Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-06-03

/
were like a slaughter house. He had
called it cabin, and cabin il was.
sure enough, for you would have
thought that you We're in a ship. There
was bunk at one end. sea chest.
maps and charts. a picture of the Sea
Unicorn. a line of logbOoks on a shelf.
all exactly as one would expect to find
ii in a captains room. And there, in
the middle OF it. was the man himself
his face twisted like lost soul in tor
ment, and his great brindled beard
stuck upward in bis agony. Right
through his broad breast a steel har-
poon had been driven. and it had sunk
deep into the wood of the wall behind
him. He was pinned like a beetle on a
card. OF course be was quite dead and
had been SO from the instant that he
had uttered that last yell of agony.
81 know your methods. sir. and ap-
piled them. Before l permitted any
thing to be moved l examined most
carefully the ground outside and also
the floor OF the room. There were no
footmarks."
Meaning that you saw none:"
'T assure you, sir, that there were
none"
MY good Hopkins. l have investi-
gated many crimes, but / have never
yet seen one which was committed by
a Tying creature. As long as the Grim
insl remains upon two legs so long
must there be some indentation. some
abrasion. some trifiing displacement
which can be detected by the scientific
searcher. 1t is Incredible that this
-
trace which could have aided us. l I'M
derstand. however. from the inquest
that there were some objects which you
failed to overlook"
The young inspector WINGED at my
compa MONS irOnical comments.
II was a fool not TO call you in at the
time, Mr.. Holmes. However that's
past praying for now. Yes, there were
several objects in the room which call
ed for special attention. One was the
harpoon with which the deed was com
mitted. IT had been snatched down
from a rack on the wall. Two others
remained there and there was Il va
cant place for the third. On the stock
was engraved SIS. Sea Unicorn. Dun
dee This seemed to establish that the
crime had been done in a moment of
fury and that the murderer had seized
the first weapon which came in his
way The fact that the crime was COM
mitted at IN the morning. and vet Pc
/ ter Carey was fully dressed. suggested
that he~had IN appointment with the
murderer, which is borne out by the
fact that a bottle OF rum and two dirty
glasses stood upon the table"
Yes" said Holmes, 81 think that
both differences are permissible. Was
there any other spirit than rum in the
room?"
Yes, there was a tantalus contain
ing brandy and whisky on the sea
chest. 1t Is of no Importance to us,
however, since the decanters were full,
and il had therefore not been used"
For all that, its presence has some
significance" said Holmes. However,
let US hear some more about the objects
which do seem TO you to bear upon the
case"
the table"
What part OF the tablet"
1T lay in the middle. 1t was of
coarse sealskin-the straight haired
skin. with a leather thong to bind it.
Inside were p. c. on the flap. There
was half an ounce of strong ships to-
bacco in it,
Excellent. What more?'
Stanley Hopkins drew from his pock-
ct drab covered notebook. The out
side was rough and worn. the leaves
discolored. On the first page were writ
ten the initials -. Fl. "" and the date
"1SS3.' Holmes laid II on the table and
examined it in his minute way, while
Hopkins and l gazed over each shout
der. On the second page were the
printed letters &c. T. r." and then
came several sheets OF numbers. An
other heading was Argentine" anoth-
err COSTA Rica" and another San
Paulo." each with pages of signs and
figures after it.
What do you make of these?' ask
ed Holmes.
They appear to be lists of Stock
Exchange securities thought that
j. III. N were the initials OF a broker
and that &C. p. r. may have been his
client"
''Try Canadian Pacific railway" said
Esolmes.
Stanley Hopkins swore between his
teeth and struck his thigh with his
| clinched hand.
What fool have beeni' he cried
'Of course il is AS you say Then
j. III. N are the only initials we have
TO solve. i have already examined the
old Stock Exchange lists, and can
find no one in 1888, either in the house
or among the outside brokers, whose
initials correspond with these. Yet
| feel that the clew il the most impor-
tant one that | hold. You will admit
Mr. Holmes, that there is possibility
that these initials are those OF the sec
ond person who WAS present-in other
words, OF the murderer. l would also
| urge that the Introduction into the case
of document relating to large masses
OF valuable securities gives us for the
first time some indication of a motive
for the crime
Sherlock Holmes face showed that
he was thoroughly taken aback by this