The San Francisco call., 1905-05-21

u
served. Every Doweeand then. by an
effort, he would throw off the impress
sion, and talk as if the. matter were
clear. but then his doubts would settle
down upon him again, and his knitted
brows and distracted eyes would show
that his thoughts had gone back once
more to the great diningroom Of the
Abbey Grange, in which this midnight
tragedy had been enacted. AT last, by
a sudden impulse, just as our train
was crawling out of a suburban sta
ton, he sprang on to the platform and
pulled me out after him.
Excuse me, my dear fellow" said
he, as we watched the rear carriages
Of our train disappearing round a
curve, Il am. sorry to make you the
victim Of what may seem a mere whim.
but on my life, Watson. / simply can
leave the case in this condition. Every
instinct that l possess cries out against
it It's Wrong-it's all Wrongful
swear that it's wrong. And yet the
lady's story was complete. the maid S
corroboration was sufficient. the detail
was fairly exact. What have l to put
up against that? Three wineglasses,
that is all. But if I had not taken
things for granted, if 1 had examined
everything with care which ! should
have shown had we approached the
case de novo and had no cut-and- dried
story to warp my mind, should l not
then have found something more def
mite TO go upon? OF course / should.
Sit down on this bench. Watson until
a train for Chiselhurst arrives. and al
low me to lay the evidence before YOU.
imploring you in the first instance to
dismiss from your mind the idea that
anything which the maid or her mis-
tress may have said must necessarily
be true The ladys charming person
ality must not be permitted to warp
our judgment.
Surely there are details in her
story which, if we looked at in
cion. These burglars made a
considerable haul ar Sydenham fort
night ago. Some account of them and
of their appearance was in the papers,
and would naturally occur to any one
who wished to invent a story in which
imaginary robbers should play. part.
AS a matter of fact, burglars who have
done q good stroke of business are, as
a rule, only too glad to enjoy the pro-
ceeds in peace and quiet, without en-
barking on another perilous undertake
ing. Again, it is unusual for burglars
to operate at so early an hour; 1t is
unusual for burglars to strike a lady
to prevent her screaming, since one
would imagine that was the sure way
to make her scream: 1t is unusual for
them to commit murder when their
numbers are sufficient to overpower
one man: it is unusual for them to be
content with a limited plunder when
there. was much more within their
reach, and, finally, 1 should say that 1t
was very unusual for such men to
leave a bottle half-empty. How do al
these unusuals strike you, Watson?"
Their cumulative effect is certainly
considerable, and yet each Of them is
quite possible in itself. The most un-
usual thi e of all, as 1t seems to me,
is that the lady should be tied to the
chair
well. I am not so clear about that,
Watson, for it is evident that they
must either kill her or else secure her
in such a way that she could not give
immediate notice of their escape. But
at any rate have shown, have ] not,
that there is a certain element of ifa-
probability about the lady's story?
And now, on The top of this, comes the
incident of the wine glasses,
What about the wine glasses 2'
"Can you see them in your mind s
eye?'' -.
Il see them clearly"
I'VE are told that three men dranh
from them. Does that strike you as
likeIy2"
why not? There was wine In each
glass"
Exactly, but there was heeswing
only in one glass. You must have no.
ticed that fact. What does that sug-
gest to your nlind?'
1.-The last glass filed would be most
likely to contain beeswing."
Not at all. The bottle was full of it,
and it is inconceivable that the first
two glasses were c1ear and the third
heavily charged with 1t. There are two
possible explanations, and only two
One Is that after the second glass was
filed the bottle was violently agitated
and so the third glass received the
beeswing. That does not appear prob
able. No. no; am sure that I am
right
What, then, do you suppose?"
That only two glasses were used
and that the dregs of both were poured
into aSthird glass so as to give the false
impression that three people had been
here. In that way all the beeswins
would be in the last glass, would II
not2 Yes, I am convinced that this is
so. But If I have hit upon the true ex-
planation of this one small phenome-
non, then in an instant the case rises