Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-23

said. must be examined microscopieeiiS
You can do that, BOYD.
at will be easy to see II there are amy
traces of blood upon it. 10 al appeal
ances it has been recently cleaneo an
oiled"
| Short admits cleaning IT, but ne say
he did 60 three DAYS ago exclaimed
He gave vent to a low grunt. from
which I knew that the explanation was
unsatisfactory. and replaced the knife IL
its faded velvet sheath.
Save for the men upon whom suspicion
had thus fallen. the servants mad all soh'
to the house where their mistress was
lodged. after being cautioned by the po-
lice TO say nothing of the matter. ano
to keep their mouths closed to all the re-
porters who would no doubt very soon oe
swarrins in the district eager for every
scrap of information. Their evidence
would be required at the Inquest. and the
police forbade them. until then. to make
any comment, or to give any explanation
of the mysterious aIair. The tongues OF
domestics wag quickly and wildly IN such
cases, and have many times been the
means of defeating the ends of justice
by giving away important clues to the
press.
Amber Jevons. however, was a prac-
ticed hand at mysteries. He sat down
in the library, and with his Grabbed
handwriting covered two sheets of paper
with notes upon the case. | watched az
his pencil went swiftly to work. and
when he mad finished saw him under
line certain words he had written.
Thorpe appears to suspect that fellow
Short" he remarked, when I met him
again in the library u quarter Of IN hour
later. i've just been chatting with him.
and to me has deneanor is not that OF
a guilty man He's actually been up
stairs with the coroner's officer in the
dead mans room. A murderer generally
excuses himself from entering the pres
ence Of his victim"
Well I exclaimed. after a pause.
you know the whole circumstances now.
Can you see any clue which may throw
light on the AFFAIR.""
He slowly twisted his rnustache again:
then twisted his plain gold ring slowly
round the little finger of the left hand
d habit of his when perplexed.
mo: Ralph. old chap: can't say do
he answered. There's an unfathoma BILE
mystery somewhere but in what direc-
ton I'm utterly at loss to distinguish
But do you think that the assassin
is a member of the household? That
seems to me our first point to clear up"
That's just where we're perplexed
Thorpe suspects Short: but the police
so often rush to conclusions on a single
suspicion. Before condemning him 1t is
necessary to watch hin, narrowly and
note his demeanor and his movements.
If he is guilty he'll betray himself sooner
or later. Thorpe was foolish to take
down that knife second time. Tine. fol-
low might have seen him and had his
suspicious aroused thereby. That's the
worst of police inquiries. They display
so little ingenuity. 1t is all method. me-
thod. notwithstanding must be done
by rule. They appear to overlook the
fact that window In the conservatory
was undoubtedly left OPEN he added.
'Well?" l asked. noticing that he was
gazing at me strangely. full in the face.
We'll has it occurred to you that that
window might have been purposeiy left
open?"
You mean that the. assassin entered
and left by that Window
mean to suggest that the murder
might have been connived by one OF the
household. If the man we suspect wer.
not the actual assassin himself
The theory was a curious one. but I
saw that there We're considerab Bile grounds
for it. As in many suburban houses. the
conservatory Joined the drawfns-room
an unlocked glass door being between
them. The window that had been left
untastened was situated at the further
end. and being low down was In such
a position that any intruder might easil,
have entered and left Therefore ,be
suggestion appeared sound one-more
especially so because the cook had naos1
solemnly declared that she had fastened
1t securely before going up to bed.
In that case someone must have crept
nd foc .
had retired, and done so with the obisc,
of assisting the assassin.
But Amber Jevons was not a man ~
remain idle for single moment when
once he became interested in a mystery
10 his Keen perception and calm losica,
reasoning had been due the solution -,
Inc Alornington Crescent Mystery ).
winch. as all readers OF this nara tive
will remember. for six months u,ter,,.
detted Scotland Yard while in doze,.
other notable cases his discoveries hs =
placed the police on the scent OF ths
guilty person. Somehow he seemed :.
possess peculiar facility In the solv;np
or mysteries. AT ordinary times he
struck one as rather careless. easv-
gong man. who drsfted on through l,fe.
'asti1's ana oealns IN tea. with regular
attendance at Mark Lane each dav
Sometimes he wore pair of cheap ntnca.
neg. the frames OF which were rusty.
but these he seldom assumed unless he
was what he termed '.at work He wa,
at work now. and therefore he stuck fhe
pince-nez on the bridge of his ;aose. givipe
him keener and rather more intelligent
appearance. :
Excuse me-" he exclaimed. suddenly
whitening his ring again round his
nnger.l have just thought OF some
tEnins else wont be moment :. and he
rushed from the library and pan ~. ~
stairs to the floor above. -
Hls absence gave me an opportunities
to re~examtne the little object which
had picked up from the door at til.
earlier stages Of the inquiry: and advanc.