The Living Link | Page 6

plain that it was not a case of common
highway robbery, and the loss of the pocket-book showed that the deed was prompted by
a desire for something more than ordinary plunder. Proceeding from this, various
circumstances arose which, in addition to the terrible accusation traced in blood, tended
to throw suspicion upon Frederick Dalton.
It came out that on the morning of that very day Mr. Henderson had discovered a check
for two thousand pounds that had been forged in his name. Being a very choleric man, he
felt more than the anger which is natural under such circumstances, and vowed
vengeance to the uttermost upon the forger. That same morning Mr. Frederick Dalton
came to see him, and was shown into his private office. He had just arrived in the city,
and had come on purpose to pay this visit. The interview was a protracted one, and the
clerks outside heard the voice of Mr. Henderson in a very high key, and in a strain of
what sounded like angry menace and denunciations of vengeance, though they could not
make out any words. At last the office door opened, and Dalton came out. He was very
pale, and much agitated. One of the clerks heard him say, in a low voice,
"_Only one day--till this time to-morrow_."
Whereupon Mr. Henderson roared out in a loud voice, which all the clerks heard,
"_No, Sir! Not one day, not one hour, if I die for it!_"
Upon this Dalton walked away, looking paler and more agitated than ever.
In the course of the day Mr. Henderson told his confidential clerk that the check had just
been used by Dalton, who, however, denied that he was the forger; that the visit of Dalton
professed to be on behalf of the guilty party, whom he wished to screen. Dalton had
refused to give the culprit's name, and offered to pay the amount of the check, or any
additional sum whatever, if no proceedings were taken. This, however, Mr. Henderson
refused, and in his indignation charged Dalton himself with the crime. Under these
circumstances the interview had terminated.
Thus the evidence against Dalton was the forged check, the clerks' reports concerning the
exciting interview with Mr. Henderson, the awful accusation of the deceased himself,
written in his own blood, together with the Maltese cross, which was believed to belong
to Dalton. The arrest of Dalton had been made at the earliest possible moment; and at the
trial these were the things which were made use of against him by the prosecution. By
energetic efforts discovery was made of a jeweler who recognized the Maltese cross as
his own work, and swore that he had made it for Frederick Dalton, in accordance with a
special design furnished him by that gentleman. The design had been kept in his
order-book ever since, and was produced by him in court. Thus the testimony of the
jeweler and the order-book served to fix the ownership of the Maltese cross upon Dalton
in such a way that it corroborated and confirmed all the other testimony.

On the other hand, the defense of Dalton took up all these points. In the first place, it was
shown that in his case there was no conceivable temptation that could have led to the
commission of such a crime. He was a man of great wealth, possessed of a fine estate,
and free from all pecuniary embarrassments. He was not what was called a sporting man,
and therefore could not have secretly accumulated debts while appearing rich. It was
shown, also, that his character was stainless; that he was essentially a domestic man,
living quietly at Dalton Hall with his wife and child, and therefore, from his worldly
means as well as from his personal character and surroundings, it was morally impossible
for him to have forged the check.
With reference to the interview with Mr. Henderson, it was maintained that it arose, as he
himself said, from a desire to shield the real culprit, whom he knew, and for whom he felt
a strong and unusual regard. Who this culprit was the defense did not assert, nor could
they imagine, though they tried every possible way of finding him out. Whoever he was,
he appeared to be the only one who could have had a motive strong enough for the
murder of Mr. Henderson. The unknown assassin had evidently done the deed so as to
obtain possession of the forged check, and prevent its being used against him. In this he
was unsuccessful, since the check had already been intrusted to the hands of others; but
the aim of the assassin was sufficiently evident.
Again, as to the writing in blood, a vigorous effort was made to show that this was a