Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1905-09-26

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 afiiuent circum.
stances. But It seemed to me that oil
the papers were not there. There
were illusions to some deeds-possibly
the more valuable-which / could moi
find. This, Of course. II we could def,
nitely prove it, would turn Lestrade's
argument against himself, for who
would steal thing II he knew that he
would shortly inherit It?
FINALLY, having drawn every other
cover and picked up no scent, l 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
IL she would. l am convinced Of It.
But she was as close as wax. Yes, she
had let Mr.. McFarlane in at half past
0. She wished her hand had withered
before she had done SO. She had gone
to bed ut half past 10. Her room was
ut the other end Of the house and she
could hear nothing of what passed
Mr.. McFarlane had left his hat and, to
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 1t had not rained
for month. 1t burned like tinder,
and by the time she reached the spot
nothing could be seen but flames. She
and all the fremen smelled the burn,
ed flesh from inside 1t. She knew
nothing of the papers nor Of Mr.. Old
acres private affairs.
$50, my dear Watson, there's my re,
port of failure. And yet-and yet
he clinched his thin hands In par
oxysm Of conviction-"I know It's all
wrong. I feel it in my bones. There
Is something that has not come out,
and that housekeeper knows 1t. There
was 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 l fear that the Norwood dis
appearance case will not figure IN that
chronicle of our successes which fore
see that a patient public will sooner or
later have to endure"
Surely" said 1, "the mans appear
ance would go far with any jury"
That Is Il dangerous argument, my
dear Watson. You remember that ter
rible murderer, Bert Stevens, who
wanted us to get him Off in 'S1? Was
there ever more mild hammered, Sun
day school young man"
1T Is true"
unless we SucCetu III SstauHshihS 2
an alternative theory this man Is lost
You can hardly find flaw In the case
which can now be presented against
him, and all further investigation has
served to strengthen 1t. BY the way
there Is one curious little point about
those papers which may serve us a. the
starting point for all inquiry. On look
ing over the bank book | found that the
low state OF the balance was principals
" due to large checks which have been
made out during the last year to Mr.
Cornelius. I confess that | should be
interested to know who this Mr.. Corne'
Illus may be with whom Il retired build
er has such very large transactions. IL
II possible that he has had hand in
the affair? Cornelius might be bro
ker, but we have found 30 scrip to cor
respond with these large payments
Failing any other indication, my re,
searches must now take the direction
of an inquiry ut the bank for the gen
tleman who has cashed these checks,
But I fear, my dear fellow. that Our
case will end ingloriously by Lestrade
hanging our client, which will certain
ly be triumph for Scotland Yard"
fro BE CONTINUED