The case even then was a remarkable one, and one which would have defied any theoretical detective. The police proved that it was impossible that Devel should be confessing in order to shield Holz--first, because he never knew Holz; and second, because the police had informed him that the real murderer was in custody, in order to discover a reason for his confession. It was suspected that Devel was partly insane and seeking notoriety. Everything in his life refuted that idea. He was a quiet, orderly citizen, who seldom read newspapers, and who neither was interested in crime or criminals. He owned a small business in Lubeck, attended to it strictly, drank little, and apparently was as sane as any one. SEARCHING FOR MOTIVE OF CONFESSION. The case worried the police officials. The absolute lack of reason for Devel's confession stimulated their curiosity. He was held in custody for weeks, and then the police gave up in despair, and, as Holz had been arrested and had confessed to everything, the release of Devel was ordered. The order of release proved the move that revealed the truth. When he was told that he was free to return home, Devel broke down and begged the police to keep him in prison, to hang him, to poison him, but not to send him home. In his agony he confessed that the only reason he confessed the murder was that he desired to get hanged, and that he preferred hanging to life with his wife. The hard-hearted police set him free--literally threw him out of the prison, and he returned to his wife in Lubeck. The following day he resumed charge of his business. An English correspondent visited Devel in his shop and made certain inquiries of him regarding the case. As the hanging editor would say, "the condemned man was nervous." He was afraid his wife would read what he said, but the correspondent finally got him to tell. "I desired to be hung," said Devel, mournfully. "Life is not worth the living, and with my wife it is worse than death. If I had been hanged no other man would marry my wife, and I would save them from my fate. Many times have I planned to kill myself to escape her. That is sin, and I lack the bravery to kill myself, besides. If they will not hang me I must continue to live with my wife." Devel states, among other things, that these are the chief grievances against married life in general, and his wife in particular: She was slender, and became fat and strong. She was beautiful, and became ugly and coarse. She was tender, and grew hard. She was loving, and grew virulent. She grew whiskers on her chin. She called him "pig." She wore untidy clothes, and her hair was unkempt. She refused to give him beer. Her breath smelled of onions and of garlic. She threw hot soup upon him. She continually upbraided him because there were no children. She scolded him in the presence of neighbors.