San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-10-03

the conclusion when was FORCING itself
Upon hin--that Lola was mad and per.
haps in some frenzy had been driven to
do this desperate thing.
Tell me, please" he said nfter
long pause, "wheh was the body OF
this man found?'
81 found it myself, Sir Jaffray, less
than an hour ago."
''How long do you think the man had
been dead-today?"
~ can't say exactly. That's matter
for the doctors. But should think l8
to "a hours about or something of that
sort. My view is that the time of the
murder might very we'll be about 10 or
II O'Clock last night, might be before
or might be after, but l expect that's
what the doctor will say"
1t is terriblel" exclaimed the baron
ct and relapsed again into silence.
Mr. Clifford began to get fidgety, and
he glanced now and again at Sir Jaffray
and tapped with his fingers ON the table
and on the cover of the notebook he
held in his hand.
There's great deal to do, Sir
Jaffray," he said at length, "and time
is short if I'm to be hot ON the trail
And I've more to tell you, if you please,
which think you ought to hear"
go on. replied the baronet prompt
ly.
''There are three points ! marked,
and with regard to two of them I've
done very unprofessional thing-very
| nprofessional-but I-well, I was act
ing for you, and-well, did it. f"
'Well?'
~ was the first to find the body, Sir
Jaffray. and thought ought to make
the most of the time. There doesn t seem
to have been much Of struggle at the
place, and / gather that whoever did
this was standing talking to this man
| quietly, when, without word probably.
she ups with the dagger"
"She?' interposed Sir Jaffray.
"And just drives it home between his
ribs" continued Mr. Clifford without
needing the interruption. "She must
have been a rather tall woman, of great
strength, because the dagger was driven
right home to the hilt-the hilt touches
the mans clothes-and judge she was
tall because the direction of the blow
was trife down. whereas if she'd been
short the utmost she could have done
would have been to drive it straight.
You'll see my point, sir, if you'll just
| katx th,o I,,,fn .koL
difference in its direction if you try to
strike first at your level and then at
some mark above you.
As he spoke he acted in illustration
Of his words. 81 see what you mean,
said Sir Jaffray without attempting to
make the experiment.. but why do
you think it was woman?"
"For this reason: In the dead mans
clutch found this piece of black lace.
torn, | have not the slightest doubt,
from the dress of the woman who struck
him the deathblow, and the unprofes-
sional thing 1 have done is to take that
| out Of the dead mans hand and bring
this: Here is little, curiously shaped
filigree gold keepsake that was never
made for any purpose on this earth save
| to please the eyes Of woman. 1t looks
like an Indian thing or japanese, and
| it's one of those balls that those east.
erners are so clever in making. There's
a bit of a wrench here where the thing
seems to have been pulled off with a
jerk. That found lying close to the
body, and that also took leave to bring
away with me. Those are my reasons,
Sir Jaffray, for saying this is the work
Of woman, and / venture to think
that any 10 men in the country would
find them convincing.
Sir Jaffray took up the little trinket
and held it close, as if to scrutinize it.
But there was no need for any close
examination.
Both he and Beryl knew it we'll
enough.
1t was the pendant Of gold filigree
bracelet, one of a pair which had been
bought in Mexico when he and Lola
were on their honeymoon. The COM
panion to it had been given, with sew
eral other things, to Beryl.
Before either of them said word
Mr.. Clifford continued in just the same
businesslike way and tone:
''There is one other thing / should
like to have done, more unprofessional
still, but dared not go SO far. want
ed to bring away the dagger. This muir
der's been done with dagger that has
enough character in it to hang regi-
ment of soldiers. don't suppose that
there's another like it in all the blessed
country. But couldn't touch it, you
see, because the doctor would see in a
trice that some one had been tampering
with the.body after death, for the rea-
son that any boy student could tell
when dagger had been taken out Of
the wound hours after death. Then
there'd have been no end of awkward
questions for me to answer as to what
I'd been up to. So 1 had to leave it +"
"What was it like?' asked Sir .Jaffray,
who now had come to expect that every