The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-18

answered promptly and without re-
serve. on the other hand. when he was
i'm doubt. he had always asked my
opinion and advice. / remembered in
his favor that he had stated his theory
of the crime openly and at once. instead
of keeping it for a sensation to be eX-
plotted at the inquest when all the re-
porters would be present with note
books and pencils.
My confidence in him was cOnsidera-
BILE, and yet ! could not wholly subdue
my impatience. Curiosity was strength
ened by my sense of personal injury
and my natural desire to see justice
done upon Il cowardly assassin.
1T seems strange that | did not sus-
pect Antonelli i'm the first place" said J..
1T was an Italians weaDon that was
used, and ] might have guessed by his
conduct that he was one of the victims
of the railway deal"
Has he been arrested?' | asked.
lars" replied johnson: but that
makes no difference. 1t is the small
loser who is the bitterest, my expert
ence teaches me-"
Villas he been arrested" ] asked.
Before he could reply. some one
raped upon the door. Johnson admit
ted uniformed policeman. who mere
~ said "all right" and-then went out.
III must nave DeeIl All llnpoi tdht iiN'-
sage for it worked a wondrous change
i'm the detective. He at once dropped
his frankness and candor and became
the detective of romance. From this
unfavorable transformation l argued
that the message should have been AL
wrong"
What has happened" asked
"Youll know presently" he said.
There was an interval of silence.
johnson was moodily stirring the CON
tents of the wastepaper basket with ms
cane. The action reminded me or the
torn document.
HAS Mrs johnson succeeded III
patching that paper together? IN
quired
Mrs. Johnson" he echoed, with an
air of perpleXity.
Yes! you said you had given 1t to
her"
"There isn't any Mrs. Johnson said
he. Il never was married.
"Then who has the fragments or that
document"
"rhey're in an envelope in my pocK-
Of" he repled, land they've been there
from the first. Nobody need have any
anxiety about them. All the men ana
women i'm the world couldn't patch tneh
together i'm ten thousand years. BUT
that doesn't make any difference. Ihe
document was a fake anyhow.
You mean that it was put there So
that you might find it?''
Precisely. | had already searched
the unoccupied suite adjoining tRis one
thoroughly, and the torn paper WASH
there. Then at Nice-President Rod
news suggestion, / searched again,
and"
.I thought it was Stalbridge who in
stituted that search. You said So
.Did T." asked the detective. inno-
Gently. How could | have made such
a mistake? AS a matter of fact. 1t was
the vice-president. But Staibr,dse
made the search with me. or course
we found the scraps.
document?
Il don't know whether he did or
not
"Confound it, johnson. what's come
over you? Instead of speaking right
out as you used to do. you're trying to
tangle the case all up
mo, I'm not / repeat that ! don't
know whether the murderer tore up
that paper or not. Stalbridge might
have done it,"
81 think it quite probable. He was
trying to hold zip case against Nor
man."
FOL tnuDuDteulN. anu lie Wlsltu Hlc ~
believe that the bits of paper were
the remains of the railway contract.
but they weren't. That document was
burned"
Burned"
"All but little piece of It. Would
you like to see it?"
He took from a card case an irregu-
lar bit of paper about three inches
long. and tapering from an inch in
width to a point. 1t seemed to have been
the lower left hand corner of a sheet.
The irregular upper edge was charred.
The scraps had evidently been slight
ly wetted and 1t also appeared to have
been stained with blood. There was
a small round hole through the mid
die of 1t.
II found that in the escape pipe Of
the bowl" said johnson, pointing to-
ward the place where the murderer
had washed his hands. "It had been
rolled up and thrust into the pipe bit
had caught in such way as to escape
being washed down. / examined the
pipe on general principles and found
it. The few words that appear upon ii
are a sufficient identification. But
what do you think of the hole? How
was it made? What stained the paper
red?"
A horrible thought suggested itself
to me. looked anxiously into John
sons face. He nodded with a grim
expression.
ITO Be Concludel.l Il