Show I too DETECTIVE STORIES J t INVOLUNTARY EVIDENCE Copyright 1921 by th the the- Wheeler Syndicate I Syndicate Syn Syn- Inc To see a bo boy or of 14 14 wandering around the streets of ot a large Jarge ely clad in in- only a pair of pajamas is a sight sufficiently out of ot the ordinary to cause a crowd to collect at once But add to this fact tact that the boy is muttering over and over the single phrase My master has been murdered My master has been murdered murdered mur mur- dered and there is little reason to WOnder won won- der at the excitement manifest in the streets of ot Liverpool on a winter morning As it Detective Inspector George Gibbins was among the first to catch sight of the tho boy but the moment he ho approached him it was apparent that the lad Jad was dut ut of ot his mind as the result of or a wound which he lie had nau sustained on the side of ot his head Summoning an ambulance Gibbins saw that the boy whom boy whom one of ot the b standers stand slanders ers recognized as John Needham an em em- of ot Edward Moyse a bookseller In Redcross street street was ws sent at once to a hospital while he made his way nay to the house where Mojse Moyse lived and had his place of business Here a scene of ot horror horror horror hor hor- awaited him In the center of ot the bedroom lay MOY Moyse Moyses es e's s body the sKull caved in by a blow from some heavy Instrument instrument In Instrument In- In strument while around the furniture had been overturned books had been pulled from their shelves drawers had been ransacked and even the tho carpet had been turned up at the corners Gibbins familiar with the gossip of or the byways of or the city was at once able to reconstruct the motive for the crime It had been current gossip for a number I of or years past that Moyse was a miser and that he ho had a a. large sum of money concealed on on the premises The murderer murderer mur mur- derer taking it for granted that this was true had evidently slain the old man and had then indulged in a vain search for the treasure which existed only Inthe In Jn Inthe the minds of ot busybodies in the tho neighbor neighbor- hood Mojse Moyse had had no money The shop was far from prosperous and the proprietor had a hard time making both ends meet But he lie had come to his death Just as surely as if it he ho had had thousands secreted behind the long rows of or old bO books N Nfl i fl I riI n. n n I had had either come e to to his w h-w employers employer's ploy V as assistance as- as I or had been discovered red by the murderer during the latter's search of the house He alone appeared to to have the key leey to the puzzle so so after a thorough search of ot the book booksellers bookseller seHer's s homp which failed to bring any clues to light Gibbins went to the hospital and asked for tor a re- re pott as to the boys boy's condition Hes lies very badly off ott the Inspector was Informed Some Sorri shock I severe coupled cou cou- coupled pled with the blow on the side of his head and the subsequent loss Joss of blood has deranged deranged de de- de- de ranged h his m mind and It is a question s rh 11 g whether r re he e will e ever recover e Do you i wish to see him Though he feared there was little hope of ot learning anything anything- definite Gibbins went to the ward where the boy was beIng being be be- I ing cared for tor and c sat for tor or hours beside his bed trying to catch some coherent I phrase that would give him a lI clue to the Identity of the man responsible forthe for tor the tragedy Young however only repeated the phrase which c appeared tg m rf to have been burned into o his brain r My ry y master has been murdered My master has been murdered As lay day at after r day y slipped past without I I I any change in his nis condition or me the ti d ue- ue vel of any ariy concrete clue In connection connection connection con con- with with the tho crime itself Gibbins be began began began be- be gan to fear that the murder murde would have to be listed among the unsolved mysteries mysteries mysteries ries of ot the city Even the thc most careful inspection of the Mojse Moyse house failed to bring to light anything thing but a few tew foot toot footprints prints too prints too blurred to be useful and useful and the weapons weapon which had been used by the criminal Moyse l it appeared had been I killed with a heavy poker h was found half concealed beneath one of or the overturned pieces of furniture while the boy had been struck with a hatchet which his had snatched up from a nearby table Neither of ot the two weapons however bore the print of ot any finger marks so It was proba probable le that the intruder had worn gloves in order arder to prevent prevent pre pre- prevent vent leaving any marks by which he ml might ht be traced Finally when all other roads roadS' appeared to be closed Inspector Gibbins m called I eth 1 I upon 0 the hospital authorities with the request request re- re I quest that they perform an operation I upon the boy and see sea whether r It would I not be possible In this way to restore his mind at least for a short time There I appeared to be no hope of his natural recovery rei re- re i covery so the operation was agreed to to and despite the fact that the odds were heavily against his getting well Needham Needham Needham Need- Need ham pulled through At the first moment that the ph physicians s u 14 It- It It- It nt A t hA bed r be-r and n asked iC the lX boy r for or r t de-t details of what i had occurred on n the night that he and Moyse had been attacks Everything seems to be very hazy II said ld the lad slowly Nothing Is clear lit t t all I t seem to remember a man man man-a a stranger stranger coming In to See sec Mr 1 Mojse Moyse early In tho the evening They talked to- to etl er for quite a while I think But I Iao IO flo ao O not remember that the tle mans man's name Was mentioned Then I went to to bed and pd nd th the next thing thing- I recall was waa waking up to find a a. man the man the same stranger stranger stranger-in In ray my room I must have asked him what he Le lre was doing doing- there for I remember m that l r oie he told me It was none none of of my business s Then Ihen I 1 saw a bloodstain on his shirt shirt shirt-a a bIg bs red clot of or If blood I 1 cried out that my master had been murdered for th that t was I the first thought that came into my mind 1 and he struck at me and and that's ana that's allI all alii I 1 remember Are you you sure sure asked Gibbin Think back Think hard Cant Can't you recall something else some else some det detail B no matter how trivial it may appear that appear that will give I the police something to work on an on Theres There s nothing more declared the boy boj Nothing at all except yet except jet there was one more point 01 t Whenever h the h stranger stranger stran stran- ger talked I his mouth u fn twitched rt itched e upward d dat at the side the left side giving him a look that reminded me of ot the sneer neer on onI I the tho face o of the d devil to ed Almost t before e e the h boy OY had the words wo-ds out BS of t his mouth GIbbing Gibbins had started for I the door Walter Miller the man with the twitching mouth was well vell known to the Liverpool police though they had not connected him in any way with the Moyse case Within an hour he was under arrest arrest arrest ar ar- ar- ar rest and the detective discovered the re remains remains re- re remains mains of a blood stained shirt hidden in the cellar of ot the house where he lived On the day that the Jury returned a verdict ver ver- dict diet of or guilty of ot murder In the first degree degree de de- dc- dc gr gree e Gibbins officially closed the case with the comment that the arrest of the murderer had been due far tar more to the advance of ot surgical science than to the efforts of ot tho the police police For For as the in inspector inspector inspector in- in added if it the doctors hadn't restored re restored restored re- re stored Needham's Needham s memory wed we'd never have gotten anywhere |