Show true detective ive story by y varce vance wynn w e public ledger adger the flaw in a perfect case TIEN william harrison 0 of anen england disappeared and no knowledge could be obtained of his whereabouts everybody in that part of the country came to the conclusion that he had bad mot met with alth foul play lie ile tied had gone away on a rent col feeling tour and it was known that he was sure to have a large sum of money in his possession A mon month th went by and still there was no trace of the missing man the sole topic of discussion in those parts revolved around the query what has become of william harrison Ban lson it was during one of these ilsc discussions ia that john perry cume came to the front and amazed the authorities with a remarkable story tie he said flint his brother RI richard chard perry had murdered harrison Hurr lson for his money and that the result ot of the crime was his enrichment to the extent of 10 john and richard perry lived with their mother in a little h house ouse on the outskirts of the v village I 1 I 1 la ge john was not men trilly strong indeed there were some who regarded him as half witted richard was physically and mentally strong but bill his reputation for integrity was not good tie ile hod had been caught in some questionable transactions and it was hinted that he would not hesitate at murder tor for the sake of money the magistrate of the district sent for john perry and the fellow repeated his story tie ile was examined at length but stuck to his orl gInnI statement the only addition he made to it was that he and his mother were present when richard had assaulted and rl rI bribed bed richard harrison ue he was unable to say what had become of the body because he had run rua away while the robbery was in pi egress ahe two men and the woman mere ere placed on trial and were siere inadequately der defended ended they were given the impression that hilt if they pleaded guilty to robbery their lives would be spared cut but at the next term of court sir robert tyde placed them on trial for murder they were at a terrible disadvantage because by confessing to robbery they had admitted that they were potential murderers in addition to this there was a mass of circumstantial evidence against ti john there was only one flaw in what might be regarded as an other otherwise x ise perfect case and that was the failure of the authorities to find the body sir charles turner who presided at the first trial had refused to accept the indictment for murder because of this very flaw and it was that which had caused a change in ID the indictment to robbery but the second judge was not so jealous of the old english law lie he took the ground that harrisons nonappearance after six months was proof positive that he had been killed so the family was convicted and executed soon after the execution one of the residents of Gloucester shire received an anonymous letter hinting that william harrison was still alive then came another story that lie fie was in turkey all of these rumors were treated as mere gossip until three years later when the door of the local inn was opened and william harrison arrison II entered the room ile he sald said that after he be had collected the rents ns as usual he was vas beset by a gang of thieves and the cash taken from him but the toughs tough did not stop at mere robbery they took him to a wayside inn and invited him to take a drink upon the success of their enterprise lie ile took it and in a little while became unconscious they had given him drugged liquor after this a gang had carried him aboard a vessel when he recovered consciousness he found he was on his way to turkey he had lived there for two years when he was ash asked ed why he had not communicated iab his friends frien dg he said that he feared that they would not believe his story and as he was unable to make good the money that had been stolen from him he had delayed his bis rebern as long ions ns as possible since that day over two centuries ago no man las heen tried for murder in anglani first proving the murder service |