A Book of Remarkable CriminalsIrving, H. B. (Henry Brodribb)
History
A Book of Remarkable Criminals
Irving, H. B. (Henry Brodribb)
Criminals -- Biography
Littlefield, it will be remembered, had seen Dr. Parkman on the Monday
before his disappearance, when he visited Webster at the College, and
been present at the interview, in the course of which the Doctor told
Webster that "something must be done." That Monday morning Webster asked
Littlefield a number of questions about the dissecting-room vault, which
was situated just outside the door of the lower laboratory. He asked
how it was built, whether a light could be put into it, and how it was
reached for the purpose of repair. On the following Thursday, the day
before Parkman's disappearance, the Professor told Littlefield to get
him a pint of blood from the Massachusetts Hospital; he said that
he wanted it for an experiment. On the morning of Friday, the day of
Parkman's disappearance, Littlefield informed the Professor that he had
been unsuccessful in his efforts to get the blood, as they had not been
bleeding anyone lately at the hospital. The same morning Littlefield
found to his surprise a sledge-hammer behind the door of the Professor's
back room; he presumed that it had been left there by masons, and took
it down to the lower laboratory. This sledge-hammer Littlefield never
saw again. About a quarter to two that afternoon Littlefield, standing
at the front door, after his dinner, saw Dr. Parkman coming towards
the College. At two o'clock Littlefield went up to Dr. Oliver Wendell
Holmes' room, immediately above Professor Webster's, to help the Doctor
to clear his table after his lecture, which was the last delivered that
day. About a quarter of an hour later he let Dr. Holmes out, locked the
front door and began to clear out the stoves in the other lecture-rooms.
When he reached Webster's he was surprised to find that both doors, that
of the lecture room and that of the lower laboratory, were either locked
or bolted. He could hear nothing but the running of water in one of the
sinks. About half-past five Littlefield saw the Professor coming down
the back stairs with a lighted candle in his hand. Webster blew out the
candle and left the building. Late that night Littlefield again tried
the Professor's doors; they were still fastened. The janitor was
surprised at this, as he had never known such a thing to happen before.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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