ge a little over a year ago," continued
Miss Graumann. "He came from Chicago; he told us, although he was
evidently a German by birth. He bought a nice little piece of property,
not far from our home, and settled down there. He was a quiet man and
made few friends, but he seemed to take to Albert and came to see us
frequently. Albert had spent some years in America, in Chicago, and
Siders liked to talk to him about things and people there. But one day
Siders suddenly sold his property and moved to G--. Two weeks later he
was found dead in his lodgings in the city, murdered, and now--now they
have accused Albert of the crime."

"On what grounds?--oh, I beg your pardon, sir; I did not mean--"

"That's all right, Muller," said the commissioner. "As you may have to
undertake the case, you might as well begin to do the questioning now."

"They say"--Miss Graumann's voice quavered--"they say that Albert was
the last person known to have been in Siders' room; they say that it was
his revolver, found in the room. That is the dreadful part of it--it was
his revolver. He acknowledges it, but he did not know, until the police
showed it to him, that the weapon was not in its usual place in his
study. They tell me that everything speaks for his guilt, but I cannot
believe it--I cannot. He says he is innocent in spite of everything. I
believe him. I brought him up, sir; I was like his own mother to him. He
never knew any other mother. He never lied to me, not once, when he was
a little boy, and I don't believe he'd lie to me now, now that he's a
man of forty-five. He says he did not kill John Siders. Oh, I know, even
without his saying it, that he would not do such a thing."

"Can you tell us anything more about the murder itself?" questioned
Muller gently. "Is there any possibility of suicide? Or was there a
robbery?"

"They say it was no suicide, sir, and that there was a large sum of
money missing. But why should Albert take any one else's money? He has
money of his own, and he earns a good income besides--we have all that
we need. Oh, it is some dreadful mistake! There is the newspaper account
of the discovery of the body. Perhaps Mr. Muller might like to read
that." She pointed to a sheet of newspaper on the desk. The commissioner
handed it to Muller. It was an evening paper, dated G--, September
24th, and it gave an elaborate account, in provincial journalese, of the
discovery that morning of the body of John Siders, eviden