The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1894-07-05
CHAPTER. ry-fcontinuea.,

My glass allowed me to observe that
the plaster was slightly scratched in
doing it, which would not have been
the case If the mans nail had been
trimmed, gathered up some scattered
ashes from the floor. 1t was dark In
color and flakey-Such an ash Is only
made by a Trichinopoly. / have made
a special study of cigar ashes-in fact,
i have written monogram upon the
subject. j fiatter myself that can dis
tinguish at a glance the ash of any
known brand either of cigar OF of to-
bacco. 1t is just in such details that
the skilled detective differs from the
Gregson and Lestrade type"
And the florid face?" / asked.
"Ah. that was the more daring shot,
though l have no doubt that / was
right. You might not ask me that at
the present state of the affair"
] passed my hand over my brow.
my head is in a whirl," remarked;
.''the more one thinks of 1t the more
mysterious it grows. How came these
two men-if there were two men-into
an empty house? What has become of
the cab man who drove them? How
could one man compel another to take
poison? Where did the blood come
from? What was the object of the MUIR
der, since robbery had no part in it?
How came the woman's ring there?
Above all, why should the second man
write ND the German word ''rache" be-
fore decamping? confess that cannot
see any possible way of reconciling all
these facts"
NY companion smiled approvingly.
Any rNf tltr
situation succinctly and well" he said.
There is much that is still obscure,
though have quite made up my mind
on the main facts. AS to poor Les
trades discovery, it was simply blind
intended to put the police upon wrong
track, by suggesting socialism and Sc
cret societies. 1t was done by n Ger
man. The A, if you noticed, was print
ed somewhat after the German fashion.
Now real German Invariably prints
in the Latin character, so that we may
safely say that this was not written by
one, but by clumsy imitator, who
overdid his part. 1t was simply a ruse
to divert inquiry into wrong channel.
I'm not going to tell you much more
of the case, doctor. You know con-
jurer gets no credit when once he has
explained his trick, and If / show you
too much Of my method of working,
you will come to the conclusion that
am very ordinary individual after
ALL"
Il shall never do that" / answered;
'.you have brought detection as near
an exact science as it eyer viii be
brought in this world"
NJ AZ
IRE at my words. and the earnest way
In which uttered them. had already
observed that he was sensitive of fat
terry on the score of his art as any girl
could be of her beauty.
.I'll tell you one thing" he said.
''Patentleather and Squape-toes came
In the same cab, and they walked down
the pathway together as friendly as
possible -arm-in-arm, in all probability
When they got inside they walked up
and down the room-or, rather, Patent
feathers stood still while Square-toes
walked up and down. could read all
that in the dust; and could read that
as he walked he grew more and more
excited. That is shown by the increas-
ed length of his strides. He was talk
ing all the while, and working himself
up, no doubt into a fury. Then the
tragedy occurred. I've told you all
know myself, now, for the rest is mere
surmise and conjecture. We have a
good working basis, however, on which
to start We must hurry up, for want
to go to Halle's concert, to hear Nor
man Neruda, this afternoon"
This conversation had occurred while
our cab had been threading It's way
through a long succession of dingy
streets and dreary by-ways. In the din
giest and dreariest Of them our driver
suddenly came to a stand. That's
Audley Court IN there" he said, point
ing to the narrow slit in the line OF
dead-colored brick. You'll lind Inc
here when you come back"
Audley Court was not On attractive
locality. The narrow passage led us
| into quadrangle paved with flags and
lined with sordid dwellings. We picked
our way among groups of dirty chill
dren and through lines of discolored
linen, until we came to No. 46, the door
| Of which was decorated with a small
| slip of brass, OH which the name Rance
was engraved On Inquiry we found
thar the constable was in bed, and we
L
to await his coming.
He appeared pres antly, looking a lit
tie irritable III being disturbed in his
| slumbers. j Iiats say report at the
Office" he said.
Holmes took a half sovereign from
his pocket a1ld played with 1T pnnsive
| ~. I'VE thought that we would like
to hear 1t all from your own lips" he
| said.
Il shall be most happy to tell you
| anything / cam" the constable an
swered, with his eyes upon the little
golden disk
Just let Hs hear it adj in your OWL
way, as it occurred I
| Rance sat down on the horSehail
sofa aud knitted his br9ws, as though
determined not to omit anything in
| his narrative.
"I'll tell 1t ye from the beginning,'
he said. MY time is from 10 at night
to in the morning. At IL there was q
/ fight at the White Hart, but, bar that
| all was quiet enough on the beat
| At 1 O'Clock it begaa to rain, and
met Archy Murehef-him Whe has the
| Holland Grove beat-and we stool to
/ gether at the corner Of Henrietta stree
a-talkin'. Presently about 2
| or little after-I thought would takt
a look around and see that all was righ
down the IpixtoR road. It was prec
ious dirty and lonely. Not q sou
did meet all the way down, though
cab or two went past ne, I was
| a-strollin' down, tlinkin' between our
selves how uncommonly handy foul
| of gin hot would be, when suddenly
CLINT of q light caught my eye il
the window Of that same house. Now
kn9v that them two houses ip Lau
riston Gardens was empty on accouq
of him that owns them, who wen
have the drains seed to, though tht
very last tenant what lived in one o,
them died q typhoid fever. wal
Knocked all In q heap, therefore, a
seeing light in the Wipdow, and
| suspected as something was wrong
When ! got to the door"
"Yo4 stopped, and then walked bacl
to the garden gate, my companion in
terYupted. What diq you do tina
forT
Rance gave n violent lump, and star