Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-07-12
CHAPTER. Iv-(Contipp.5

' S"7S "noNtu NE 10 observe tina
the plaster was slightly scratched In
DONG 1t, which would not have been
the case If the mans nail had been
trimmed. l gathered up some scattered
ashes from the floor. 1t was dark In
color II f~akey-such an ash is only
MADE by a T~richinopOly. I have made
a special study Of cigar ashes-in fact.
1 have written a monogram upon the
subject. / tiatter myself that l can dis
unguish at a glance the ash of any
known brand either Of cigar or of to-
bacco. 1t is just in such details that
the skilled detective differs from the
Gregson and Lestrade type"
And the fiOrid faceT" | asked.
An, 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"
l passed my hand over my brow.
MY head Is In a whirl," I remarked;
the more n 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 up the German word "rache' be-
fore decamping? / confess that l cannot
see any possible way of %reconciling all
these facts"
My companion smiled approvingly.
You sum up the difficulties of the
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 Door Les
trades discovery, 1t was simply q blind
intended to put the police upon a wrong
track, by suggesting socialism and Sc
cret societies. 1t was done by a Ger
man. The A, If you noticed, was print
ed somewhat after the German fashion.
Now a real German invariably prints
In the Latin character, SO that we may
safely say that this was not written by
one, but by a clumsy imitator, who
overdid his part. 1t was simply a ruse
TO divert inquiry into a wrong channel.
I'm not going to tell you much more
Of the case, doctor. You know a 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 a very ordinary individual after
all"
II shall never do that" I answered.;
''yOu have brought detection as near
an exact science as it ever will be
brought in this world"
My companion flushed up with pleas
ure at my words. and the earnest way
In which | uttered them. / had already
observed that he was sensitive of fiat
terry on the score Of his art as any girl
could be of her beauty.
IN tell you II thing" he said.
"Patent-leather and Square-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 l 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 n fury. Then the
tragedy occurred. I've told you all |
know myself, now, for the rest is mere
surmise and conjecture. We have q
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
z,,. n,L hnI hnan Threading ifs W1V
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. "Ihats
Audley Court IN there" he said, point
ing to the narrow slit in the OF
dead-colOred brick. You'll n Inc
here when you come back
Audley Court was not on attractive
locality. The narrow passage led us
into a quadrangle paved with fiags u
lined with sordid dwellings. we plcked
our way among groups of dirty chi.
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, on which the name Rance
was engraved On Inquiry we fouhd
thar the constable was in bed, ana we
were shown into a little front parlor,
to await his coming.
lie appeared presently, looking a ht-
tie irritable at being disturbed IN ms
slumbers. II made my report at the
Officer he said.
Holmes took a half sovereign from
his pockct and played with 1t pansive-
Iv. I'VE thought that we would hRe
to hear it all from your W hps' lie
said.
II shall be most happy to tell you
ANYTHING I can," the constable a n
swercd, with his eyes upon the h''ie
golden disk.
".Just let us hear 1t all in your w
way. as it occurred"
Rance sat down on the horsehar
sofa and knitted his brows, as though
determined not to omit anything III
his narrative, u.
'IIl tell ii ye from the beginning,
no said. "Nfy time Is from 10 at night
70 @ In the morning. At IL there wasa
fight Mt the White Hart but, bar mat
ali was quiet enough on tne peat,
At 1 o'clock 1t began to ram, II
met Archy Murcher-him VINO mas ue
Holland Grove b~eat-and we stool 10,
gether at the corner OF Henrietta sueet
a-talkin'. Presently-maybe ABOUT :,
or a little after-I thought l would Jake
n look around and see that all was rieht
ur +ho pJyton road. It was pfec-