Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1895-03-14

'te11Ns - AIAAA0SyH E-~4@sA6 VI AAo 10y
to the dairy, happened towalk down tha
lane which leads from the news at the
back Of the hotel He noticed that a
ladder, which usually lay there, was
raised against one Of the windows Of the
second floor, which was wide open. Aft
er passing he looked back and saw q
man descend the ladder. He came down
so quietly and openly that the boy i'm
agined him to be some carpenter or
Joiner at work in the hotel. He took no
particular notice of him beyond think
ing in his own mind that 1t was early
for him to be at work He has an i'm
preston that the man was tall, had a
reddish face and was dressed in long
brownish coat. He must have staid in
the room some little time after the muir
der, for we found blood stained water in
the basin, where he had washed his
hands, and marks on tho sheets where
he lad deliberately wiped his knife"
l glanced at Holmes ON hearing the
description of the murderer, which tai
lied so exactly with his own. There was,
however, no trace Of exultation or satis-
faction upon his face.
Ibid you find nothing in the room
which could furnish clew to the muir
derer?" he asked.
Nothing. Stangerson had Drebber's
purse in his pocket, but 1t seems that
this was usual, IS he did all the paying.
There was eighty odd pounds in it, but
nothing had been taken. Whatever the
motives Of these extraordinary crimes,
is certainly not one Of them.
There were no papers or memoranda in
the murdered man s pocket, except sim
gle telegram, dated from Cleveland
about a month ago and containing the
words, j. II. is in Europe There was
no name appended to this message.
"And there was nothing else?"
Holmes asked.
Nothing of any Importance. The
mans novel, with which he had read
himself to sleep, was lying upon the bed,
and his pipe was on chair beside him.
There was glass of water on the table,
nuu OA tuo WluuOW slll bIudlA Oulp
ointment box containing couple Of
pills. "
Sherlock Holmes sprang from his
chair with an exclamation of delight.
''The last link" he cried exultantly.
"My case is complete.
The two detectives stared at him in
amazement
81 have now in my hands," my COM
panion said confidently, sail the threads
which have formed such a tangle. There
are, Of course, details to be filed in, but
l am as certain of all the main facts,
from the time that Drebber parted from
Stangerson at the station up to the dis
oovery of the body of the latter, as if 1
had seen them with my own eyes, I
will give you a proof of my knowledge.
Could you lay your hand upon those
pills?'
81 have them," said Lestrade, pro-
ducing small white box. II took them,
and the purse, and the telegram, in
tending to have them put in a place Of
safety at the police station. 1t was the
merest chance, my taking these pills, for
I am bound to say that do not attach
any Importance to them"
'Give them here" said Holmes.
"Now, DOCTOR" turning to me, "are
those ordinary pills?"
They certainly were not. They were
of pearly gray color, small, round and
almost transparent against the light.
"From their lightness and transparency
I should imagine that they are soluble
in water" I remarked.
Precisely so," answered Holmes.
"Now, would you mind going down and
fetching that poor little devil of ter
rier which has been bad so long, and
which the landlady wanted you to put
out of its pain yesterday"
went down stairs and carried the
dog up stairs in my arms. Its labored
breathing and glazing eye showed that
it was not far from its end. Indeed its
snow white muzzle proclaimed that it
had already exceeded the usual term of
canine existence. I placed it upon a
cushion on the rug.
"I will now cut one Of these pills in
two," said Holmes, and drawing his
penknife he suited the action to the
word. Zone half we return into the box
for the future purposes. The other half
I will place in this wineglass, in which
is teaspoonful of water. You perceive
that our friend, the doctor, is right, and
that it readily dissolves "
"This may be very interesting, said
Lestrade in the injured tone of one
who suspects that he is being laughed
at. II cannot see, however, what it has
to do with the death of Mr.. Joseph
Stangerson.
Patience. my friend, patience! You
will find in time that it has everything
to do with it, ! shall now add little
milk to make the mixture palatable, and
on presenting it to the dog we find that
he laps it up readily enough"
As he spoke he turned the contents Of
the wineglass into saucer and placed
it in front of the terrier, who speedily
licked it dry. Sherlock Holmes earnest
demeanor had SO far convinced us that
we all sat in silence, watching the ami
NAL intently and expecting some star
tling effect. None such appeared, how
ever. The dog continued to lie stretched
upon the cushion, breathing in labore6
way, but apparently neither the better
nor the worse for its draft. e.
Holmes had taken out his watch, ant
as minute followed minute without re-
suit an expression of the utmost cha
grin and disappointment appeared upor
his features He gnawed his lip, drum
med his fingers upon the table ant
showed every other symptom of acut'
impatience So great was his emotion
that / felt sincerely sorry for him, whil'
the two detectives smiled derisively, b.
no means displeased at this check which
he had met.
SIT can't be coincidence, he cried