Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-11-29

blinds. A constable in uniform admitted u.s.
He had his lunch, pot of beer and some
bread and cheese which his wife had prob
ably brought him, on the dining table, and
we had disturbed him with his mouth full.
He was the same man whom Amber Jew
ons had seen in the morning, and we en-
tered he saluted, saying:
inspector Thorpe has left a message for
you, sir. He'll be back from the Yard
about half-past 3, and would very much
like to see YOU.
TT appears. sir, that one of the witnesses
who gave evidence this morning is miss
ing
Missing he cried, prlcking up his ears
WHO'S missing?"
1.-The man servant, sir. My sergeant told
me an hour ago that as soon as the man
had given evidence he went out, and was
seen hurrying toward GunnerSbury station.
They believe he's absconded.''
l exchanged significant glanceS with my
companion, but neither of us uttered a
word. Amber gave vent to his habitual
grunt of dissatisfaction, and then led the
way upstairs
The body had been removed from the
room in which it had been found. and the
bed was dismantled. When inside the
apartment he turned to me calmly, saying
There seems something in Thorpe's
theory regarding that fellow Short, after
ALL"
IF he has really absconded 1t is an adj
mission of guilt" l remarked.
Most certainly" he replied. It's sus-
picious circumstance, in any case, that ne
did not remain until the conclusion of the
inquiry"
We pulled the chest of drawers, beauti-
full piece of old Sheraton. away from the
door of the safe, and before placing the key
in the lock my companion examined the eX-
terror infinitely. The key was partly rusted,
and appeared as though it had not been
used for many months.
Could it be that the assassin was in
search of that key and had been unsuccess-
full?
He showed me the artful manner in which
it had been concealed The small hardy
fern had been rooted up and stuck PACK
heedlessly into it's pot again. certainly no
one would ever have thought TO search Tor
a safe key there. The dampness of the
mold had caused the rust, hence before we
could open the iron door we We're COM
PEELED to oil the key with some brilllantlne
which was discovered on the dead man
dressing table.
The interior, we found was a kind OF
small strong room-built of fire brick, ana
lined with steel. 1t was filled with papers
of all kinds neatly arranged
We drew up a table, and the first packet
my friend handed out was a substantial one
of five-pound notes, secured by an elast.c
band beneath which was slip on which
the amount was penciled Securities OF
various sorts followed, and then large pack
cts of parchment deeds, which on examina-
ton we found related to his Devonshlre
property and his farms in Canada
Here's somethingn' cried Amber at
length. tossing across to me a small packet
methodically tied with pink tape. The old
boys love letters. by the look of them"
1 undid the loop eagerly and opened the
first letter 1t was in feminine hand, and
proved a curious, almost unintelligible COM
munication.
/ glanced at the signature. My heart
ceased it's beating, and a sudden cry tnvol-
unfairly escaped me, although next mo-
ment I saw that by 1t 1 had betrayed my
self, for Amber Jevons sprang to my side
in an instant.
But next instant I covered the signature
with my hand, grasped the packet swift as
thought and turned upon him defiantly
without uttering word.
Go be continued)