The San Francisco call., 1905-03-05

day Of his death, he had played rub
Der of whist at the latter club. He had
also played there in the afternoon The
evidence of those who had played
with him-Mr. Murray, Sir John Hardy
and Colonel Moren-showed that the
game was whist, and that there was
fairly equal fall of the cards. Adair
might have lost five pounds, but not
more. He fortune was considerable
one, and such a loss could not in any
way affect him. He had played nearly
every day at one club or other. but
he was a cautious player. and usually
rose a winner. 1t came out in evil
dence that, in partnership with Colonei
Moran, he had actually won as much
as four hundred and twenty pounds
in a sitting, some weeks before, from
Godfrey Miner and Lord Balmoral
So much for his recent history as 1t
came out at the inquest.
On the evening of the crime, he re-
turned from the club exactly at ten.
His mother and sister were out spend
ing the evening with a relation. The
servant deposed that she heard him
enter the front room on the second
floor generally used as his sitting
room. She had lit a fire there, and as
it smoked she had opened the window.
No sound was heard from the room
until eleven-twenty, the hour of the
daughter. Desiring to say goodnight,
she attempted to enter her sons ROOM
The door was locked on the inside and
no answer could be got to their cries
and knocking. Help was obtained and
the door forced. The unfortunate
young man was found lying near the
table. His head had been horribly mu-
tilated by an expanding revolver bull
let, but no weapon of any sort was TO
be found in the room On the table
lay two bank notes for ten pounds each
and seventeen pounds ten in silver and
gold, the money arranged in little piles
of varying amount There were some
figures also upon a sheet Of paper,
with the names Of some club friends
opposite to them, from which 1t was
conjectured that before his death he
was endeavoring to make out his losses
or winnings at cards.
A minute examination of the circum-
stances served only TO make the case
more complex. In the first place, no
reason could be given why the young
man should have fastened the door
upon the inside. There was the possi-
bility that the murderer had done this,
window. The drop was at least twenty
feet, however, and a bed of crocuSeS
in full bloom lay beneath. Neither the
flowers nor the earth showed any sign
of having been disturbed, nor were
there any marks upon the narrow strip
of grass which separated the house
from the road. Apparently, therefore,
it was the young man himself who had
fastened the door. But how did he
come by his death2 No one could have
climbed up to the window without
leaving traces. Suppose a man had
fired through the window, he would
indeed be a remarkable shot who
\
a wound Again, Park Lane is
frequented thoroughfare; there is
q cabstand- within hundred
yards of the house No one
had heard n shot And yet there
was the dead man, and there the. re-
volver bullet which had mushroomed
out, as soft-nosed bullets will. and so
inflicted a wound which must have
caused instantaneous death. Such were
the circumstances of the Park Lane
mystery, which were further compli-
Gated by entire absence of motive,
since, as1I have said, young Adair was
not known to have any enemy, and no
attempt had been made to remove the
money or valuables in the room.
All day l turned these facts over in
my mind, endeavoring to hit upon
some theory which could reconcile
them all. and to find that line of least
resistance which my poor friend had
declared to be the starting point of
every investigation. I confess that /
made little progress. In the evening
I strolled across the park and found
myself about o'clock at the Oxford
street end Of Park Lane. A group Of
loafers upon the pavements. all staring
up at q particular window, directed me
TO the house which I had come to see.
tall, thin man with colored glasses,
whom I strongly suspected of being
plain-clothes detective, was pointing
out some theory Of his own. while the