The White Rose of Memphis

“‘Oh, go on! I think I do.’

“‘Well, in the first place, you know my views in regard to unprincipled fortune-hunters, and that I had registered a solemn vow that I never would place myself in a position where such an imputation could be laid upon me. As to that, my mind is unchanged, but circumstances have materially changed. My uncle, who went to California about the time we came to Memphis, has made a large fortune, and I have received several letters from him, and I reckon I had better show you the last one, which came only ten days ago: here it is:

“‘DEAR HARRY – I received a long letter the other day from Mr. Rockland, who speaks in the highest praise of you. He said you would soon be prepared to enter the profession of law with brilliant prospects – spoke of your moral character as being first-class, and seems to be very proud of you. The history he gave of Lottie was such as to increase my curiosity to see her; he thinks she is far superior to other young ladles, and his praise of her beauty and gentle manners was most extravagant. You cannot imagine the pleasure it gave me to hear such a favorable report from my dear deceased sister’s children. I presume you know I am a bachelor – such is the case, whether you know it or not – and am living a sad and lonely life here. I have been very fortunate in the mining business – have accumulated a large fortune; have no children to inherit it; no brothers or sisters – in fact, no one to give it to except you and your charming sister. This being the case, you may easily understand why Mr. Rockland’s favorable report gave me such satisfaction. When one works hard to make a fortune he don’t like to leave it to be squandered by unworthy relatives. It is a source of much gratification, therefore, to know that I shall leave mine in the hands of two such worthy children as you and Lottie. I am getting old now, and would like very much to have you and Lottie with me, and should have sent for you some time ago, but it is my intention to wind up my affairs here and return to Memphis. If I succeed in this, I shall of course expect you and your charming sister to live with me. Mr. Rockland says that Lottie is engaged to be married to a very worthy young physician.’

“‘I am much obliged to Mr. Rockland for his good opinion.’

“‘Hold on until I finish the letter.’

“‘I cannot,’ the letter continued, ‘express the gratitude I feel toward Mr. Rockland for his kindness to my nephew and niece. I own a large interest in a very rich mine here, and if I can sell it for what I think it is worth, I shall soon be ready to make my home permanently in Memphis. You will present to Mr. Rockland my warmest thanks; and tell my charming niece that I am looking forward with anxiety to the time when I shall hold her in my old arms.

“‘Yours most truly,“‘OLIVER STANLEY.’

“‘Ah! Harry, what a lucky fellow you are!’

“‘Does not the good luck strike you, too? Doesn’t Lottie get half? And don’t you get Lottie, and her money, too?’

“‘Oh, bother the money! my Lottie is worth a hundred thousand such gold mines!’

“‘Yes, but in my case, you see, it is different; I don’t care so much for the money, you know, but it makes honors easy between Viola and me.’

“‘Very good; now, go on and tell me how you succeeded with Viola.’

“‘I shall do so cheerfully; because I like to talk with you about such things, for you are in a condition to appreciate my narrative. Well, you see, when Lottie put Viola and me to winding thread, it afforded a topic of conversation; that was very thoughtful in Lottie, wasn’t it?’

“‘I think it was; but go on with your story.’

“‘You see when the thread would get tangled we had to help each other fix it.’

“‘“Run the ball through here, Mr. Wallingford,” said Viola, “no, not that way, but the other – just here between my hands; there, that’s right; no, I beg pardon, it was all my fault, for you were doing it right before I spoke; you’ll have to run the ball back the same way between my hands.”

“‘Now, Ed, you must understand that while all this was going on I was not looking at the hank of thread, but was gazing intently at the beautiful darling before me. As a natural result, instead of untangling the thread, we kept making it worse. I shall hereafter recommend all bashful young people to wind yarn when they wish to make love – there’s nothing equal to it, as an entering-wedge to conversation.

“‘“Stop, Viola,” said I, as I took hold of her little hand, “you have got this thread in a desperate fix; let me hold this end on your wrist while you untangle the other.”

“‘This gave me an excuse to hold her hand, which I assure you I did.

“‘“How pale your hand looks, Viola!” I said, as I let the hank fall, and took her hand with both of mine.

“‘“Yes, my hand is pale, I believe.”

“‘“You have a very small hand, too.”

“‘“Yes, I believe it is quite small; but we had better finish the work that Lottie gave us to do.”

“‘“No, let us talk a while; we’ll have plenty of time to do the work. I think this is quite a pretty little hand.”

“‘“Do you?”

“‘“Yes, indeed I do; and I think the owner of this hand is very pretty, too.”

“‘“I declare, we must finish this thread!”

“‘She then made a grab at the ball and missed it, and it went rolling to the other side of the room. She went after it, – two of the hanks had fallen to the floor – and in crossing the room her feet became entangled in the thread, so that when she picked up the ball and started back she tripped and fell plump into my arms. Of course I could do no less than catch her, else she would have fallen to the floor.

“‘“Dear Viola,” I exclaimed, “I love you with all my heart! Dare I hope that you ever will be mine? Speak, darling, I implore you! No man ever loved as I love you! Give me one little word of encouragement, I beseech you!”

“‘“Do you believe me innocent of the awful crime of which I am charged?” she asked.

“‘“Believe you innocent, my loved one? I would as soon suspect an angel from Heaven as you! Nay, I would risk my soul’s salvation on your innocence! If I had a hundred thousand lives, I’d risk them all on your honor! If a legion of witnesses were to swear you are guilty, I would not believe it! Viola, can you forgive the past? Will you allow me to hope that you ever will love me? I cannot endure this miserable torture.”

“‘“Harry, would you be willing to accept my hand while this dark cloud of disgrace is hovering over me?”

“‘“Yes, yes, darling! ten thousand times yes!”

“‘She nestled her face into my bosom and burst into tears; then, Ed, I knew she was mine, and my joy was unutterable. I suppose, however, you know all about such feelings. When she became composed she promised to marry me when her innocence should be made manifest to the world. Now you know all, and can readily appreciate my feelings.’

CHAPTER XVI

“It was on the morning of the fourth day after my return from Philadelphia that I went to Harry’s office for the purpose of holding a consultation with him in regard to Miss Bramlett’s case. I was anxious to know what progress had been made by the detectives in their investigations. I had been devoting all my time to the business, and was more mystified at the end of four days than I was at the beginning. I had spent some time in making a survey of the buildings and premises where the murder had been committed; this I had been advised to do by Mr. Rockland, who had manifested considerable interest in the case. I had great confidence in the cool judgment of Mr. Rockland, as well as unlimited faith in him as a skillful criminal lawyer; and he told me that a thorough investigation of the house and its contents was a matter that ought by no means to be neglected; therefore I had undertaken that job as my part of the work. I had taken great pains to make a correct diagram of the house and grounds – including the kitchen, servants’ rooms, stables, garden, with all the entrances by which persons could get into the inclosure. I was very much gratified when I presented my diagram to Mr. Rockland, for he examined it carefully, and then observed, ‘that the work was satisfactory, and had been very skillfully executed.’

“‘If I am not very much mistaken, Mr. Demar,’ he said, ‘you will find that this map will be of invaluable service to you before this affair is finally disposed of. If it should turn out, as you seem to think, that the crime has been the work of some other person, you may expect to find secret entrances to the grounds – but I regret to say that I fear you will find no little difficulty in establishing Miss Bramlett’s innocence. I have no hesitation, understand me, in asserting that I have always regarded Miss Bramlett as a pure, honest young lady; but, judging from the reports that have reached me in regard to her strange conduct, I am led to believe that her mind has not been altogether right. If it comes to the worst, I shall advise the plea of insanity to be filed. I am well aware of the fact that pleas of that sort are becoming quite common of late, and that the courts are inclined to view them with suspicion, yet in this case I have no doubt that the evidence will be so full as to overcome all doubt. You may depend on me, Mr. Demar, so far as my humble ability may be concerned, because I deeply sympathize with this unfortunate young lady; and then her father was my true friend, and I should be an ungrateful wretch if I did not put forth all my energy and influence in behalf of his daughter.’

“It was indeed with a sorrowful heart beating in my bosom that I separated from Mr. Rockland at the close of the interview just related. I had watched Miss Bramlett closely during the frequent visits I had made to the jail, and my observations convinced me that, notwithstanding her mind was sad and unsettled, she had complete control of her reason. Then, in the second place, I knew that if we succeeded in proving her insane, it would be a fatal blow to Harry’s happiness. The room in which young Harry Bramlett died was a small square bedroom on the second floor, in the south-west corner of Mr. Ragland’s house, and adjacent to the one that had been occupied by Miss Bramlett. There was a partition door in the wall that separated the two rooms. Miss Bramlett’s room was a larger one than that occupied by her young brother, and had two windows and one door besides the door that was in the partition wall. One of the windows was in the front overlooking the street – the other in the side overlooking a small flower garden that lay on the south side of the building. The furniture of Miss Bramlett’s room, which remained just as it was when her brother died, consisted of a marble-top bureau, a small mahogany bedstead, with canopy hung with pink silk, a large rosewood wardrobe, a marble-top wash-stand, a low sofa with green cushions, an easy-chair with red plush cushions, a cane bottom rocking-chair, three large trunks and four common cane bottom chairs. A life-size portrait of Mr. Bramlett swung by a red twisted cord against the south wall of the room, while Mrs. Bramlett’s picture, in a large gold frame, hung just above the bed. A photograph of Miss Bramlett and her little brother, both in the same frame, hung near the partition door. As I gazed on Miss Bramlett’s picture, with one hand clasped in that of her little brother, I was then and there convinced that she never had murdered him. Such an expression of purity beamed forth from the beautiful face as to prove to my mind that no secret thoughts of murder ever had lurked in her breast. I was informed that not an article in the rooms had been moved since the night when the little boy died – no one had been permitted to enter either one of the rooms after the corpse had been removed, until Mr. Dabbs had arrived. A guard had been placed at the entrance, with positive orders not to allow any one to enter the rooms; this had been done at Harry’s request.

“When I arrived at Harry’s office I found him alone; but while he and I were engaged in examining my diagram Dabbs and Tadpoddle came into the inner room from the back entrance, and informed us that they had important facts to communicate. This was the first time that I ever had laid my eyes on Mr. Tadpoddle, and if it had not been for the seriousness of the business in which we were engaged, I should have laughed outright as soon as I saw him. The comical expression of his features – the peculiar shape of his nose, the fantastic style of his dress, and the singular disproportion which the length of his legs bore to the size of his body, all combined to produce a ridiculous object. To undertake to describe him would be a failure. He was neither man, beast, fowl nor fish, but in some respects resembled all. His right ear was near the back of his beard. The place where his nose should have been looked like a toad-stool on a sapling. His left eye was large and very white, the other small and three-cornered; the little one seemed to be afraid of the big one – they were continually playing hide and seek with each other, and at no time were both on duty at the same moment. When the big one was awake, the little one was asleep. I noticed that when the big one would retire from duty, the little one would come to the front cautiously and gaze over to see if the other had certainly gone; and if any movement was made by the big one, the little one would dart back into his hole. It was clear to my mind that nature did not intend to make a man when Tadpoddle was commenced; but the whole concern seemed to convey the idea that nature intended him for a huge joke.

“‘If you will close that door, Mr. Wallingford,’ said Mr. Dabbs, ‘so that we will be free from interruption, I have an important report to make.’

“Harry closed the door, and requested him to proceed.

“‘Have you found out who committed the murder?’ Harry inquired, as he fixed his eyes on Mr. Dabbs’ face with a look of intense anxiety.

“‘Mr. Wallingford, you have learned the lawyer’s habit early, I perceive – you have commenced a sort of cross-examination before the examination in chief has been gone through with. You lawyers have a way of setting your pumps to work on a fellow so as to draw out information which in some instances ought not to be exposed so soon – but in this particular case, I trust you will not consider me rude or discourteous if I decline to be cross-examined. It is our business to examine people, and not to suffer ourselves to be examined by them; you need not trouble yourself to put questions to me; I’ll furnish you with such information as I think you ought to have, and withhold such as ought to be withheld.’

“Harry bit his lips with vexation.

“‘I suppose, Mr. Dabbs, I ought to submit to such conditions as you may choose to propose; and I shall do it very cheerfully if it will aid in unearthing this mystery.’

“‘So far as mystery is concerned, Mr. Wallingford, I must at once undeceive you; I have as yet encountered no mystery at all – on the contrary, I think the case unusually plain – don’t you, Mr. Tadpoddle?’

“‘Unquestionably, unquestionably, Mr. Dabbs; I never saw a plainer case in my life – evidence ample to convict; never saw a better chain of circumstantial evidence; overwhelming, overwhelming, sir – no use to hesitate; no mistake here. My sister’s statement settles the question beyond doubt. I presume, Mr. Wallingford, you know my sister, Miss Jemima Tadpoddle?’

“‘No,’ said Harry, his face reddening with impatience, ‘I am sorry to say I have not had the honor to know Miss Tadpoddle.’

“‘Indeed, sir! that’s unfortunate; I must avail myself of the pleasure to introduce you to my sister; a most remarkable woman, sir – rather masculine in her views, but sensible and prudent. We are indebted to her for our success in this case. The fact is, Mr. Wallingford, I am indebted to my remarkable sister for my success in life generally. She would be delighted to know you, and I dare say you would be much pleased with her. She would be able to advise you in this business, no doubt, as her judgment may be relied on; but let that pass for the present. What was it you were about to observe, Mr. Wallingford?’

“‘I was about to ask a question; but then I remembered that you and Mr. Dabbs had intimated a wish not to be questioned.’

“‘Oh, not at all, sir; you misunderstand us entirely. We don’t prohibit questions – we only decline to be examined like an ordinary witness in court. Ask as many questions as you please – we’ll only answer such as we choose.’

“Then Mr. Tadpoddle threw himself back in his chair, put the small eye on duty, and waited for the question.

“‘If you have any communication to make in regard to the discoveries you have made, I should like to hear them now!’

“‘Just so, Mr. Wallingford, no doubt you would; and that is what brought us here to-day. I am well aware of the interest you feel in Miss Bramlett’s case, and so told my remarkable sister, and she also appreciated the situation very much. By the by, Dabbs, don’t you think we had better tell Mr. Wallingford what my remarkable sister knows about the case?’

“‘I think we had, Mr. Tadpoddle; but let them be told after the other facts have been related – nothing like beginning at the right end, you know. There are two ways to tell anything – one right way, and one wrong way; always commence a story at the right end, you see. What your sister knows comes last, in order to make the chain of evidence complete.’

“‘Ah, yes, Dabbs, I perceive now that you are right. Well, you tell Mr. Wallingford about the other things, and when it comes to my sister’s part, then let me in.’

“I was losing my self-possession, and felt as if I must do something rash very soon; I think I should have hurled a lump of coal at Mr. Tadpoddle’s little gourd head, but my attention was diverted to Mr. Dabbs, who began to take something from his pocket-book.

“‘This little parcel, Mr. Wallingford, is a dose of strychnine similar to the one that killed Miss Bramlett’s little brother. Well, what of that? is the question that naturally would come up in your mind. You’ll observe, Mr. Wallingford, that I am only drawing an inference as to ideas, etc., which would be likely to present themselves. Well, what if that is strychnine? you say. Very good! I reply, The deceased was murdered with strychnine. Some one administered the poison. Who? ah! that’s the question. I answer without hesitation: Miss Bramlett.’

“‘Tis false!’ exclaimed Harry, as he made at the detective with eyes flashing with rage. ‘I’ll choke the breath from the villain’s lungs who dares to accuse Miss Bramlett.’

“I quickly placed myself before Harry, and prevented him from choking Mr. Dabbs, and endeavored to keep him quiet, though I thought a little pressure on Dabbs’ wind-pipe would have been justifiable. I succeeded in getting Harry to resume his seat, then requested Mr. Dabbs to proceed.

“‘If Mr. Wallingford is unwilling to hear facts,’ said Dabbs, ‘we had better let the interview terminate here. It is our duty, as officers of the law, to close our eyes to consequences, and bring facts to light. We can’t consider the feelings and wishes of individuals, in our searches after truth; if we did, we should accomplish nothing. We do not make evidence, we only bring to light that which is made by circumstances and concealed by fraud. If the evidence that we have discovered does not please Mr. Wallingford, we will not thrust it on his hearing, but will deliver it to the officers of the law, whose duty it is to use it in punishing the guilty, and protecting the innocent.’

“‘You are right, Mr. Dabbs, and I was wrong,’ said Harry, as he leaned his head down on the window-sill and sighed sadly. ‘Tell us the worst at once.’

“‘Well this dose of strychnine was found in Miss Bramlett’s room, concealed in the pocket of a blue silk dress which belonged to her.’

“Mr. Dabbs paused, and looked at Tadpoddle. Tadpoddle put the big eye on duty, while the little one made a precipitate retreat. Harry groaned like one whose heart was crushed. I wanted to commit some kind of mischief, but did not exactly know what it was. At length Dabbs spoke again, after he had sufficiently enjoyed the misery inflicted on us by the first revelation:

“‘The mere naked fact that Miss Bramlett had a dose of strychnine in one of her dress pockets does not signify much, but when viewed in connection with other circumstances, the case is different. To sum up the ideas, we must be very cautious to sift things so as to separate the wheat from the chaff; however, we don’t always find it prudent even to throw away the chaff; because it will sometimes show us which way the wind blows. Now in this case I think we can see which way the wind is blowing without the use of the chaff. The fact is, the breeze seems to be all the time blowing in the same direction. We found three small scraps of blue paper; two upon chemical examination were found to contain small quantities of quinine, while the other one contained unmistakable evidence of having been filled with strychnine. We found a little package of quinine in the fire-place; now it is very plain that this was emptied out of one of the papers left by Doctor Dodson, and that the strychnine was put in the same paper instead of the quinine. That goes to show beyond doubt that the poison was administered intentionally; but by whom? you would of course be inclined to ask. Very good; let us proceed to make the inquiry further.’

“‘Now,’ said Tadpoddle, ‘I think is the time to tell Mr. Wallingford what valuable evidence has been discovered by my remarkable sister.’

“Mr. Tadpoddle’s little eye then went back to its hole, and the big one came to the front.

“‘No, not yet, Mr. Tadpoddle,’ said Dabbs, as he bit the corner off of a plug of tobacco and began to chew it with great energy; ‘there are other matters to be mentioned before we disclose your sister’s evidence. There is the secret gate, you must remember; that will furnish a very strong link in our chain – a link which I consider of great importance. So far, so good. Now, Mr. Tadpoddle, allow me to call your attention to a certain letter or note – some people, I believe, would call it a billet-doux; no matter what they call it – nothing in a name, you know; at least, Mr. Shakespeare so testified in favor of that idea. Be so kind as to hand me that billet-doux, Mr. Tadpoddle. I believe I gave it to you?’

“Tadpoddle’s big eye retired slowly, and the little one came out and then darted back; then came out again – a game of hide and seek being commenced between them. The big eye seemed to be hesitating, as if undecided about the propriety of giving the field to the little one. But the little one appeared to have scraped up courage, and made a bold charge to the front, when the large eye gave up the contest at last, and hid in its den. Tadpoddle seemed to be waiting to know which eye he would have to depend on, while looking for the note, but as soon as the matter was settled, he drew from his breast pocket an old pocket-book, and began to take out a great number of old dirty papers, carefully scrutinizing each one as he took it out.

“‘Ah, here it is, Mr. Dabbs; by Jove, it’s a clincher, ain’t it?’

“Dabbs did not reply to Tadpoddle’s question, but turning his attention to Harry, said:

“‘Mr. Wallingford, you will pardon me, sir, but duty, is duty, you know, and at the risk of incurring your displeasure, I must perform my duty. You will doubtless be surprised to learn that Miss Bramlett has been holding clandestine meetings with a low-down gambler for many months.’

“Harry would have knocked him down, but I anticipated the movement, and held him in his seat.

“‘Edward,’ said he, ‘must I sit here and listen to this? Am I a contemptible coward? Shall I let them kill that poor girl, and then blacken her fair name? Is this Harry Wallingford who sits here, quietly listening to such a foul slander on the name of his affianced bride! Would you have me to whine and smile and fawn on the base wretch who utters such language?’

“‘If ever there was a time when it was necessary for you to control your temper, that time is now. The awful situation in which Miss Bramlett is placed should convince you that nothing can be done for her unless cool judgment and common sense shall take the place of passion and rashness. Mr. Dabbs may be mistaken in his conclusions, and I think he is, yet he believes he is performing his duty, therefore, I beseech you to hear all he has to say. Then, after we have heard it all, we will advise with Mr. Rockland on the subject – I have great confidence in his sound judgment, and I know his sympathies are with us. Give us a promise, now, Harry, that you will endeavor to control yourself – you have committed some great errors, and it behooves you to repair them. You can command your passion if you will determine to do it.’