Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-03-21

'Not yet replied the detective. but he
is working down to him rapidly. That man
has more than the Instinct of Il bloodhound.
The hound must hunt for the trail, but
Mr.. Stalbridge knows where the trail is
without hunting for it,
II should view such knowledge with sus-
picion," said l.
ooh come nov ;" retorted Johnson good
naturedlv, you are doing your friend an
injustice. To say nothing of his charac ter,
it is impossible to suspect him of any par
t;cipation in this crime. Certainly nobody
could suffer more tlan he does by the death
of Mr. Davis
Mr. Norman is here, suppose?'
NO, he is not here. We have been I'M
able to find him.
Il had the .same luck" said johnson.
some slight token of interest appearing in
his mechanically expressionless voice. Il
called at his rooms twice.
"What fcr?" / demanded.
Il hardly kr ew what for the first time"
he replied; but the second time l was after
this"
He showed me a st!letto with a jeweled
handle 1 knew it well. having seen 1t Of
ten in NormaE's rooms where there was a
rubbishy lot of quaint weapons with few
that were interesting and valuable.
johnson" said I, IF you let stalbridge
induce you to drag Norman into this case
you'll make an awful mistake"
MIR. Stalbridge doesn't Urge it, he re-
Piled. Il think he suspects somebody else.
But I can't overlook Norman altogether.
lou see, tTlS TaliTOau DuSlHeSS brings nlm
into the case, and if l don't hunt him up
the newspapers will jump on me. That's
what we're all afraid of, you know-the
newspapers. Now, if you think am likely
to get jun ped on worse for arresting Nor
man than for letting him alone, why I'll
act accordingly. 1 haven't any feeling in
the matter; and as for knowing who killed
Mr.. Davis or having any suspicion Of It, my
mind Is as empty as box full of nothing"
Hasn't anything been done except this
foolish business about NOrmaH?' / ask ed
impa tiently.
ooh, yes. there's the examination by the
coroner's physician. 1 haven't the written
report, but I can give you the substance of
it. Your opirion regarding the stab wound
was correct. 1t pierced the heart. Death
must have been almost instantaneous. That
proves my theory that the fatal blow was
struck while You stood outside the door.
All, good evening, Mr.. Stalbridge."
I turned just as the gaunt, high-shoul-
dered figure stalked into the room.
Stalbridge, usually so excessively cour-
teous. gave no greeting to either of US. He
looked like a man with one idea-ven-
geance,
Have you done anything with the frag-
ments of that document" he demanded of
the detective.
Mrs. johnson has them. SIR he replied.
''She Is far cleverer than any man a. that
sort of work.
What is this document" asked
II was Just going to tell you about 1t
son. you know my theory of the crime.
Mr.. Davis was struck down. and then the
murderer removed a paper from the desk.
The blood stains on the remaining papers
prove this conclusivcly, to my mind. /
confess that had little hope Of ever find
ing that document but I now believe that
we have 1t in hand
"Where did you find it?"
"Wait a moment. Not so fast. You know
how the murderer escaped. By desperate
exercise of agility. aided evidently by the
natural advantage of height, he climbed
from a window of your uncle's rear room
into all unoccupied suite which also had a
rear window on the court.
Naturally. I suggested en- examination
Of those apartments to see whether he had
left any clew behind him. Mr.. Stalbridge
Joined me in the search. 1t was fruitless
at first, except that we found all the doors
unlocked, showing that the murderer could
have had unimpeded passage through the
rooms.
After a careful examination, I was on
the point Of abandoning that field, but Mr..
Stalbridge insisted that there must be
something to reward our endeavors. And
so there was, for, on the final search,
found ten thousand tiny bits of paper in a
cupboard under setbowl in one of the
rooms.
IT might not have recognized the i'm.
portance Of this discovery but for Mr.