The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-03-19


| 1t lay in the middle. 1t was Of
coarse sealskiu-the straight-haired
skin. with d leather thong to bind it.
| Inside was p. g on the flap There
was half an ounce of strong ships to
bacco in it
Excellent, What more?"
Stanley Hopkins drew from his
pocket drab covered note
book. The outside was rough
and worn. the leaves discoloured.
On the first page were written the in
itials j. H. N" and the date 1883. -
Holmes laid il on the table and exam
ined it in his minute way, while Hop
kins and I gazed over each shoulder.
On the second page were the printed
letters &C. p. r. and then came sew
eral sheets of numbers Another head
ing was Argentine. another Costa
RiCa.' and another san PauIo,'' each
with pages of signs and figures after it.
What do you make of these?' asked
Holmes.
They appear to be lists of stock ex-
change securities. I thought that j.
H N were the initials Of a broker,
and that C. p r. may have been his
client"
Try Canadian Pacific railway" said
Holmes. ---------
Stanley Hopkins szvore between his
teeth, and struck his thigh with his
clenched hand.
What a fool 1 have BEEN" he cried.
"Of course il is as you say. Then J.
H. N are the only initials we have to
solve. I have already examined the old
stock exchange lists, and l can find no
one in 1888, either in the house or
among the outside brokers. whose mi
tails correspond with these. Yet I feel
that the clue is the most important one
that I hold. You vii admit MI Holmes.
hot l.
initials are those of the second person
who was preSent-in other words. of the
murderer. l would also urge that the
introduction into the case of a dOcu-
ment relating to large masses of valu-
able 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
new development.
4 must admit both your points said
he Il confess that this notebook,
which did not appear at the inquest,
mOdifies any views which I may have
formed. I had come to a theory of the
crime in which I can find no place for
this. Have you endeavOred to trace
any of the securities here mentioned -
Inquiries are now being made at the
offices, but I fear that the complete
register of the stockholders of these
America, and that some weeks must
elapse before we can trace the shares. -
Holmes had been examining the
cover of the note book with his magni-
flying lens
Surely there is some discoIoration
here" said he.
Yes, sir. it is a bIoodstain. I told
you that I picked the book off the
1oo~."
WAS the bloodstain above or below ?''
ION the side next the boards"
Which proves, of course, that the
book was dropped after the crime was
committed
Exactly, Mr.. Holmes I appreciated
that point. and I conjectured that it
was dropped by the murderer in his
hurried flight. 1t lay near the door,.
- suppose that none of these seCuri-
tics have been found among the prop
erty of the dead man?'
No sir
Have you any reason to suspect
No. sir. Nothing seemed to have
been touched"
Dear. me. it is certainly a very in
teresting case Then there was knife,
was there nOt2"
"A sheath knife. stiU in its sheath.
1t lay at the feet of the dead man.
Mrs Carey has identified it as being
her husbands property
Holmes was lost in thought for some
time
Well" said he. at last. "I suppose
shall have to come out and have a look
at it,
Stanley Hopkins gave cry of joy.
Thank YOU. sir. That VIII. indeed.
be a weight off my mind
Holmes shook his finger at the in
spector.
1T would have been an easier task Il
week a go" said he But even now my
visit may not be entirely fruitIesS.
Watson. if YOU can spare the time. I
should be very glad of your company.
If YOU viii call four-wheeler. Hop
kins. we shall be ready to start for
Forest Row in a quarter of An hour.
AHghting at the small wayside sta
ton, we drove for some miles through
the remains of widespread woods.
which were once part of that great for
est which for so long held the Saxon
invaders at bay-the impenetrable
''weald." for sixty years the bulwark
of Britain. Vast sections of il have
been cleared, for this is the seat of the
first iron works of the country and the
trees have been felIed to smelt the ore.
Now the richer fields of the north have
absorbed the trade and nothing save
these -ravaged groves and great scars in
the earth show the work of the past
Here, in clearing upon the green slope