The San Francisco call. [volume], November 27, 1910, Page 11, Image 11

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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The Sail Francisco Sunday Call
Continued from Front Page
•w-ith Charles, the butler* had received
from his employer a valuable gold
-Ratch as a tribute to his herolEm in
shooting at a burner, frightening him
«way a:id saving: the family from seri
ous loss and possible injury. At that
xime.tne newspapers made wide coin
rrfent en Matlock.s heroism. His wage
ivas increased. He became a valued
member of the household.
•"The chief listened to Falkner's story
Wltli eager interest. Every nerve In
Ms bo.iy seemed on edge. H e was the
p^ort sleuth. One would never hay«
Imagined him the same quiet individual
who found his delight in poking over
th* old volumes in a second hand book
store or Jn studying the philosophers,
lie was a different "Ttind of student
\u25a0row. At once he proceeded to ihvestl
pate the case on his own account. What
deductions he had made while listen
ing to Falkper's tale he did not make
known. No description can properly
portray the exactness, the finesse, the
accuracy, with which every corner,
crevice, room, was examined.
His first step after the Investigation
r»f the premises was to obtain a full
statement from each member of the
family and from every servant. All the
Morlos practically agreed. It^ ap
peared that Charles, the butler hero,
hn<3 been awakened from his sleep at
about 3 o'clock In the morning by a
etrang-e <sound. He listened — the sound
teemed to come from", some part of the
front parlor. Charles s=lept in the base
ment. Arming himself with a re
vplveV, he touched the electric button.
It failed to 'work. Finding a con
venient candli Charles lighted it and
crept silently, cautiously, up the stairs
leading to the next floor. Huddc-nly. as
\u0084he proceeded, he came face to face
\u25a0with the ir.ti*udc-:\ There was a short,
desperate struf^le. TaMes and chairs
were overtumV-d. Two distinct pistol
Bhots tvero heard. The family wan
aror.scd arid rushed to the parlor floor.
There 13.r the intruder — dead, shot
through the heart. Charles, the butler,
who hud attain proved himself a hero,
\u25a0was dangerously wounded by a bullet
that had plowed through his neck.
This was the substance of what seemed
to me a most thrilling tale.
Outside In the strec-t, In front of the
Falkner residence, one of the police
men had found a bundle wrapped in an
eld nev.spaper. It contained what
• proved to be the underwear of the
flead burglar, of cheap red flannel ma
terial, such as usually worn by tho
yeggmen. This bundle the chief
guarded clostly and requested me to
Initial for further identification.
In all of the statements of those vl
fcally Interested, Butler Matlock was
the hero of the occasion. Her© was a
man to be proud of, and again th«
newspapers, when the affair reached
the news rooms, in their flaring head
lines blazoried forth Mattock's won
derful heroism. He became the man
of the hour. The Falkner family, their
relatives and connections, friends, and
tlie servants who were the hero's co-
Trorkers in the Sutter street house, all
"vrorshiped at his bedside as if it had
' been a shrine.
I was glad to have seen a hero In
real life, but when I mentioned this
to my chief he merely grunted in a
noncommittal way. He went right on
with his Investigations, that day of
the murder, as if he had something far
more complicated than a case of he.ro
to pursue. Calling me to his side, be
grunted his instructions for me to
rhake a memorandum of everything he
\u25a0 «lld and said, every examination he
' made — a tremendous task, truly, for
ttie Intricate workings of that master
mind constituted a task of immense
-proportions. There were no Sherlock
Holmes deductions in -what . the old
' chief did or said. He formed hts
theories rapidly, quickly, with the in
tuition that is rare, and once formed,
those theories were not easily to be
-shaken. He was adamantine In ad
hering to his deductions unless direct,
incontestable and irrefutable evidence
proved the contrary. The chief care
fully examined the scene of the crime,
..where the -burglar and the butler had
• their fatal scuffle. I tried to fathom
the conclusions at which this wonder
ful man had already arrived, but" I was
completely at sea.
Walking toward the kitchen he no
ticed a small crevice cut in the kitchen
door. Demonstrating with his own
hand the impossibility of reaching the
key or bolt, "Inside Job," he growled.
"That door was unlocked from the
Jnside, not the outside." he said.
The door leading to the hallway from
.the kitchen had been jimmied In a
manner that would not aid in opening
It. Besides the brass bolt and plate
had no scratch or other sign of having
been- forced- Even to my unprofes
sional mind these conditions presented
Xinusual theories. \u25a0,*.--
The electric wires were snipped In
the kitchen and the gas turned off at
the meter under the front, steps, the
first cut leaving whoever had done it in
total darkness. The telephone wires
had also been cut upstairs, proving
beyond a scintilla of doubt that the
burglar had been thoroughly familiar
with the premises before operating.
To me the mystery had deepened.
Methodically, carefully,- "the chief pro
ceeded. Strange and peculiar were the
fantasies that evolved themselves in
his receptive brain.
What was all this for? From the
statements of those examined, and the
•vldence. it appeared to me just a clear
case of a asperate burglar caught red
handed by a courageous servant. I
heartily admired the bravery of the
man. and was anxious for the interview
with him. which, must surely yield a
great story.
Why all this absurd investigation?
I cogitated. Has the old chief lost his
cunning?. Why, the story of all con
cerned was absolutely plausible.
Matloc.k was certainly a hero.
our investigations led us
to tlie room in the basement occupied
by the hero the morning of the trag
etlr. The bed was _ unmade- \u25a0*, Tka
clothes of the hero, his shoes, socks
and underwear • were thrown untidily
npon the floor. Another searching In
vestigation wai made. I noticed that
the chief .first examined the bed
clothes, his huge eye glasses tilted
half way on his nose as gingerly he
lifted one of the soiled sheets.
"Here, -"man," he yelled to, me, a
gleam of Interest: In hi3^ half shut
eyes, "do you see "this? There's ver
min ln'thia bed. Make a* distinct note
of that. It will be / most important.
Dan," he ordered, turning to one of his
trusted detectives, "you- go right down
to the morgue, examine* the dead body
closely and report at. once to me In
what condition you find the body, par
ticularly as to' vermin." -'
A big pile of newspapers \u25a0 lay in a
heap on a rough shelf directly above
the butler's bed. The chief directed one
of the men to take the stack of papers
down and place them- conveniently
near him. I watched him as' he sat
there, scanning each Issue, every nerve
intent, opening the sheets, , following
them, taking the pages In rotation arid
then laying the paper aside. This te
dious performance continued- for two
solid hours. ;
VI watched him, noted -every "change
of expression, every deep/drawn breath
as the weird scrutiny proceeded. Little
did I realize or guess his ultimate'ob
ject. Hardly a sound escaped him. He
and I were alone in' the -"room. At last
I noticed his eyes dilate and: a convul
sive throb pass through hls'ljody. He
breathed a" long, satisfied. sigh of utter
relief..' :.._ -\u25a0 _. .\u25a0
Of what was all this indicative? Tho
suspense, the agony of watching?/ This
long, tiresome .examination was get
ting upon- my -already overwrought
nerves. .1 wanted to. shont, -to scream.
to force my chief to divulge to me, not
the theory, bnt the .Ifelt he
had already «arrlved at. -. "Take 'this
newspaper," :he : ordered, quite gently,
after lnscribing-hls Initials on' It; "placa
your mark of identification upon it.
Letter it 'Exhibit; A.'" Thai, chief^ot
up and sauntered- ouL
Secretly I opened .the , mysterious
newspaper. "Nothing peculiar i about
this," I ejaculated/for^ all that I noticed
was that \u25a0 there ' were four pages i miss
ing. VGues3 the old man has gone
dippy," was really my : thought '\u25a0••:
' From /the bottom .to the top of the
house the dreary yet thorough exam'r
ination proceeded until we {reached j the
door of the room where the hero' lay, so
desperately wounded. /At ; last! Now
for the climax! 'Now we should -cer
tainly reach a satisfactory: conciusion.
Intuitively I knew the fold ! chief would
never leave the premises •without :' a
heart to heart talk -with 1 the hero," even
though the latter wore ) ln* possible • ex
tremis. \u25a0 . ; . , \u25a0 . . '.
Falkner, ill at ease,. , nervous, \u25a0• his
hands and ( body twitching, .followed
the chief to the only " room* that door /of
which was closed. ' ' \- '\u25a0 • '\u25a0' '••\u25a0'
"So." .said the chief, >.,"he's in here, is
ho? Groaning to beat the band-r-I hear
hlin '" V* Ie Placed \u25a0 his hand on the door
knob": preparatory, to enterlrigi), "I want
no one to; come In here .save; my
secretary^, and, myself. •' I want to talk
to this; man alone. . 7- :
2''Chlef,""Bald; Falkner;; his lips ' Qtiiv-;
ering with/ nervous \u25a0 tension, "doctoi^s
orders are imperative (that \u25a0 Matlock '.Is
not to ; be disturbed or talked to« today.'
I^can't-ietlyou lri." >
"What!" yelled; .the chief, : 'not > let
me.in? /Doctor's .orders?' '^heTlaughed
satirically.* "Doctor's orders beldamnedl
I'm .cryinjc' to see^ihis :injLured;bero,lf ;l
y stay h«r« r all : night .- and all :/ day^ to-J
morrow." . \u25a0' ;.-/ . -.-\u25a0 / ,; / \u25a0 '-, -. -__. - ; "/
* ''Chief," ': returned.^Fialkner, ,"I 'want
to "aid ;'\u25a0 youv.ally I : oan.j but V you : simply
can not .expect me? to disobey - inipera- \u25a0
tlva instructions. f Walt— l'll /,tell you ;',
what Ell ! do-7-r 11 call up ; the doctor and
he* may 'countermand; orders." ':
1 "Orders J or -no orders, doctors 0 or no
; doctors,? I'm VErolng; in -thera'lf, I; have
to kick' ttia door down. \\ But- go. on > and
phon e , and { I'll wait. .;*• You'd : better.'- get '
t thaj doctor's [permission,": for neither you
nor thV 'doctor, nor.the. whole
can prevent me" from -seeing the .fel
•lOW'.". \u25a0 '..'\u25a0 \u25a0\u25a0\u25a0 ...-,."•*. i / : \u25a0.\u25a0.\u25a0.".'... ;w\ 7
Faikner, realized that , the : chief in- \u25a0
tended doing what jhe I said.
There was; no possible misconstruction.'
- of his intent. An army of regulars'cbuld
not; have prevented^ the, "outcome. In
a;; short '-.time.'; Falkner^. returnedV with :
the "desiredV permission. v. ,' ,\ .; . - \u0084
\With no degree of gentleness or quiet
did [the ; chief . push open the door.. The
heavy/odor of chloroform permeated tha
A : uniformed nurtse ,wa»
'busy! at ;.the medlolne^ tablei, preparing .
: sonic,. concoction.. ,Hero .. Matlock May'
groaning * In . his bed,^ his J entire '••\u25a0bodyX
\u25a0', and ; hands | covered by the, blanketa : up --'
;v'tb"«hla> neck.' A white bandage; 'was
: wrapped f skillfully 7 'around -his vthioat;;
. He' was ; breathing ; apaßmodically,: h'aav- :
~; lly . '- ; HI » l ey es were closed and he . gavo
?no';; apparent sign ;. that , he .'was '. con- i
Isclouaf of i.ouf^ approach i or] presence. *
'; PolJtelyVUia; chief v turned ' to7-^the
nurse- and>,- asked .her ; to leave:'; the";
room. - Then- he walked" straight •;u; vp U6-,
the bed,- and placing; his glasses close ':
to ' his^eyes" he gazed- at the ; hero's
V • faca itor \u25a0 fully, five minutes. Only |the '/
'of : ; the; dock; and \theT 7 haavy^
ibreathlngof .'tha seemingly unconscious
;„ naan; broke jthe deathly*;, lugubrious j sl T . .:
lence. .Not a flutter of the closed eye
lids, not a change of expression, not a
movement of the covered body be
trayed, the least suspicion that the hero
knew we *were present. The man then
was really unconscious. .
A sardonio grin overspread the , un
handsome mouth of the chief as event
ually his eyes wandered away from- the
hero. arid in one comprehensive, Yurtive
glance' took in his surroundings.
"Badly wounded, eh," he literally
hollered in the hero's ear,. "ln a damned
dangerous condition* ain't you? Oh,
hblycan't talk, can't hear; poor baby.
Quit your 'possum act, you idiot. Don't
you think I'm on? Let's see how aw
ful ' the , terrible wound Is.'.' :
.The hero opened his eyes. His pale
face"- seemed a shade/ lighter, v his -lips
twitched, -deep ; lines showed in' his
forehead. ' ' - : . •
"So ;we are coming to life -.' again,"
chortled the chief,: as' he — to; me-: it
seeme'j\brutally— grabbed vthe blankets
and/flung them from- the % bed. '
\u25a0How needlessly cruel • the act ap
peared—like a cat playing / with; a
"mouse, the old -man : seemed. " -\u0084
"• "Jumping - Jupiter! , by all • gods,
what's 'this?" gurgled the chief. . "An
'qther-wound—arid nobody- told me. any
thing about: it!; Shot in ; the thumb,
too. *, Two shots fired, one at the bur
glar,' one at you— why, /where. In all
hell ; was the third " : shot that no one
heard?— -well,' well,;; well! , You "must
have ha'J a fierce .scrap. How : did it
occur ? Are you "groin g to { tell mcV
. A .perceptible quiver .was the only
answer 'and-'the eyes closed again. > Deep
groans shook -the hero's .body. He was
in deep pain, . it j- seemed—or '•; wasi it
fear? /\u25a0/ -. ' '\u25a0'-.' '.'\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0•.
"So you can't or won't . talk, eh?
Let's see that dreadful: wound in your
neck.; ' Never you mind, old rooster,
I'll -see that I you get your reward. Old
Falkner's' liberal.'. ; He won't forget
you," grinned the^ chief, as he relent
lessly.andiViciously removed.the'band
age ; from . the; neck^ of the hero.
• -'\u25a0."Come' here, s close," -he yelled, at me,
"take a ; description -of this: horrible
wound. - You needn't^ even be a 'doctor,
boy, ;l"'you can- see" with* your/ naked/; eye
that' it is the merest superficial! scratch.
Let'»:see the* thumb, too,* niyi poor little
lamb,'.', as he laughed ; ironically. "Look,
Just ' a -part •. of the ' flesh and the thumb
nail > gone.' Shucks, too bad, too> L bad^
Gk>Bli^ but ' you .\u25a0; did ; have a hell >of * '
mixup, didn't; you? 'Nope, -I ain't /going
to "replace. -the 1 bandages,"^ snorted j the
chief, half :to; himself .and; half -to^nie:
"Well," you're \u25a0 going to : tell" m&all *bout
it,' son; ; or /are you' going to^fake -this
' unconscious ' act-to : the enfl?if/ Pretty
--:.•--."..;..„-•.. -v.,-...- : -•-\u0084 \u25a0\u25a0i'Jtil ' \u25a0
fair' actor, ain't you?" .; rr?>l; "
'..No answer." I- thought :tho{ghief bit
terly; brutal. 1 5 resented hi*jactlons^
He was: cruel, without . sentiin*nt,\ cold,
calculating and' hard. _- No s uaalcion of ,
\u25a0. :-v :.":--' "-- :-:^;:V '\u25a0—;.;; -V.-H .-.\u25a0 \u25a0:
events to come flashed through -my
mind. ; • "
V- "Well, I guess that will'be about all.
So long, ; hero., you'll . see me, sooner
than you expect; old boy, and 'you'll be
conscious all right,' too."
The chief flashed one malignant
glance-at:the face of the hero Indica
tive of proof -positive' now of the con
viction he had entertained from the be
ginning. . •-,'\u25a0,
\u25a0 As we ieftthe room he, whispered to
me, "Go and get a patrolman to sit-in
the butler's room constantly and tell
him on thelperli of .his job "not^to let
Matlock;out of his sight/* "We left the
house, my.fbraln ,ln l a whirl, my nerves
gone and, as 'far as I ! was concerned,
the tragedy as deep a, mystery as ever.
It is an 'established rule that when
a; crime' is hot. cleared up .the police
department, is" unmercifully flayed. For
days reporters, ' Falkner, . his friends
and * relatives -. reviled. ,' slurred .. and
heaped abuse- on^the' police department
and Chief Lees ?in : particular. Articles
were /written .about the inefficiency of
the v department, articles decrying Lees
"and his,' abortive -motive' in '_ trying , to
shift, the blame. on; Matlock.; the butler,
hero. The^ articles with - ; th«
shame :of it all. The reporters placed
the .responsibility, '.of course, on Lees'
shoulders I because no arrest had been
made, and' even the -dead , burglar., re
mained : unidentified.' The chief and
Falkner, hltherto.'.af" least harmorrious
acquaintances, 'became ".bitter^ enemies.
The latter 'called ; , in ;the; services of a
private detective : agency. . Falkner; was
going ' to* have this 'mystery . unraveled
at any cost,- Irrespective ~of the -San
Francisco police .department.- He was
going, to. see that!, Hero x Matlock re
ceivedproper credit >if he had to spend
his entire fortune In thus doing. .A
gold -watch and \u25a0 chain,' exquisitely, en
graved-andl Inscribed, and" $250 In cash
were part -of the hero's rewards T from
his grateful, and admiring employer.
The hero , was. promised a banquet to
be given as soon as he", recovered. Im
perative requests were ;made ' upon
Chief Lees ito remove , the -uniformed
patrolman' from the 'Falkner/house, to
whlcti< demand, however. 4 he •; paid .no
heed. Deliberately, '• stubbornly,' con
sistently,, the> chief , continued'^hls • in
vestigation. , ,-The. "(evidence., was-, pre
pared "for thej coroner's inquest.
•«6n-theM3ay/ofJthe* Inquest : the- room
was packed with people. < -.The;coroner,
police.officials, the hero surrounded ,by
the-/ entire" Falkrier~ family, . [the - usual
hangers-on;: all' formed" a' motley ; crowd.
Skillful,-! brainy, expensive lawyers -.ap
peared In; behalf { of <the hero, hired
especially^ to refute, any,- possible.- evi
dence', derogatory': to* the character of
the butler or 'to', his. courageous deed: :
ItVwas' conclusively proved by cir
cumstantial -that \u25a0 the '. dead
burglar, had;, been ;a? poor, inoffensive
hobo, a" tramps who - had been deliber
ately enticed ' Into ; the^ Falkher house
and there cruelly ; murdered. V The un
derwear of, the deceased -was positively
identified, by^ a brother/,hobo ,who;had
reported / the .other's 'disappearance to"
one 'of "the- captains'" of -police. The
newspaper ; in which: the ; unde'rwear
was; wrapped -was ; a -distinctive *#lece
of evidence against Hero Matlock,/ for
"Exhibit A," Initialed by Chief Lees and
-myself, was of the Issue of the news
paper found In the butler'a bedroom,
from which four sheets had been re
moved and the underwear Inclosed In
It. Circumstances of the affair led to>
the theory that the tramp had been en
ticed into the house. He had disrobed
and gone to bed. In order to destroy
the evidence that the tramp had occu
pied his room Matlock had wrapped the
filthy, underwear In one of the papers
and thrown It out into- the street while
the poor hobo was asleep. Then,
awakening him, Matlock had him dress
hurriedly, brought him up to the parlor,
and shot him dead in cold blood.
\u25a0 .' The body of the deceased was found
: covered with vermin, direct evidence
. almost that the hero and hobo had oc
cupied the same bed. Each witness
"from the household testified to having
heard but two shots, one which killed
tne tramp, the other the one Injuring
Matlock.
•How, then. the. mysterious wound In
the thumb?
On the witness stand the hero seemed
to have lost his wits. He claimed,
thafthere were, three shots and that
in the scuflle the trigger of the pistol
snapped In his • hand and the bullet
plowed through his thumb, a physi
cal and Impossibility as can
be proved by attempting the feat.
-Chief Lees was placed upon th«
stand.. From beginning to end, vivid
ly, 'concisely, convincingly, he told hl3 '
Btory. demonstrating exactly his the
ories. \u25a0 "'" ' - .
• After enticing the poor hobo into
the Falkner house, and foully murder
ing him, in order to repeat the herofo
act that had years ago placed him In
the limelight and won him applause
from the reading multitudes. Matlock,
hero., to give his story some reasonable
foundation of a fierce scuffle, had de
liberately taken \u25a0 hold of the skin on
the fleshy part of - his neck, pointed
the revolver with hjs right hand, hold-*
Ing the extended skrn with his left
thumb and forefinger. Misjudging the
close, proximity of the thumb, he shot
the bullet, making a mere flesh wound,
but, ln the. process. the thumb nail was
carried away and a part of the flesh
of > the thumb was torn off. The wide
awake mind of the chief had grasped
this condition at the very Inception
of his '
. Every lota of the evidence, circum
stantial; as it was. proved that no out
sider could have enteretl the house,
could have cut the electric and tele
phone, wires, save -one who knew every
part of the premises and one who was
entirely familiar with the surround
ings. . :'. ...":'.
coroner's Jury brought In a ver
dict'of murder.^charging Matlock with
the crime. A warrant for his arrest,
followed.. The evidence proved insuffi
cient -ta r convict- The Falkner family
still trusted and. believed In their hero.
Lees and Falkner .were still foes.
\u25a0 One "morning shortly after the In
quest Matlock. hero; disappeared. Th«
police department . was instructed to
make a careful. Vigorous search. Two ,
weeks later In the southern part of the
state, the newspapers published the fol
lowing: . .* .
A BRUTAL ATTACK
'Charles Matlock. formerly a but
ler for- the well known Falkner
, family of .San Francisco, who fig
ured.so conspicuously in a murder
: case in that city recently, was to
day.sentenced by Judge SulUvafr to
25 years in San Quentin for a
felonious attack on a 14 yeaj- old
Birl. /
\u25a0', Isaiah -W. Lees and BenjamlA Falk
ner \u25a0 shook hands. 1 /