Betrayed by a Button

by Caroline Conrad

There had been a murder done at Todd’s Corners—a most extraordinary thing, and the more so, that it seemed absolutely without motive, the victim being a poor, old woman, who had no enemies, so far as was known, and possessed neither money nor valuables of any kind to tempt any one. 

Todd’s Corners was a sort of country settlement, consisting of some dozen scattered houses, a post-office and store in one, and a blacksmith’s shop. 

Grandma Wagner, as the murdered woman was called, lived in an old house next to the store. She had no relatives except one granddaughter, who lived with her, and supported them both by going out to sew by the day. 

This girl usually slept at home, but chanced not to do so this time, being detained by an extra job of work, which kept her too late to come home after it was done, and she did not return until the following day at night. 

The murder had not been discovered until then, when the granddaughter, going in, found her aged relative stiff and cold in her bed, with blood all about her. 

Lucy Wagner was terribly frightened, but she did not go into hysterics or faint, as some girls would have done. 

She ran out of the house and into the store next door, startling the group lounging there—for it was still early evening—with the announcement: