said Mr. Mitchel, taking the paper. “ Now then, what can I do for you in this case ? What course will you pursue ? ”

“ Well, the police put forward the theory that Mora is the murderer. The Coroner’s Jury has virtually knocked their theory into a cocked hat. I have noted that in cases of this sort the police make little further effort, and by degrees the details are forgotten by the public, who seize upon the next crime served up to satisfy their appetite for the sensational. Thus the murderer escapes. But in this instance he shall not escape. If it be young Mora, I will bring the crime home to him, in return for his insolent language to me. If it be some other person, why I shall be equally well serving the ends of justice by discovering the truth.”

“Yes, but beware, Mr. Barnes! For the first time since I have had the honor of your acquaintance you allow personal feeling to enter into your investigation of a case. Young Mora has been insolent to you, but that

A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

would not justify you in weaving a web of circumstantial evidence around him, which will blast his reputation forever, even if it do not bring him to the gallows.”

“ I hope I am above that sort of thing,” said Mr. Barnes, flushing deeply. “ I am sure ”

“So am I. Sure that you are above it. You will do your best to discover the truth. Only, a personal spite is a dangerous element in such investigations. I merely call your attention to the existence of the viper, that you may crush it with your heel. But you ask me to aid you in this affair. It may surprise you to hear me say that I cannot go into the case as you desire.”

“ I am more than surprised, I am sorely disappointed,” said the detective.

“ Oh, it is not so bad as that,” added Mr. Mitchel, quickly. “I may be of some use to you. You see the truth is, Mr. Barnes, I am not exactly a detective by trade. I mean no offense, but I cannot look at these cases from your standpoint. With you, a crime committed, indicates that there is a criminal at large. That criminal must be discovered, imprisoned, perhaps hanged. That is your work. It is a work with which I can have no sort of sympathy.”

“ But I have thought that these investigations interested you.”

Mr. Barnes was much astonished at Mr. Mitchel’s words.

“ Ah ! Indeed, the investigation of a mystery is inter-

THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY.

esting to me. Especially where the use of brains, and more particularly of brains against brains, enters into the work. But the study of a murder case, with the single object of hanging the murderer, is not attractive to me.”

“ Surely, you do not mean that murderers should go unpunished ? ”

“ No, perhaps that would not be a wise course. But to me it seems that the arrest, conviction, and hanging of a specified murderer, is a matter of absolutely no importance ; and of no effect in abating the tendency towards crime, which is such a conspicuous characteristic of mankind. As I hinted awhile ago, when you said that I went too deep for you, I can almost believe that it is of more utility to study the causes which have made a given crime possible, than to capture and kill the criminal. We think that we have thus gotten rid of him. We have put him away ; out of the world. We have ended his career. Ah ! But have we ? Can we be sure that his crime will not breed another crime, as a direct sequence to the one for which he is punished ? And do we know whether his punishment will advance or check the tendency towards crime which he has left as a herb tage to his offspring ? These are questions of more interest to me, Mr. Barnes, than the killing of the man who killed Mr. Mora.”