Passaic City record., 1891-10-10
PAssAIC CITY RECORD PAssAIC CITY j. OCTOBER TO-

suggestions, ana Oil that only put me OF
my business.
Work alone, if you like, with all my
heart. Only don't prevent ue from work.
ing, too. Let each go on our own way,
until, at least, you wish it otherwise.
That's fair enough" said Hasnip,
more cordially. Anyhow, come in"
We entered the bedroom.
Il think it will be the best to lock the
door inside" went on the detective.
I'VE shall be safe from all interruption
then"
To be locked in room with the corpse
of q murdered man, even when that room
was frightened by the full rays of a Sep
tember sun, and filled with the sounds of
life in progress upon the beach below.
was enough to maze one snuuder. could
not prevent myself from looking at the
bed. 1t was there-the body-a white
mass, covered decently with q clean
sheet, motionless but not shapeless, tell
Ing its story of death and horror only too
plainly.
Ny companion meanwhile had set to
work in business-like manner. He had
evidently been taught to conduct search
as part Of his profession; and while was
lingering, sentimentally gazing at the
ped, he had gone straight to the dead
without difficulty.
There were few shirts, suit of
,lothes, pair of thin shoes, collar-box
of cardboard, and that was literally all.
Not a scrap of paper. nothing whatever.
written or priuted, to help us in our in
uuiry. The linen was not marked. The
only referen ce to the owner was an ad-
dress label-a piece of coarse yellow
paper-pasted on the top.
This label bora the name, Joseph
Cooch," with the words, Passenger to
London underneath. the whole written
in a large, struggling hand.
He has q foreign look, rather; so has
his handwriting. This name under which
he was registered at the hotel was proba-
bly, false" said.
I'VE shall know where he halls from
when we know what brought him here;
and I expect we shall have to wait till
then before we lay hands on his murder
er." replied Hasnip.
He bundled the clothes back into the
portmanteau and dropped on to his knee.
At this moment he was near the dressing
table, with his back to the light. In this
attitude he crawled slowly along the car
pet, inch by inch, circling round the hide
Gus spot in the center where the half dried
pool of blood still stained the floor, and
ending at the bed. He searched the whole
room in this way, and last of all lifted the
valance of the bed and disappeared un-
derneath.
l. on the other hand, having thus
watched the detective for a time, began
to work on my own account. l stood
erect where was, and made a slow, care
full survey of the room, its furniture, and
it's fittings throughout, from the door to
the window AS my eye rested on the
latter meditatively, I remembered that 1t
gave upon balcony. 1t was an ordinary
window, but the panes were of plate
glass, and the lower sash reached to the
floor.
With the idea of further Investigating
the balcony l approached the window,
and found to my surprise that it was open
a few inches from the ground. How long
had this been the case? From the early
morning? 1t was impossible to fix this
with any certainty at the moment, but
knew that if the window had been open
at the time of our first irruption into No.
90, the fact had escaped my observation,
and, so far as / knew, that of every one
else The point of the open window was
one to note for future consideration,
closely affecting as it did the question Of
access to the death chamber.
Meanwhile, as Hasnip was still under
the bed, lifted the sash and stepped out
on to the balcony. AS the manager had
said, it did not serve No. SO alone. That
room was at the end OF corridor; it was
really corner room in the northern flank
of the building. The Grand Hotel, By
thesea, consisted of central block, with
two square fanks slightly in advance of
the center. The balcony now stood on
encircled one of these squares, and was
apparently an external means of COM
munication with all the rooms belonging
to this part of the building, an important
fact, bearing closely on this same ques-
tion of access to No. 80.
I did not think it fair to pursue this
fresh scent alone. and turned to re- en-
ter the bedroom. AS my foot was on the
window sill, something lying amid the
long hair of the wool-mat below, and gilt
tering in the sunlight, caught my eye. I
stopped at once and picked up tortoise
she'll hairpin.