| Show f lWHO KILLED CLARK And Was the Murderer a Man or I a Woman CHICAGOS MYSTERIOUS CASE Clark Was Young Drnsglst of Mamy Amours and Was Shot Through the Heart Icttles Letters r I RACK tho woman 1 wo-man 1 was the I J sharp direction the M French chief of detectives isv A de-tectives gao to his bloodhounds when y a great crimo had boon committed It was trenchant iTho woman in tho coo is a feature of i < < innumerable mur t L 1 ers Tho woman jjf1 is perennial potent 0 ti f and usually on guled in mystery It is tho case this time as BO often before Charles Frederick Clark a young druggist of Chicago and n man whoso habits seemed so exemplary as to command admiration from all who know him was shot and killed late in tho night of Feb 21 as ho was about to close his store His body was discovered by a man named Lo Vin who lived with his family above the drug store Tho body was that of a handsome young man with brown fair blue eyes and a remarkably fair comp com-p on Though slender ho was broad of stet and powerfuL There were no evidences of a struggle in tho place whero the body was found If thero had hem any struggle strug-gle tho broken bottles bot-tles and glasses in tho pharmacy e would have told tho tale But none of these woro disturbed dis-turbed Clark was lying flat on his back shot through the heart when his a body was found The object of tho assassin was not robbery Kono of DRUGGIST CLAm tho money in tho cash drawer or in tho pockets of tho dead man had been touched Ho had apparently been killed for revenge Tttm ho had some warning of his fato was ev > ent by his nervous manner on tho day and evening of tho murder He was so disturbed dis-turbed in mind that as ho remarked to a friend he could not trust himself to put up several important prescriptions and postponed post-poned the work until the next day But ho evidently had no idea that his fate was so soon to overtake him This was plain from tho position of the body Tho murderer had given him no warning but had simply advanced upon him and shot him Clark only uttered a suppressed cry wiich was heard by the above mentioned Lo Vin and died diedTHE THE SMITH VOJIAJ IVho killed him Cherchez la femme But Clark was never known ssa man of intrigues in-trigues True ho was very popular with his women customers and occasionally visited two or three whoso acquaintance ho had ado at the store But as has been since revealed Clark kept his own counsel n coun-sel in regard to his liaisons of which its > it-s now made clear ho had many C V Two ojys after Clarkes murder a woman named Let tie Smith and her husband Wilbcrt Smith wero arrest f ed on suspicion of 4 i being implicated in f the crime Mrs Smith is a tall J finely formed woman wo-man nearly 30 IETTIE sitrriL with a determined handsome faro nnd extraordinarily brilliant eyes Sho was living in a well furnished flat with her husband who had been traveling auditor for tho Chicago and Eastern Illinois railroad but had lost his position Mrs Smith was suspected because in Clarks trunk were found many letters somo desperate others despairing from numerous inamoratas inamo-ratas The bulk of these missives were in tho one handwriting feminine one of the schoolgirl school-girl typewith numerous blunders in spelling spell-ing and with a rather pronounced contempt for punctuation These woro addressed Sweetheart as a rule and they bore tho signature Lettie or a mere Lnever the full name generally no date and gavo few indications of the writers personality or whereabouts All tho letters wero what aro commonly termed right or wrong love letters let-ters Some of them were signed Irs F 3JU somo Mrs Gordon but tho most important im-portant ones which told a plain story of sin and suffering and secret meetings wero tho Lettie letters Mrs Smith was obliged to confess that she had written these letters Ono dated back to July 8 IBS It was short f1 r e = tO 1 = = J II 1 t U iJ y r 0 r 1 I jlf r 1 I a I O I i I J I o 4 1 IIt r ItR > m VmEBE THE BODY WAS FOUND Why dont you come to see met I feel awful trn bled about it I cant go on the street You Key why Come at once sure LETHE In tho samo handwriting but undated was tho following SWEETHEART Como over by 1 p m or get killed I will sere you this afternoon rain or shine LETTIE I I Another from the same source read Tho governor Mrs Smiths husband Is gone to Danville Will not be homo till 12 p m tonight Cant you get away this evening for a while to go with me for a walk Come over for a minute now or at noon or run in at Browns by 1 Send answer an-swer LETTIE Again she wrote Come over after you close the store I win promise to let you steep if you cant stay all night come over for a few minutes LrrnE Dont stay away on account of anything Do you understand A more lengthy epistle Is as follows SWEETHEABT Am sorry I could not get you something better but have no money The cake Is Mrs Websters If you had gave mo what I wanted U would havo got a ring but that wouldnt be a present since you would pay for it yourself Can you get away this evening 1 If BO como over to Mrs W as she is going to give a prl l party When you go out to supper bring So of Florida water I want to give it to Webster and you can send anything you phto her by me I will meet you at supper at l restaurant LnrriE V < Jios < Another letter bearing no date is tho following fol-lowing Jin CLARC Aro you going away sure or arc you fooling I want to knew for I may take it Into my head to send you a present next week and if I should die dont you think youwould like to know of it I am feeling better but far from well Tis impossible for me to get out and so you ECO I wont have a chance to say goodby unless I can get you over hero I dont think it will be long now for I am in pain nearly all the time Tis all I can do to keep up Tis best for mo that I do I came home for the reason that I could not get any good place to be sick in It makes me feel as if I was doomed to die and all for what I will tell you Because I made a fool of myself for a man that has no heart or feeling You know what I am going through every day and you laugh at it and think tis fun Bo careful my sweet lover that it dont como homo to you as you said onetime one-time to me My heart is dead It makes little difference to mo if I live or not Goodby GoodbyLETTIE LETTIE It is a story full of conflicting emotions and plainly full of intriguo falsehood and deceptions which this package of letters told WAS LETTIE THE ASSASSIN It is quite evident that Lettio had become be-come angry with Clark Tho strongest link however that has been forged around Mrs Smith is that several persons saw her lurking about Clarks pharmacy on tho night of tho murder When she was arrested tho detectives detec-tives found in her trunk a Smith A Wesson revolver of 33 caliber a similar weapon to tho ono with which Clark was shot ANOTHER TIIASE OF TilE CASE Although it is generally believed that Mrs Smith committed tho crime another story which conflicts with this theory is told by a young man named William Mapes Mr Mapes who is a clerk in tho offices of tho Chicago Burlington Quincy railroad was at the theatre on the night of the murder and shortly before 1030 oclock started for his home Ho was walking rapidly along tho north sido of Harrison street on which was Clarks pharmacy when ho noticed four men standing sidewalk opposite Clarks store conversing earnestly and now and then glancing toward tho store Mapes paid no attention to the men thinking that they were waiting for a street car and proceeded on his way homo Ho had scarcely gono 100 yards when ho beard tho report of a pistol Tho sound seemed muffled and tho young man supposed it came from somo distance but was startled a moment later by seeing three men running rapidly toward to-ward him ono of whom carried a revolver in his hand Mapes at thotimo was standing in the shadow of tho houso and was not seen by tho men who wero running in the road Hastily concealing himself as best ho could ho saw the trio dart down the street and run west as rapidly as possible As tho last of the men turned the corner ho stopped for an instant and thrust a revolver which he had been carrying in his left hand into his hip pocket When passing tho four men at Harrison Har-rison street and Hermitage avenue Mapes had noticed that one of them woro a silk hat whilo another wore a shabby brown overcoat and seemed slightly round shouldered One of tho men who ran away was wearing a silk hat whilo tho ono who carried tho revolver resembled tho man whom Mapes had noticed to bo round shouldered This story adds another phase to a remarkable remark-able case Who killed Clark |
