The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-11-12
In The Secret Service
Revelations of Nine Dumaresq Detective by Derek vane


only for a short time and you have for
gotten"
Il never left the ROOM" he repeated
solemnly, from II o'clock yesterday
morning, when / returned from my Of
fee, until 8 O'Clock this morning; twen-
ty-tWo hours in all. ] was very busy
with some private affairs, and 1 had
my meals brought in 10 me ana went
early TO bed"
Then" I said, "the thief must have
got in in the night when you were
asleep
That cannot be-" he replied, for
the door of nay room was locked on the
inside this morning. as / locked ii last
night before going TO bed, and the win
dow was fastened. Besides, | am a
light sleeper and no one could have
moved my bed away from the trap
door without Tousing me- and it is inn
possible 10 open the trap unless the
bedstead is pushed on one side
/ was nOnDlussed.
And you were in the room twenty
two hours" / unused, and you say
the cellar has no ventilation whatever,
so that If anyone had gained admit
lance TO it before your return home
and remained shut up all night. they
would be dead or unconscious by this
senses in such a confined space for
such length of time without having
any fresh air
"Of course they could not" he as
scented eagerly. THAT is what made
the place 50 safe. You see how mex
plicable Il is"
Then ! went on, there is a chance
we may find the thief living asphyXiated
on the floor OF the cellar. You could
not have seen very far into the dark
ness-by the light of candle" He
started.
I hadn't thought Of that" he said.
But do you think any man would
have risIled his life in such way?
Surely. when he found his senses going
he would have called out for assistance.
Penal serVitude is better than death. +"
l shrugged my shoulders.
Il Go not know; some men are very
obstinate and will take any risk rather
than be caught. At ali events, we will
go round and have e LOOK at the place,
II is the only thinE l can suggest at
present"
We set out for the Gray's Inn road
together, buying a rope ladder on The
way.
The room and the position of the cell
lar answered 10 the description given
by Mr. Moss. Locking the door as we
entered, he pushed the bed on one side
and opened the trap. T:e air that met
us was damp and noisorne ans in
voluntarily drew back. 1t Was inpOs-
sible that anyone could have lived
twenty-five hours in it.
ltook candle, and swinging il gently
! took candle and swinging II gently
10 and fro tried IL look into the depths,
dead or senseless on the floor But ii
was too dark TO see distinctly, except
just under the trap door. IT would
be necessary TO so down. Mr.. Moss Sc
cured the rope ladder and taking the
candle in one hand / cautiously de-
scended. looking sharply all round.
But there was nothing human to be
seen.
1t was a dirty place, and had appa-
rently not been used or cleaned for
years. The floor had worn away in
parts and was rotten and slippery, and
the walls were damp and Shiny, with
discolored blotches and fungus-like
groWJhs. There was no ventilation of
any kind, and the air was most poison
Gus. AS / carefully examined tiie walls
TO ascertain whether there was not a
door or outlet of some kind concealed
in them, which might help 10 explain
the mystery, l suddenly caught sight
VI ooAiiCtlit44E mat tlletNt lllG sup o4lOi
with a sharp exclamation.
On the soft, dirty-white composition
OF which the walls consisted was the
distinct impression Of a hand which
must have been made quite recently.
II was long ana narrow and, though
not very large, il suggested a mans
hand more than a WCmans, The per-
son 70 whom il belonged must have
pressed rather heavily on the wall,
for the markings of the fingers and
thumb were distinctly 10 be seen in
the yielding substance; particularly all
the lines of the thumb,
Z ! took my pOcketknife and with some
difficulty I cut out the impression OF
the tell-tale hand. Then ] climbed up
the rope ladder and breathed the frsh
air above with a sigh of relief
'Well?" Mr.. Moss said inpaiently,
I suppose you have discovered moth
ing?" -
Il have not discovered the thief. but
I have found his mark" I replied.
THE man TO whom this hand belongs
is the man who has your diamonds"
And I showed him the plaster east