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6
that the remains found at the college were those of Dr. Parkman ;"
his brother-in-law merely recognized by the hair on the discovered
breast (discolored and eaten as it was by acid) and by one of the
legs (having seen it once when the deceased had playfully rolled up
his trousers to show his hardihood in wearing no drawers.) No
vestige of clothing, or spots of blood were anywhere found on the
premises. Twenty or thirty pounds of blood (assuming the murder
to have been there committed) had been absorbed somewhere, and
made way with. No personal property, nor its remnants, of the
deceased came to light. That the remains were brought in naked
and already dead, and disposed of as these were found, was a
hypothesis perfectly reconcileable with these last stated facts, and
yet it does not seem to be suggested to the minds of any of the dis-
coverers. Was the janitor, who skylarked every evening, so faith-
ful a watcher,; was Boston so virtuous a city that burglars and
false keys were unknown in her precincts ; was Parkman so poor in
pocket funds that temptation to robbery and murder was out of the
case ; was there no other poor debtor than Dr. Webster whom,
in a life of grasping 11 his due," he had hunted to desperation ; was
the quarrel between Parkman and Webster unknown to any one;
did no human eye behold an eccentric rich man running with money
in his hands ?
In that charity of feeling which we contended for at the outset to-
ward suspected persons, we have no charges to bring against Little-
field. But we propose to glance over his evidence for the sake of the
hypothesis, that were he on trial how would circumstances fit
him.
Early in the week of disappearance he becomes cognizant of a
quarrel existing between Dr. Parkman and Professor Webster. He
notices particularly the excited manner of the former. He remem-
bers some scientific allusions to the vault beneath the laboratory,
made by Dr. Webster, which can, in an emergency, be used with
crushing power. On the afternoon of the disappearance (although
of course he has not then heard of it), he is noting something sus-
picious about the Professor's movements. His laboratory is locked,
although that is a usual thing, and but a week before Littlefield had
denied the Professor to the painter of diagrams, because he was
locked in and busy. He notices that Dr. Webster remains late, al-
though on the night of the interview when Dr. Parkman was so ex-
cited, the Professor was equally late. On the morning after the
disappearance, he encounters Webster in the entry, and they to-
gether unlock and enter the apartments. Nothing unusual is then
seen. He parts with him, but hears someone in the laboratory long
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