Show T RU E TIVE STO h va van ba 0 bublic u the man who pell fell through the earth JOHN OHN OCONNOR a gauger going to his place of employment was seen crossing london bridge brid ge one morn ing ng but after that disappeared as completely as though he had fallen through the earth what added to the mystery was the fact that oconnor was very well known along the london docks me ile was an expert tn in his line and never without a lob job that such a man could drop out ot of sight eight without leaving a single trace behind him seemed to be incredible yet tet the records of the police de apartment part ment show that thousands of men and nd women disappear every year and are never heard of afterward the authorities in the course of their investigation made a tour of all the hospitals and morgues but without success the case became famous and it was wag generally referred to as the mystery of the man who fell through the earth inspector fox was designated by scotland yard tard to follow up the investigation vesti gation and lie he plunged into it with a great benl of enthusiasm ills colleagues taunted him with the hopelessness of the quest saying that nothing would ever come of it but fox was not discouraged in the least ile he determined to use his brains as well as his feet so after reviewing the whole affair in his bis mind he put to himself this query who was the woman in the case then he proceeded to answer it by personal investigations along this line lie he learned that in his younger days oconnor was looked upon as a good catch among the ladles ladies in the course of his inquiries the detective found that oconnor had been smitten with a pretty swiss girl named raux she had once been in the service of the duchess of sutherland and thought well of herself oconnor paid her constant attention and eventually asked her to marry him she did not positively refuse him but postponed a definite answer in the meanwhile oconnor discovered that she was also receiving attentions tent ions from samuel manning an employee of the great western railway the rivalry continued tor for quite a while and between the two men pretty marle managed to have a pleasant time eventually however the girl married manning oconnor was disappointed but he ha took ills his defeat very philosophically tie ile was a good natured man with a happy disposition and be continued his friendship with mr and mrs mannine at this stage of the investigation detective fox made an important discovery it was that on the august evening of the day he disappeared oconnor had made an engagement to take dinner with the mannings at their home in minerva place bermondsey Bermond sey two of his friends met him ns as he was crossing london bridge on his way to keep his appointment they never afterward saw him allie the next move of the detective was to interview mrs manning she expressed surprise when hen told of the disappearance of the gauger but was quite willing to tell all she knew she said he had called at their house on the evening in question had dined with them and left early we came to the door to say goodby to him she declared and his big last words were 1 I will go home now and get a good nights sleep for I 1 have a hard bard days work baft re me tomorrow 11 A week later fox returned to the manning home and found that it was empty ue he made a thorough search of the premises and in the cellar noticed that some of the tiling had been moved from the floor ue ile dug down into it and found the dead body of gauger oconnor then he made a search of rooms and found a package of love letters from mrs manning eventually mr and mrs manning were arrested in edinburgh A trial praed that they had jointly murdered oconnor for his money gal both of them were sentenced to death |