Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-22
UP THE STAIRS"

down here. only to find the poor old gem
| tleman stone dead-stabbed to the heart"
Let me see him. my friend said in a
sharp, business-like tone, which showed
that he intended to lose no time in sitting
the matter. He had his own peculiar meth
DDS of getting at the bottom of mystery.
He worked independently, and although he
assisted the police and was therefore al
ways welcomed by them. his efforts were
always apart and generally marked by
cunning, ingenuity and swift logical rea-
soning that were alike remarkable and
marvellous.
tragedy, and then, unlocking the door of
the room where the dead man still lay in
the same position as when discovered, al
lowed him in.
The place was In darkness, so I drew up
the Venetian blinds, letting in the gray de-
pressing light of the wintry morning
He advanced to the bed, stood in the
exact spot where l had stood, and where
without doubt the murderer had Stood and
folding his arms, gazed straight and long
upon the dead mans features.
Then he gave vent to kind of dissat-
isfed srunt, and turned down the coverlet
in order to examine the wound, while
stood by his side in silence.
Suddenly he swung round on his heel and
measured the PAGES between the bed and
the door. Then he went to the window and
looked out; afterwards making a tour of
the room slowly, his dark eyes searching
everywhere He did not open his lips in
the presence of the dead. He only exam
ined everything swiftly and yet carefully
opening the door slowly and closing 1t just
as slowly, in order to see whether it creaked
or not.
1t creaked when closed very slowly The
| creaking was evidently what the under
housemaid had heard and believed to be
the creaking Of boots. The murderer find
! ing that it creaked had probably closed it
| by degrees; hence it gave series of creaks
which to the girl had sounded in the ST.
| lence of the night like those of new boots
| Amber Jevons had, almost at the open
| Ing of his inquiry, cleared up one point
| which had puzzled US.
When he had concluded his examination
| of the room and recovered the dead face
| with the sheet, we emerged into the CORR
dor. Then 1 told him Of the servants state
| ment.
"Boots!" he echoed, IN a tone of impa-
thence. would a murderer wear creak-
ing boots? 1t was the door, of course 1t
| opens noiselessly, but when closed quietly
| 1t creaks. Curious, however, that he should
| have risked the creaking and the awaken
| ening Of the household in order to close it.
He had some strong motive in doing So
He evidently had motive In the crime, -
| I remarked. IF we could only discover It,
| we might perhaps fix upon the assassin"
Yes" he exclaimed thoughfully. But
| to tell you the truth, Ralph, old chap, the
| fact which is puzzling me most of all at
| this moment is that extraordinary forebod-
| ing of evil which you confessed to me day
| before yesterday. You had your suspicious
! aroused, somehow. Cudgel your brains and
think what induced that very curious pres
age of evil.
| '1ve tried and tried over again. but 1
| can fix nothing. Only yesterday after
| noon, when Sir Bernard incidentally men,
| toned old Mr. Courtney, it suddenly &C.
| Cured to me that the curious eXciteme Mt
| within me had some connection with him.
| OF course he was a patient, and may have
| studied his case and given lot of thought
| to it, but that wouldn't account for such an
! oppression as that from which I've been
| suffering"
| You certainly did have the blues badly
| the night before last" he said frankly.
| And by some unacountable manner your
| curious feeling an intuition of this
| tragic occurrence. Very odd and mysterious,
! to say the least"
| 'Uncanny. call it, declared
| Yes. l agree with you" he answered
| 1T Is an uncanny affair altogether. Tell
me about the ladies. Where are they?"
l. L explained how Mrs. Courtenay had been
| absent. and how she had been Frustrated
| by the news of his death.
| He stroked his mustache slowly, deeply
| rejecting.
| Then at present she doesn't know that
| he's been murdered? She thinks that he
| was taken Ill and expired suddenly"
| Exactly"
| And went on to describe the wild scene
| which followed my admission that her hus-
| band was dead. l explained 1t to him in
| detail. for l saw that his thoughts were
| following in the same channel as my own.
| We both pitied the unfortunate woman. My
| friend knew her well. for he had often ac-
| companied me there and had spent the
| evening with u.s. Ethelwynn liked him for
| his careless Bohemianism, and for the fund
of stories always at his command Some
times he used to entertain US for hours to-