The San Francisco call., 1905-04-09

myself q prisoner IN your ndQQS.
'Is that alp asked Hopkins.
as he said 1t.
You have nothing else to tell us?"
He hesitated-
mo, there is nothing"
'sYou have not been here before last
nightg''
mo"
"Then how do you account for that?"
cried Hopkins, as he held UP the damn
ing note book, with the initials of our
prisoner on the first leaf and the blood
stain on the cover.
The wretched man collapsed. He sank
his face in his hands and trembled all
over.
.Where did you get it?' he groaned.
..I did not know. I thought had lost
it at the hotel"
''That is enough said Hopkins.
sternly. Whatever else you have to
say, you may say in court You will
walk down with me now TO the police
station Well, Mr.. Holmes. 1 am very
much obliged to you and to your friend
for coming down to help me. AS 1T
turns out your presence was unneces-
sary, and I would have brought the
case to this successful issue without
you, but, none the less, / am grateful.
Rooms have been reserved for you at
the Brambletye Hotel. so we can all
We'll. Watson, what do you think
of it?" asked Holmes, as we travelled
back next morning.
i can see that you are not salts
fed"
'Oh. yes, my dear Watson. am per-
fectly satisfied. At the same time.
Stanley Hopkins methods do not COM
pointed in Stanley Hopkins / had
hoped for better things from him. One
should always look for a possible al
tentative, and provide against it. 1t
is the first rule of criminal investiga-
tion."
What, then, is the alternative?"
The. line of investigation which I
have myself been pursuing. 1t may
give US nothing. / cannot tell. But
at least / shall follow it to the end" :"
Several letters were waiting for
Holmes at Baker street. He snatched
one of them UP, opened it, and burst
out into triumphant chuckle Of
laughter.
Excellent. Watson, The alterna-
tive develops. Have you telegraph
forms? Just write a couple of mes
sages for me: Sumner, Shipping
Agent, Ratclif Highway Send three
men on. to sarrive ten tomorrow
morning.-Rasil.' That's my name in
those parts. The other is: Inspector
Brixton. Come breakfast tomorrow
at nine-thirty. Important. Wire if
unable to come.-Sherlock Holmes.
There, Watson, this Internal case has
haunted me for ten days. 1 hereby
Danish 1t completely from my pres
ence. To-morrow 1 trust that we
shall hear the last of IT forever"
Sharp at the hour named Inspector
Stanley Hopkins appeared, and we sat
down together to the excellent break
fast which Mrs. Hudson had prepared.
The young detective was in high spir-
its at his success.
"You really think that your solution
must be correct?" asked Holmes.
Il could not imagine a more COM
plete case.''
1T did not seem to me conclusive"
You astonish me. Mr.. Holmes.
What more could one ask for?"
Does your explanation cover every
point?"
Undoubtedly. find that young
Neligan arrived at the Brambletye'
Hotel on the very day of the crime.
He came on the pretense of playing
golf. His room was on the ground
floor, and he could get out when he
liked. That very night he went down
to Woodman's Lee, saw Peter Carey
at the hut, quarreled with him, and
killed him with the harpoon. Then,
horrifed by what he had done, he fed
out of the hut, dropping the notebook
which he had brought with him in
order to question Peter Carey about
these different securities. You may
have observed that some of them were
marked with ticks. and the others
the great majority-were not. Those
which are ticked have been traced
on the London market. but the others,
presumably, were still in the possess
sion of Carey, and young Neligan, ac-
cording to his own account, was anx-
ious to recover them in order to do
the right thing by his fathers cred
itors. After his flight he did not dare
to approach the hut again for some
time, but at last he forced himself to
do SO in order to obtain the informa-
ton which he needed. Surely that Is
all simple and obvious"
Holmes smiled and shook his head.
1T seems to me to have only one
drawback, Hopkins, and that Is that
it is intrinsically impossible. Have
you tried to drive a harpoon through
a body? No? Tut, tut, my dear sir.
you must really pay attention to these
details. My friend Watson could tell
you that spent a whole morning in
that exercise. 1t is no easy matter.
and requires a strong and practiced
arm. But this blow was delivered
with such violence that the head of
the weapon sank deep into the wall.
Do you imagine that this anaemic
youth was capable of so frightful an
assault? Is he the man who hob
nobbed in rum and water with Black
Peter In the dead of the night? Was
it his profile that was seen on the
blind two nights before? No, no,
Hopkins. it is another and more for
mtdable person for whom we must
seek"
The detectives face had grown
longer and longer during Holmes
speech. His hopes and his ambitions
were all crumbling about him. But he
would not abandon his position with
cut struggle,
You can't deny that Neligan was
present that night. Mr.. Holmes. The
book will prove that. 1 fancy that have
evidence enough to satisfy jury. even
If. you are able to pick a hole in 1t.
Besides, Mr.. Holmes, l have laid my
hand upon my man. AS to this ter
ribIe person of yours, where is hep"
Il rather fancy that he is on the
STAIR" said Holmes, serenely. Il
think, Watson, that you would do we'll
IN mt that Yauo1var xvh0re Won can