The Open Curtain by Brian Evenson Page B

Young turned his eyes on the speaker deliberately and looked hard at him with no sign of recognition. If there was any effort in his assumption of indifference it was not visible. There was a long pause. Finally, as if he thought he was expected to say something, he answered.
    “I don’t know you.”
    “Of course, you know me,” said Levy, placing his hand on his former friend’s shoulder.
    Young without a trace of emotion, responded:
    “You should be sure of your identification. This is a terrible crime for which I am held.”
    After this, at the command of the officers, the prisoner divested himself of his clothing, so that Levy might make the identification more certain…. It was then that the man admitted for the first time that he was William Hooper Young.
    When questioned about his guilt, Young answered cryptically, “Yes and No,” and “hinted at the existence of an accomplice in the murder,” though at this stage he would not identify an accomplice by name, nor would he quite admit to having been involved in the crime. He failed to give any account for his movements since leaving his flat after the murder, nor would he give the police any information as to his whereabouts during the time the body of the woman remained in his room.
    Once Young was caught, the full and complete contents of the trunk sent to Chicago could be revealed.
    When they raised the lid the first thing that came in sight was a sword-shaped stiletto, with a blade several inches long and an ivory handle. The blade was covered with bloodstains.
    In a paper bag touching the knife were half a dozen mixed cakes, the same which the murdered woman had bought in the bakery at Seventh Avenue and Forty-eighth Street ten minutes after she left her husband last Tuesday night, and a few minutes before she was lured or consented to go to the place where death awaited her. The next thing to come in sight was her set of false teeth, one of which was missing, and under them, covered with blood stains, were skirts and underwear. A switch of false hair and a pair of gloves were sandwiched in with the other articles. The sidesof the trunk were streaked with blood. In one corner was a big splotch.
    Besides the things already mentioned there were found in the trunk the missing bedclothes from the Young apartment … three pairs of men’s old shoes, Young’s trousers and coat, vest, and undershirt … some red pepper, a hairpin, a bent safety pin … Some of the clothing was torn. There were also stains on the man’s clothing and on a broken comb and pocketbook found at the very bottom of the trunk.
    Young’s father, in Paris, sent a cable urging Young to cooperate, promising to stand by him if he did so. He engaged a lawyer, William F. S. Hart, who expressed the opinion that if Young were guilty he “was certainly insane. He did not think him guilty, however….”
    A newspaper from Portland, where Young had once lived, suggested, “Young seemed to be a man who was easily influenced, and his friends say it was always possible for him to be led into anything, if inducements were offered. He was very studious and carried a Bible with him all the time. He was very fond of discussing religious topics and, when not at work, was to be found reading Biblical literature.” The Seattle Chief of Police telegraphed New York, saying that Young was wanted on two charges of forgery.
    Rudd’s eyes had begun to hurt. He stood up, stretched his arms, headed for the door. Lael kept reading, paying no attention to where Rudd was going. Rudd left the reading room, walked down the hallway until he found a drinking fountain. He stood pressing the button, the water bubbling out, waiting for it to get cold.
    When he got back, Lael had taken his chair. He had flipped forward to the next day, the next article. Rudd sat behind him, read over his shoulder, squinting sometimes to make out the words.
    Young Says Another Did Actual Murder

    Protests He Tried to Revive Mrs. Pulitzer