The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-09-10

I L
the case. What did the police think o
( the noise which awoke you from you
! Sleep"
"They considered that it might b,
I caused by Arthur closing his bedroom
! door
{. "A likely story. AS if man bent OF
/ felony would slam his door so as L
/ wake a household. What did they say
/ then. of the disappearance of th'
gems?"
They are still sounding the plank
| ing and probing the furniture in th'
/ hope Of finding them
Have they thought of looking out
] side the house?"
Yes, they have shown extraordinary
| energy. The whole garden has already
| been minutely examined"
Now, my dear sir" said Holmes. Il.
| il not obvious to you now that thi:
matter really strikes very much deep
er than either you or the police were a
first inclined to think? 1t appeared tC
YOU TO be a simple case; to me it seems
exceedingly complex Consider what i.
involved by your theory. You suppose
that your son came down from his bed
went, at great risk. to your dressing
room. opened your bureau, took out
your cOronet, broke off by main force a
small portion of il, went off to some
ether place, concealed three gems out
of the tfIirty-nine with such skill that
nobody can find them, and then re-
turned with the other thirty-six into the
room. in which he exposed himself To
the greatest danger of being discov-
cred. ] ask you now, is such theory
tenable?"
But what other is there?" cried the
banker, with a gesture of despair. IF
his motives were innocent, why does he
not explain them?"
1T is our task to find that out" re-
piled Holmes; so now, if you please,
Mr. Holder, we will set off for Strea-
than together and devote an hour to
glancing a little more closely into de-
tails"
Ny friend insisted upon my accom-
panying them in their expedition, which
l was eager enough to do, for my Curl
Osity and sympathy were deeply stirred
by the story to which we had listened.
I confess that the guilt of the bankers
son appeared to me to be as obvious as
it did to his unhappy father, but still
had such faith in Holmes judgment
that ] felt that there must be some
grounds for hope as long as he was dis
satisfied with the accepted explanation.
He hardly spoke a word the whole way
out to the southern suburb. but sat
with his chin upon his breast and his
hat drawn over his eyes, sunk IN the
deepest thought. Our client appeared
to have taken. fresh heart at the little
glimpse of hone which h2d been pre-
scented TO him. and he even, broke into
a desultory chat with me over his bus
mess affairs. A short railway journey
and a shorter walk brought US tO~Fair-
bank the modest residence of the great
financier.
Fairbank was a goOd-sized square
house of white stone. standing back a
little from the road. A double carriage
sweep, with a snow-clad lawn,
stretched down in front to two large
iron gates which closed the entrance.
On the right side was a small wooden
thicket, which led into a narrow path
| between two neat hedges stretching
! from the road to the kitchen door and
forming the tradesmen's entrance. on
the left ran a lane which led to the
stables, and was mt Itself within the
grounds at ali. being a pubic, though
! little used, thOrOughfare. L dimes left
US standing at the door and walked
slowly all round the house, across the
front, down the tradesmen's path, and
so round by the garden behind into
/ the stable lane. So long was he that
/ Mr.. Holder and | went into the dining
room and waited by the fire until he
should return. We were sitting there
in silence when the door opened and a
! young lady came in. She was rather
above the middle height slim. with
dark hair and eyes, which seemed the
darker against the absolute pallOr of
| her skin. ! do not think that / have
ever seen such a deadly paieness in a
wOman's face. Her lips, too. were
blOodless. but her eyes were flushed
with crying. AS she swept silently into
| the room she impressed me with a
/ greater sense of grief than the banker
had done in the morning, and il was
the more striking in her as she was
/ evidently woman of strong charac-
ter, with immense capacity for self
restraint Disregarding my presence
she went straight to her uncle and
! passed her hand over his head with a
sweet womanly caress.
You have given orders that Arthur
should be liberated. have you not,
dad2' sHo asked.
NO no. my girl; the matter must be
prObed to the bottom"
But | am sure he is Innocent You
know what women's instincts are I
know that he has done no harm and
that YOU viii be sorry for having ac-
ted so harshly"
Why is he silent then, if he is in
nocent?"
I Who knows? Perhaps because he
was 50 angry that you should suspect
him"
How could I help susDecting him
when | actually saw him with the coro-
net in his hand?"
"Oh, but he had only picked it up 10
look at il. Oh, do. do take my word
for it that he is innocent Let the mat
fpr nd
dreadful to think of our der Arthur
/ in PRISON.
Il shall never let it drop until the
gems are found-never, Mary Your
affection for Arthur blinds you as to
the awful consequences to me- Far
from hushing the thing uD. / have
brought a gentleman down from Lon
don to inquire more deeply into it,"
This gentleman" she asked. facing
round to me.
mo, his friend. He wished US to
leave him alone. He is round in the
stable lane now"
The stable laner' She raised her
dark eyebrows. What can he hope to
find there All. this, I suppose. is
he. | trust, sir that you will succeed
| In proving, what | feel sure is the
truth. that my cousin Arthur is inno-
cent of this crime"
I fully share your opinion and !
trust. with you. that we may prove il. %
returned Holmes, going back to the
mat to knock the snow from his shoes.
Il believe | have the honor of address
ing Miss Mary Holder. Might / ask
you a question or two?''
Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear
this horrible affair up"
You heard nothing yourself last
niRht?"
Nothing, until my uncle here began
to speak loudly. l heard that, and 1
came down"
You shut up the windows and doors
the night before. Did you fasten all
the windows?"
Yes