Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-10-12

and on which side were they?"
I told him didn't know.
Was either side of the paper stained a
light yellow, as II it had been exposed for
a long period to the sun?''
I didn't know.
WAS there small blot of red ink in the
upper right-hand side of the paper on the
reverse side?'
I didn't know.
"Of course you DON'T" exclaimed Sherlock
Holmes. jumping to his feet. 'If this
wasn't the simplest case in the world 1
would have to find something about 1t. I
suppose the lawyers and the reporters have
spent their time identifying the signatures
and endeavoring to learn at what letter box
the document was dropped That Is the
way the Scotland Yard mushheads go to
work. They concoct theories and then try
to work them out. Come here tomorrow
evening Same time"
Sherlock Holmes then crossed the room,
and, taking up a violin that lay on chair,
began playing a dainty waltz, his appear
ance showing that he had become Obvious
to my presence. I withdrew from the room
first time since my call, breathed easily. I
firmly believed had escaped from the pres
ence Of a crank: but my curiosity caused
me to visit the house again on the follow
ing evening.
Upon calling on Sherlock Holmes a second
time found the detective engaged in the
performance of a Jig, waving his arms In
frantic manner. The door to his room
for several minutes. When he did observe
me he bowed politely and said he was TAX
ing his usual after-dinner exercise. He in
vited me to a table in the center Of the
room and lighted the gas. the room on my
arrival being lighted only from an electric
light on the street. He produced photo
graphic copy of the burned will and laid it
on the table. Then he brought out another
sheet of paper, partly burned. and laid 1t
over the will I at once saw that the burn
ing was exactly the same on both sheets.
The holes made in the paper of the will
corresponded with those on the sheet of
paper he had placed on 1t. When laid to-
gether it appeared evident that the two
pieces of paper must have been together
when partly consumed by the fire. 1t SEEM
ed impossible for human effort to have pro-
duced such a result except by burning both
sheets at one time; but / realized that the
real significance Of the similarity In the
partial destruction of the sheets must be
found in the explanation that Sherlock
Holmes was to make. and for the first time
began to regard seriously the queer antics
of my newly made acquaintance.
Read" he said. pointing 10 some faint
marks on the sheet of paper.
He handed me a magnfying glass, and l
read:
Cancelled To be burned"
THAT handwriting said Mr.. Holmes,
sis in the hand of Judge Holt. That can
plainly DE seen. These papers. among
others. were put aside to he destroyed and
this inscription shows that the judge left
were partially burned over an open graf
wood fire. Had they been burned over a
gas jet they would not have had these
small holes through the center Of the
sheets. But while they were over the fire
in the hands of the servant the import
ance Of the paper was recognized. and it
was withdrawn from the flames in time
1o this Tns fact is esse Holt To- a
burned thought he was writing on the
back Of his will, which was 10 be
made Of no effect. These two papers were
on his desk and stuck together. See"
said Mr.. Holmes. pointing to very faint
yellow stains on the back of the sheet in
dorsed Cancelled. To be burned" II
have analysed those stains and find they
contain gum arabic. small drops of which
had fallen on the leaf and caused the two
sheets to adhere. Similar spcts should be
found on The back of the will. and upon
chemical examination it will be found to
| contain gum arabic. l have not seen the
original sheet of the WILL but that little
chain in the evidence, ! presume, may be
left to the paid lawyers in the case or to
the newspapers.
do you see? These papers were stuck
together when Judge Holt thought he was
writing cancellation on the back of his
will The servant started to burn the
papers and then saved the will, throwing
the sheet in my hand here away. 1t was
this sheet" he said holding it in his hand,
that was nearest to the fire, is is evil
denced by the fact that II is yellow from
the heat. In just such position the
| writing OF the will would be visible to the
person burning the papers,
How is i: that the blank sheet was not
burned when the servant decided to save
the will?"
THAT is easily accounted for. Discover
ing that something of value was being
burned the person doing the work walked
from the fire and to the light to read what
was on the paper more carefully. The
blank sheet found sticking to the will was
then thrown IN the waste basket and the
" i'll was saved"
But. Mr.. Holmes" l said. "how do YOU
know that these papers ever we-e together?
You have discovered the servant who
mailed the WILL" 1 said. continuing to
grow interested. "or else your theory is
clever. but of NJ value"
Theory" said Holmes II have no
theory. I have facts. 1 have discovered
this odd sheet of paper at a junk shop"
my amusement vas wasting my time
with crank and actually taking his raw
ings for the wisdom of great detective.
When saw that the will had been burn
ed, concluded" said Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
that other papers had been destroyed at
the same time Men very seldom burn
single parer. There are desk cleaning
tines, when men rummage over tn cir old
papers and destroy what is not wanted.
Although Judge Holt rs said to have been
eccentric. I had no reason to believe that
he differed from other men in that respect"
But 1 objected, where did you dis
cover this paper?'
THE simplest thing in the world" said
Mr.. Holmes. Il concluded that a man of
Judge Hollis prominence must have had
many papers. While he kept great quanti-
ties Of these papers to the day of his DEATH
he also laid aside many others to be burn
ed during the long Illness that preceded his
death. 1t Is usual for men to burn only
especially important papers. while other
documents less important are thrown aside
and generally are sold by servants to the
junk shops for the few pennies that may
be SO secured. This partly burned paper
found its way into the junk shop in that
way"
But how do you know all this?" per-
sisted, fully believing that the man was ro-
nlancing.
II have the most satisfactory evidence OF
it, said Mr.. Holmes. II discovered that
in Washington. as in all large cities, the
junk dealers have divided the town among
themselves. In extraordinary cases waste
paper may find its way into any junk shop,
but as rule. paper in any particular Sec
ton gets into a particular junk shop.
Where there are but small quantities of such
paper. it is usually given to the ash man,
but in the case of Judge Hollis house. there
was such 4 quantity of paper that it was
probably sold to a dealer at so much a
pound. I have not thought it necessary to
determine this detail. or could tell exact
ly how 1t left the house. But that it got
into the shop of a dealer in the southeast
ern mart of the cify there is no dnuht