Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1905-06-17

l examined the contents or the Sare,
most Of which had been taken out and
left on the table. 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 aff1uent cfrcum-
stances. But it seemed to me that all
the papers were not there. There
were illusions to some deeds possibly
the more aiuable-which I could not
find. This, of course, if we could def
nitely prove it, would turn Lestrade's
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 1 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. l am convinced of it.
| But she was as close as wax. Yes, she
| had let Mr. McFarlane in at half past
8. 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.
! 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.. Oldacre kept himself
very much to himself and only met
people in the way of business. She had
seen the buttons and was sure that
they belonged to the clothes which he
had worn last night. The wood pile
was very dry, for it had not rained
for a month. It burned like finder,
and by the time she reached the spot
! nothing could be seen but flames. She
and all the firemen smelled the burn
ed flesh from inside it. She knew
acres private affairs.
$50, my dear Watson, there's my re-
port of a failure. And yet-and yet
he clinched his thin hands in a par
oxysm Of conyiction-.'I know it's all
wrong I feel it in my bones. There
is something that has not come out,
and that housekeeper knows it. There
was a sort Of sulky defiance in her
eyes which only goes with guilty
knowledge However, there's no good
talking any more about 1t, Watson.
But unless some lucky chance comes
our way fear that the Norwood dis
appearance case will not figure in that
chronicle Of our successes which fore
see that patient public will sooner or
later have to endure"
Surely" said 1, ''the mans appear
ance would go far with any jury"
"That is dangerous argument, my
dear Watson. You remember that ter
rible murderer, Bert Stevens, who
wanted us to get him off in 81? Was
there ever a more mild hammered, Sun
day school young manw
ut is true"
"Unless we succeed in establishing
an alternative theory this man is lost.
You can hardly find a flaw in the case
which can now be presented against
him, and all further investigation has
served to strengthen it. By the way,
there is one curious little point about
those papers which may serve us as the
starting point for an inquiry On look
ing over the bank book found that the
low state Of the balance was principal
Iy due to large checks which have been
made out during the last year to Mr..
Cornelius. I confess that I should be
interested to know who this Mr. Corne-
Illus may be with whom a retired build
er has such very large transactions Is
it possible that he has had a hand in
the affair? Cornelius might be bro
ker, but we have found no scrip to cor
respond with these large payments.
Failing any other indication, my re-
searches must now take the direction
Of an inquiry at the bank for the gen.
tleInan who has cashed these checks.
But fear, my dear fellow, that our
case will end ingloriously by Lestrade
hanging our client, which will certain,
ly be triumph for Scotland Yard"
uO uOL kliOW now 1dE 5SuGrlOCK
Holmes took any sleep that night, but
when I came down to breakfast I
found him pale and harassed, his bright
eyes the brighter for the dark shadows
round them. The carpet round his chair
was Uttered with cigarette ends and
with the early editions Of the morning
papers. An open telegram lay upon the
table
what do you think Of this, Watsony'
he asked, tossing it across
1t was from Norwood and ran as fol-
lows:
Important fresh evidence to hand. Nc
F'arlane's guilt definitely established Ad-
wise you to abandon case. LESTRADH.
'"This sounds serious" said I.
1T is Lestrade's little cock-a doodle
OF victory" Holmes answered, with a
bitter smile. "And yet it may be pre-
mature to abandon the case. After all,
important fresh evidence is a two edg-
ed thing and may possibly cut in a