The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1905-04-30

no wound upon his person. while the
state of Straker,s knife would show that
one 1T least OF his ASSISTANTS must bear
bis mark upon him. Thers You have
it ali in a nutshell, WHszxHGs and IL you
can give me any lig1A& shall be in
flnitely obliged to youa
I had listened with the greatest inter-
est to the statement which Holmes, with
characteristic clearness, had laid before
me. Though most OF the facts were
familiar to me. had not sufficiently APP
preciated their relative Importance. nor
their connection TO each other.
as It not possible l suggested. fthat
the incised wound upon Straker may
have been caused by his own knife in
the convulsive struggles which follow
any brain injury?'
"It is more than possible; IL is proba-
ble..' said Holmes. I'm that case enc
OF the main points in favor OF the ae-
cused disappears"
land YETI said I "even now I fail to
understand what the theory OF the police
can be-
II am afraid that whatever theory we
state has very grave objections to it,
returned my companion. .eThe police i'm
agine. take It, that this Fttzroy
Simpson having drugged the lad. and
having in some way obtained a dupli-
cate key, opened the stable door and
took out the horse. with the intention,
apparently, of kidnapping him altogether.
Mis- bride is missing. SO that Simpson
must have put this On. Then. having left
the door open behind him, he was lead
ing the horse away over the moor, when
he was either met or overtaken by the
trainer. A row naturally ensued. Simp-
son beat out the trainers brains with
his heavy stick without receiving any
injury from the small knife which
StTaker used in self-defense. and then
the thief either led the horse on to some
secret hiding place, or else 1t may have
boited during the struggle, and be now
wandering out on the rnoors That is
| the case as it appears to the police, and
| improbable a it is. all other explana-
/ tons are more improbable still. How
ever, L shall very quickly test the matter
when I am once upon the spot, and
until then 1 cannot really see how we
can get much further than our present
position
It was evening before we reached
the little town Of TavistocIz, which
| lies, like the boss OF a shield. in the
middle of the huge circle Of Dartmoor
| TWO gentlemen were awaiting US in
the station-the one tall, fair man.
/ with Hon-iike hair and beard, and GU
riously penetrating light blue eyes:
| the other small, alert person, very
neat and dapper, in a frock-coat and
| CATERS. with trim little side wfliskers
! and an eys-glass. The latter was
man; the other, Inspector Gregory,
man who was rapidly making his name
| in the English detective service
| II am delighted that you have come
down, Mr.. Holmes" said the colonel
| The Inspector here has done all that
| could possibly be suggested, but
| wish to leave no stone unturned IN try
ing to avenge poor Straker and in re-
| covering my horse
Have there been any fresh develop
ments?" asked Holmes.
7 am sorry to say that We have
made very little progress" said the
inspector. I'VE have an open carriage
| outside, and as you would no doubt
like TO see the place before the light
fails. we might talk it over as we
drive"
| 1dlSI We were oil SSdiSu
in a comfortable landau, and were rat
Ting through the quaint old Devon
shire city. Inspector Gregory was full
of his case, and poured out a stream
Of remarks, while Homes threw In an
occasional question or interj lection.
Colonel Ross leaned back with his
arms folded and his hat tilted over his
eyes, while 1 listened with interest to
the dialogue of the two detectives.
Gregory was formulating his theory,
which was almost exactly what
Holmes had foretold on the train.
The net is drawn pretty close
round Fitzroy simpson, he remarked,
and I believe myself that he Is our
man. At the same time I recognize
that the evidence is purely circumstan-
tial, and that some new development
may upset 1t.
How about Straker's knife?"
We have quite come to the conciu-
sion that he wounded himself in his
fall
My friend DR.. Watson made that sug-
gestion to me as we came down. If so
it would tell against this man Simp-
son."
) Undoubtedly. He has neither a knife
nor any sign of a wound. The evidence
against him is certainly very strong
| He mad great interest IN the dlSap
pearance of the favofite. He lies under
suspicion of having poisoned the stable
boy, he was undoubtedly out in the
storm, he was armed with a heavy
| stick, and his cravat was found in The
: dead mans hand. / really think WI
have enough to go before jury
~ -
: Holmes shook his head. "a clevei
counsel would tear it ali to rags" sale
he. why should he take the horse
out of the stable? II he wished to in
:, 1ure it why could he not do 1t there
Has duplicate key been found in hi
possession? What chemist sold him tn,
powdered opium?. Above all, wher
could he. a stranger TO the district. hid
a horse, and such a horse as this? VIVA
Is his own explanation as TO the pape
which he wished the maid to give t,
the stable boy?"
HE says that it was a ten-poun,
note One was found In his purse Blu
; your other difficulties are not so for
l midable as they seem. He Is not
stranger to the district He has twic