The San Francisco call., 1905-05-07
q 9A 49,
pUsssors ssso

1t IS very rOuSn, OF course, dliO IL
only deals with the points which
seem to me to be essential. All the
rest you will see later for yourself.
Now, first of all, presuming that the
assassin entered the house, how did he
or she come in? Undoubtedly by the
garden path and the back door, from
which there is direct access TO the
study. Any other way would have been
exceedingly complicated. The escape
must have also been made along that
line, for Of the two other exits from
the room one was blocked by Susan
as she ran downstairs and the other
leads straight to the professors bed
room 1 therefore directed my atten-
tion at once TO the garden path, which
was saturated with recent rain, ana
would certainly show any footmarks.
My examination showed me that
was dealing with a cautious and ex-
pert criminal. No footmarks were to
be found on the path. There could be
no question, however, that some one
had passed along the grass border
which lines the path, and that he had
done so in order TO avoid leaving
track. l could not find anything in
the nature of distinct impression. but
the grass was trodden down and some
one had undoubtedly passed. 1t could
only have been the murderer, since
neither the gardener nor any one else
had been there that morning and the
rain had only begun during the night.
f''One moment" said Holmes. Where
does this path lead to?"
ITO the road"
How long is it?"
"A hundred yards or so.''
AT the point where the path passes
through the gate, you could surely
pick up the tracks? ?"
Unfortunately, the path was tiled
at that point"
"Well, on the road itself?"
NO it was all trodden into mire."
"Tut-tut, Well, then, these tracks
upon the grass, were they coming or
going?"
1T was impossible to say. There was
never any outline"
"A large foot or small?"
You could not distinguish"
Holmes gave an ejaculation of i'm
patience.
1T has been pouring rain and blow
ing a hurricane ever SINCE" said he.
1T win be harder to read now than
that palimpsest. Well, we'll, IT can't
be helped. What did you do, Hopkins.
after you had made certain that you
had made certain Of nothingT
Il think I made certain of a good
deal, Mr.. Holmes. 1 knew that some
one had entered the house cautiously
from without I next examined the
corridor. 1t is lined with cocoanut mat
ting, and had taken no impression Of
any kind. This brought me into the
study itself. It is a scantily furnished
room. The main article is a large
writing table with a fixed bureau. This
bureau consists of a double column of
drawers, with q central small cup
board between them. The drawers
drawers, IL seems, were always open,
and nothing Of value was kept in them.
There were some papers of Importance
in the cupboard, but there were no
signs that this had been tampered with,
and the professor assures me that
nothing was missing. 1t is certain that
no robbery has been committed.
Il come now TO the body of the young
man. It was found near the bureau, and
just to the left Of it. as marked upon
the chart. The stab was on the right
side Of the neck and from behind for
ward. so that IL is almost impossible
that ii could have been self-infiicted. i"
Unless he fell upon the knife" said
Holmes.
Exactly. The idea crossed my mind.
But we found the knife some feet away
from the body, so that seems impossi-
bic. Then, Of course, there are the
mans own dying words. And, finally,
there was this very important piece of
evidence which was found clasped in
the dead mans right hand"
From his pocket Stanley Hopkins
drew small paper packet. He un-
folded 1t and disclosed a golden pince-
nez, with two broken ends of black
silk cord dangling from the end of it.
''Willoughby Smith had excellent
sight" he added. There can be no
question that this was snatched from
the face or the person of the assassin. "
Sherlock Holmes took the glasses
into his hand, and examined them with
the utmost attention and interest. He
held them on his nose, endeavored tc
read through them, went to the win
dow and stared up the. street with
them. looked at them most minutely
IN the full light Of the lamp, and finally
with a chuckle. seated himself at the
table and wrote few lines upon a
sheet Of paper. which he tossed across
to Stanley Hopkins.
That's the best I can do for you,
said he. "It may prove to be of some
use"
"The astonished detective read the
note aloud. 1t ran as follows:
''Wanted-A woman of good address
attired like a lady. She has remark
ably thick nose with eyes which are
set close upon either side of It. She has