A Grave Robbery.
One of the most peculiar cases with which I have ever had to deal was that of a grave robbery. The grave—or rather the vault, in which the remains of Mr. L——, a wealthy Russian (I do not give his name for reasons which will presently appear), had been deposited was found disturbed two days after the burial. Examination proved that the lid of the casket had been removed with the apparent intention of robbery. But, strange to say, no robbery had been committed. The gold rings on the fingers of the dead man had not been touched, and these were the only valuables the body contained. Why had the grave been opened? Nobody could offer an explanation, least of all I who had been detailed at the desire of the family of the dead man to sift this strange affair to the bottom, and discover, if possible, who had dared to desecrate the grave of their relative. Nothing had been taken from the body as far as the family of the dead man knew; yet the thief or thieves had plenty of time in which to rob the body if they so desired. They had not been frightened off. They had carefully covered up the grave and gone away evidently unmolested.
It was impossible to arrive at a conclusion as towhythe grave had been opened. It now lay with me to find outwhohad done it. It had rained during or previous to the time of the grave robbery, and the footprints of thoseconcerned in it—three different persons it appeared, were plainly discernible in the soft ground. The signs of carriage wheels were also present. This was my only clue upon which I had to work. I questioned the superintendent, whose office and residence was at the entrance to the cemetery. He had been away on the evening of the robbery, and could give me no information. He was confident no carriage had entered the cemetery after 10 o’clock, at which hour he had returned and locked the cemetery gates. There was only one carriage entrance to the cemetery. I had an impression at the time that the man was unnecessarily nervous in answering my questions, and seemed relieved when I got through.
A month passed and an event occurred which threw considerable light upon the mystery. The will of the late Mr. L—— had been opened and read. Among the many bequests was the following most peculiar one: “I bequeath to John Johnson, the dentist (with address), a certain gold-capped tooth in my lower jaw, and request that he extract this and preserve it according to the terms of an agreement made between us many years ago.” This not only threw light upon, but complicated the mystery. Perhaps the grave had been opened to allow the dentist to claim his strange legacy. Once more the body was disinterred by the friends of the dead man. The gold-capped tooth was missing from the lower jaw.
I next called upon John Johnson, the dentist.Despite his American name I could see that he was a foreigner—a Russian, I was certain.
I mentioned the occasion of my visit. “Did you open the grave of Mr. L—— and remove a certain gold-capped tooth from the mouth of the dead man?” I asked, point blank.
Mr. Johnson seemed at a loss how to reply. At last, he said “No.”
“Then the cemetery superintendent was wrong. You did not drive in with two companions in a carriage, and this is not your card which I picked up near the grave of Mr. L——?” said I, showing him one of his business cards which I had surreptitiously obtained. “You might as well confess. You were only getting your rights, after all, but why did you go about it in such an underhanded way?”
“I don’t understand you.”
“Are you not acquainted with the contents of Mr. L——’s will, the gold-capped tooth and all?”
“Did he put that in the will?” inquired the dentist in a surprised tone.
“Then you do know something about it?”
“Yes; it is a strange story, and if you will promise—nay, swear—never to reveal it, I will tell it to you. Do you swear?”
Something in the manner and bearing of the man told me that he was no thief, and I readily promised what he asked, and he told me the following strange story: