The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1905-05-26


such bitterness that she was uncon-
sciously considerably strengthening the
case Of the police, for, of course, II her
son had heard her speak of the man III
this fashion it would predispose nm
toward hatred and violence. He was
more like a malignant and cunning ape
than a human being said she, and he
always was, ever since he was young
man.
"sYou knew him at that time| said |.
ayes. | knew him well; in fact, he
was an old sutton of mine. Thank heav-
en- that | had the sense to turn away
from him and to marry q better, If
poorer. man. l was engaged to him,
Mr.. Holmes. when | heard shocking
story of how he had turned cat loose
in an aviary, and | was so Mortified at
his brutal cruelty that | would have
nothing more to do with him. She rum
mayed in a bureau. and presently she
produced a photograph Of a woman
shamefully defaced and mutilated with
a knife That is my own photograph,
she said. He sent it to me in that
state, with his curse, upon my wedding
morning
"'Nell, said l, at least he has for
given you now, since he has left all his
property to your SON.
"'Neither my son nor l want any
thing from Jonas Oldacre, dead or
aliver she cried. with proper spirit.
TO- -, n Holmes
and that same God who has punished
that wicked man will show in his own
good time that my sons hands are
guiltless of his blood
"Well, tried one or two leads, but
could get at nothing which would help
our hypothesis and several points
which would make against it. l gave
it I'D at last. and off l went to Nor
wood
This place, Deep Dene House. is a
big modern villa of staring brick stand
ing back in its own grounds, with a
laurel dumped lawn in front of it, To
the right and some distance back from
the road was the timber yard which
had been the scene of the fire. Here's
a rough plan on leaf of my notebook.
This window on the left is the one
which opens into Odacre's room. You
can look into it from the road, you see.
That is about the only bit of consola-
ton | have had today. Lestrade was
not there, but his head constable did
the honors. They had just found
ho.l
the morning raking among the ashes
Of the burned wood pile, and besides
the charred organic remains they had
secured several discolored metal disks.
l examined them with care, and there
was no doubt that they were trouser
buttons. l even distinguished that one
of them was marked with the name of
HyamS who was Oldacre'S tailor. |
then worked the lawn very carefully
for signs ana traces. but this drought
has made everything as hard as iron.
Nothing was to lie seen save that some
body or bundle had been dragged
through a low privet hedge which is in
q lie with the wood pile. All that, Of
course. fits in HI-th the official theory.
c.awlcd about The lawn with an
Augu Ia Oh lLy back. but got up
At ne END Of aa hour no wiser than
ls.3re.
Well. after this fasco l went into
;8e lie :5+-. AM examined that also
Ia 10. a.l.H' Wet ve"y Slight, mere
SID MS ga. d. ,,3rauons. but I'M
d2-4.e-.y fresh. lie sex had been
re.-ore,. b-t there a,so tie u:r!ss
We're $ GIT Ilare IS 10 doubt about
the sack be. Jag...,g to OF. client lie
admits it, FoorHar1s Of both men
could be L. @ sI5 Oh - carpet but
none of aIy III. PEI ~, which again
is trick for the other side. They
were piling up their score all the time,
and we We're at stanlstill
only one little CLEAN of hope did l
get, and yet it amounted to nothing.
l examined the contents of the safe,
most of which had been taken out and
left on the tSble The papers had been
made up into sealed envelopes. one or
two of which had been opened by the
police. They were not. so far as |
could judge. of any great value nor
did the bank book show that Mr.. Old
acre was in such very afliuent circum-
stances. But it seemed to me that ali
the papers We're not there. There
We're illusions to some deeds-posSibly
the more valuable-which | could not
find. This of course if we could def.
nitely prove it. would turn Lestrades
argument against himself. for who
would steal thing if he knew that he
would shortly inherit it?
/ FINALLY, having drawn every other
cover and picked up no scent, tried
my luck with the housekeeper. Mrs.
Lexington is her name-a little dark.
silent person, with suspicious and side
! long eyes. She could tell us something
+ If she would. | am convinced of it.
/ But she was as close as wax. Yes. she
had let Mr.. McFarlane i'll at half past
3. She wished her hand had withered
/ before she had done so. She had gone
to bed at half past 10. Her room was
at the other end of the house and she
could hear nothing of what passed
Mr.. MeFarlane had left his hat and, to
the best of her belief. his stick in the
hall. She had been awakened by the
alarm of fire. Her poor, dear master
had certainly been murdered Had he
any enemies? Well, every man had
enemies, but Mr.. 0ldacre kept himself
very much to himself and only met
people in the way of business. She had
seen the buttons and was sure that