Tales of Mystery

           TheconfessionofHerbertdeLernac,nowlyingundersentenceofdeathatMarseilles,hasthrownalightupononeofthemostinexplicablecrimesofthecentury—anincidentwhichis,Ibelieve,absolutelyunprecedentedinthecriminalannalsofanycountry:Althoughthereisareluctancetodiscussthematterinofficialcircles,andlittleinformationhasbeengiventothePress,therearestillindicationsthatthestatementofthisarch-criminaliscorroboratedbythefacts,andthatwehaveatlastfoundasolutionforamostastoundingbusiness.Asthematteriseightyearsold,andasitsimportancewassomewhatobscuredbyapoliticalcrisiswhichwasengagingthepublicattentionatthetime,itmaybeaswelltostatethefactsasfaraswehavebeenabletoascertainthem.TheyarecollatedfromtheLiverpoolpapersofthatdate,fromtheproceedingsattheinquestuponJohnSlater,theengine-driver,andfromtherecordsoftheLondonandWestCoastRailwayCompany,whichhavebeencourteouslyputatmydisposal.Briefly,theyareasfollows:

           Onthe3rdofJune,1890,agentleman,whogavehisnameasMonsieurLouisCaratal,desiredaninterviewwithMr.JamesBland,thesuperintendentoftheLondonandWestCoastCentralStationinLiverpool.Hewasasmallman,middle-agedanddark,withastoopwhichwassomarkedthatitsuggestedsomedeformityofthespine.Hewasaccompaniedbyafriend,amanofimposingphysique,whosedeferentialmannerandconstantattentionshowedthathispositionwasoneofdependence.