FAMOUS MYSTERIES.

NZ Truth, Issue 138, 8 February 1908, Page 7

FAMOUS MYSTERIES.

The Strange Death of Lieutenant Roper.

(By Ladbroke Black.) Of all the criminal mysteries which the. intelligence of man has failed to solve, the murder of Lieut. Percy!.. O. Roper, R.E., is one of the most reiparkable. There arc circumstances connected "With this strange case which distinguish it m many cases from other famous mysteries. - The time occupied by the tragedy was so -short, scarcely more than 10 minutes, and the surroundings m which the deed was done were so confined and shut m, that the escape of the murderer can be regarded as northing short of miraculous. Moreover, the most searching exanjitfafion ot witnesses, the most careful sifting of evidence, failed' to faring to light any motive for the crime. When THE TOUCHSTONE OP FACTS is applied to the many theories regarding the murder they dissolve at once into nothing. At 8.30 a young officer is dining at mess ; at 8.45 he is found m a dying- condition "on the staircase lead-*' ing to "his' quarters, with a bullet through his heart. The weapon with which the deed was committed lies nea^ at hand. It is proved ,to be tbe property of a fellow officer. This officer is playing cards at the time of the murder, and therefore the weapon must have been Stolen 1 from his rooms by the murderer; Now the two main motives fot shedding blood are hate and greed. But. neither of these motives explains the case of Lieut. Roper's death. He had not a single enemy. It was proved that he was liked by everybody that knew him, therefore hate cannot have inspired , THE ACT OP THE CRIMINAL. ' Again, had the motive of the murderer been robbery, he might just us well have burgled the quarters of . the officer from whom he stole the revolver. But m the latter's rooms not a thing was touched, and only one trifling piece of jewellery was found out of place m Lieut. Roper's rooms. What was the. motive for the crime?In that question is contained the greater part of the mystery with which Lieut. Roper's death is enshrouded. , I summarise these outstanding features of the case so' that the reader may get a clear view of this extraordinary mystery. Here is the grim stoty itself. ...-.•■ * * During Friday, February 11, 1881, life at the Brompton Barracks, Chatham, -follow.- 1 , to all appearances, its ordinary course. i Among the officers stationed there was a young man of 21, Lieut. Percy. Lyon Ormsby Roper, of the Royal Engineers. He had just completed his .course, of instruction at the School of Military Engineering, and Was due to report himself at the iWa_.<Office-.on the following Monday,, before PROCEEDING ON EXTENDED . v LEAVE ' to visit his relatives m Germany. That evening, between the . hours of 5 and v 6, he attended his last lecture. After . that he returned to his quarters to ■ dress for mess. He was m the highest spirits, glad possibly that he had bidden good-bye to the : class-room for some time to come, and had few more irksome duties

to perform, before setting out fot the Continent. . The officers sat down to mess at half-past seven. Shortly after lie had taken his seat Lieut. Roper , received a hastily-scribbled note from his great friend, Lieut. Stewart Davidson There was an entertainment on that night m the town, and his friend wanted him to come to it as soon as the mess was over; ROPER SCRIBBLED BACK - IN REPLY, "Dear Sir,— l' want to finish a letter ; but would be glad to go a little later.— Yours, P.L.0.R." Several of the officers rose and left before dinner was finished, but Lieut. Davidson and Lieut. Roper stayed on until the wine bad been passed round. The seats oh both sides of the latter had been vacated when he called his servant, Williaifc Gallagher, a pensioned sergeant of the Royal Marines, to his side, and gave him instructions about calling him the following morning. Lieut. Davidson spoke to his friend, trying to persuade him to change his mind about the entertainment. The other replied that he could not accompany him,: as he had a letter to finish, and that he would join him later. "You had better hurry up," he added, "or you won't get a seat." Two minutes later, at 8.30 precise^ ly, Lieut. Roper left the mess-room. Ris friend followed a couple of minutes afterwards, and, having PROCURED HIS FORAGE CAP from his quarters m No. 10 house, went straight off to the theatre. Prom the mess room Lieut. Roper made his way to No. 9 house, a blocto of - buildings set apart solely for the use ' of officers and their servants. His sitting-room had just been set to rights by Mrs Gallagher, his servant's wife, who had left only a lew. seconds beforehand. A bright fire was burning on the hearth, and, lighting a few candles, he sat down at the table to polish off the remainder of his correspondence. "Dear Mrs Adams,— l finally go up to the A.A.G-. on Monday, and as probably that will take all day " So far he got, and then something strange and mysterious happened which induced him to lay his pen aside, so it proved, for eternity. Outside m the barrack square it was a clear moonlight night. The whole place was strangely silent, for the entertainment m the town had attracted many of the officers, and a penny reading and other amusements had drawn off the private soldiers. In the basement of No. 10 house, where the servants lived and the kitchens were situated, William Gallagher was changing his mess clothes prior to going to fetch his supper beer.. His wife was out shopping, but returned before he had completed bis toilet. Shortly after she entered there was a noise from above stairs, a noise like someone "KICKING A TIN BATH." "Some of the young gentlemen skylarking," said Gallagher. Mrs Gerside, wife of James G-er-side, the servant of Lieut. " H. K. Stothert, who occupied quarters m an adjoining house, suddenly heard some dogs belonging to Lieut; Vidal begin to bark furiously, and she promptly set off to quieten them. Jarncs Sharp, who was on sentry duty m front of No. 9 house, heard at the same time "a kind of crack," followed by the barking of the dogs. Then there was "a low groaning noise" as if "somehody was calling to somebody else." Raising his eyes, he saw a window m that part of the building from

which the noise came, siowly raised. He watohed for some time, but nothing happened. He heard no voices, and saw nobody leave, and thinking, like William Gallagher, that it was only some of the young gentlemen skylarking, .he continued patrolling Adam C.dgg, another sentry, whose beat took Win within SO paces of No. 9 house, heard and saw nothing. A sound like THE BREAKING OF CHINA ■ caught the ear of a third sentry on duty at the gateway, but he gave the matter no thought, , Margaret Couth, one of the female servants employed m the barracks, heard a slight "cracking sound as -she walked across the square, ahd the 'barking of dogs. She stopped a mioment at the foot of the staircase, leading to Lieut. Roper's quartos, and listened, but heard, no l\nU.et sound, nor saw aavnody come out ox tne quarters. „ ' . Meanwhile, Mrs Gerside, having calmed the frightened dogs, was returning to her own quarters, when she saw the figure of a m_.n clad m officers' mess dress lying on the Staircase. . Imagining that someone was playing a ioke, she took no notice of the recumbent figure beyond telling William •Gallagher, whom she met outside, that one of the gentlemen was lying on the staircase. Gallagher s curiosity was sufficiently esrcited to induce -him to go with bis wife to see what was the matter.. '■■'.., + Light on the staircase was bad, but the moonlight poured m from the window, enabling the servant and his wife to see the FIGURE ON THE STAIRS. The man had his face to the railings of the bannisters. As he lay motionless, Gallagher stooped over him, and turned him over to see who it was. In doing so the man groped, and on looking down the old soldier saw that it was his master, Lieut. ROpet. j j.w«,__ i Startled by the groans and the limpness of the figure, Gallagher examined the yonng offioer -moire carefully, and discovered, to his horror tnat blood was pouring from A WOUND IN HIS SIDE. Leaving him with his wife, he rushed outside, greatly alarmed, to summon #j QD j S_i__'__C_. At the foot of the staircase he met Colonel Duff, assistant commander of the School of Military Engineering. "Oh, sir, my master 1" he exclaimed. "Someone has stabbed him." >; Co'bnel Duff quickly accompanied him back to the spot where Lieut. Roper lay. After examining lum for a few moments he turned to Gallagher and said : "He is not stabbed. He is shot. Someone has shot him or ihe has shot h'-iself. - ■ G-ently they carried him up to his sitting-room and laid him' on the sof„. A doctor was soon at hand. A cursory examination showed that a bullet had passed between the fifth and sixth rib, PIERCING THE RIGHT VENTICLE OF THE HEART. What could be. done was done for the unfortunate man, but before the clock struck 10 he had. passed away, never having recovered consciousness or being able to throw any light on the mysterious fate that bad overtaken him. ' - , While he still lay a-dying, search was made 0* the staircase, and a note was taken of the condition Of the room. On the top stair was discovered' a six-chamber revolver with five loaded chambers. The cartridge m the sixth chamber had been exploded. Near by was a cartridge-case and the poker from Lieut. Roper's fireplace. Scattered about on the stairwere five or six cartridges loose, but there were no cartridges m the oase. On an adjoining window ledge was FOUND THE LIEUTENANT'S WATCH - and a bundle of his clothing. In the sitting-room two drawers were found I open, and the cover had been pulled off a box. But* everything else was left undisturbed. The candles were still burning, the unfinished letter to Mrs Adams lay on the blotting pad. , Nothing had been stolen, nothing had been taken away, and the murderer had left, behind him not a single clue which could lead to the discovery; of his ; identity. a . a ,a _ Murder it was undoubtedly. The medical evidence proved conclusively that the fatal shot could not have been fired by the victim himself. Whoever the murderer was, he had placed the revolver so that it touched the Victim's clothes, a fact deduced partly from the discovery that the lieutenant's under garments were more -burnt than his waistcoat, and partly by the astonishing circumstance that nobody had heard the sound of the revolver being fired. The pressing of the muzzle close against the waistcoat would, it was held, deaden the sound of the explosion. The police were called m but all that they were able to accomplish was the discovery of the ownpr of the revolver. It was found to belong to Lieut. Stothert, who had his quarters m No. 10 house adjoining. The discovery, however, was absolutely valueless, and no one knew how the murderer had become possessed of the weapon. Lieut. Stothert himself had gone straight from the mess to the cardroom, where he remained till after THE DISCOVERY OF THE CRIME. The revolver, which was quite a new one, he had won as a prize, and it hung m its case by the side of his bed. To obtain possession of it the murderer must have gone into his room. He must have taken it, moreover, some time during the day, for it had been cleaned and oiled and replaced by James Gerside that very morning. The cartridges found on the staircase near the dead man must have ■ been specially purchased by the mys- ; terious criminal. For Lieut. Stoth- ■ crt had no ammunition m his pos- ! session which fitted the weapon. I Inquiries m the neighborhood j brought to light the place where the I cartridges , had been purchased. They | had been purchased by a tall, milii tary-looking man of about 35 years of age, before 4.30 and 5.30 on the [ evening of the tragedy, from Edward ; Palmer, ammunition dealer, Highj street, Rochester. j . Mr Palmer remembered the circumstance quite well. A man had asked for some of "YOTTR DECIMAL FIVE CAPTRTrtOFS." This bore was a Government bore,

which Mr Palmer did" hot often keep m stock, as It was not much m demand. All the drawers m Lieut. Stothert's room were opened. There was money • and jewellery lying about, which, had they been the object of the criminal, he might have taken aswell as the revolver. Suspicion pointed to the conclusion that the murderer was one of the inmates of the barracks. No single person was produced Who sawany stranger leave the house m which tho murdered main lived, or the barracks just before or after the commission of the deed. It would seem, too, that the night of the crime had been carefully selected. An entertainment m the town had emptied the barracks, and comparatively few people were, therefore, about. But this fact Would not be knowh to an outsider or any chance burglar. Robbery clearly was not th© motive, for nothing was touched m Lieut. Stothert's rooms, which THE MURDERER HAD FIRST VISITED. The discovery of the poker on the staircase seemed to show that Lieut. Roper Was disturbed m his letterwriting by some marauder, that he seized this homely weapon with which to pursue his mysterious visitor, and that m following him downstairs he met liis death. But no evidence was adduced to show why anybody should have wished to compass the young officer'| # de-. struotion. He was amiable, kind-hearted, generous, and ,one of the steadiest young I fellows at Chatham. He had no feud with anybody ; he had done nobody an injury. Why, then, was he killed 1 (The Government offered a reward of a hundred pounds, which was increased by the officers of the Royal Engineers to two hundred, and six months later to seven hundred. But the murderer was never discovered. On the following May 1 some boys playing on the ch&B oliffs m the rear of the. mess room found a box containing 28 revolver cartridges, precisely similar m size to the one with which Lieut. Roper was shot, but whether they were hidden there by the murderer or not has never been found out. The circumstances attending the crime are so mysterious and uncanny, —the immunity of the criminal so extraordinary— that one is almost forced to the unnatural conclusion that the fatal shot must have been fired by some ghostly hand.