Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-06-01


even the possibility Of his guilt. But
she would not express either surprise
or regret over the fate Of Oldacre. On
the contrary, she spoke Of him with
such bitterness that she was uncOn-
sciously considerably strengthening the
case Of the police. for. Of course, II her
son had heard her speak Of the man in
this fashion It would predispose him
toward hatred and violence. He was
more like malignant and cunning ape
than n human being said she, and he
always was, ever since he was young
man.
"'You knew him Mt that timer said I.
"'Yes. knew him well; In fnct, he
was an old sutton Of mine. Thank hcav.
en- that I had the sense to turn away
from him and to marry better, II
poorer. man. was engaged to him.
Mr.. Holiness when I heard a shocking
story Of how he had turned cnt loose
in an aviary and was so Mortified at
his brutal cruelty that I would have
nothing more to do with him. She rum
mayed in a bureau, and presently she
produced photograph Of woman
shamefully defaced and mutllated with
n knife. That Is my own photograph
she said. He sent It to me in that
state. with his curse, upon my wedding
morning.
"'Well.' said 7. at least he has for.
given you now, since he has left all bis
property to your son.
Neither my son nor want any.
thing from Jonas Oldacre, dead or
alive she cried. with a proper spirit
There is God In heaven, Mr.. Holmes
and that same God who has punished
that wicked man will show in his own
good time that my sons hands are
guiltless Of his blood
"Well. I tried one or two lends, but
could get at nothing which would help
our hypothesis and several points
which would make against 1t. 1 gave
1t UP at last, and Off I went to Nor.
wood.
This place, Deep Dene House. Is a
big modern villa of staring brick stand
ing back in its own grounds, with a
laurel dumped lawn In front Of 1t. To
the right and some distance back from
the road was the timber yard which
had been the scene Of the fire. Here's
a rough plan on a leaf of my notebook.
This window OH the left is the one
which opens into Oldacres room. You
can look into it from the road. You see.
That is about the only bit Of consola-
ton I have had today. Lestrade was
not there, but his head constable did
the honors. They had Just found a
great treasure trove. They had spent
the morning raking among the ashes
of the burned wood pile, and besides
the chnrred organic remains they had
secured several discolored metal disks.
/ examined them with care. and there
was no doubt that they were trOuser
buttons. even distinguished that one
Of them was marked with the name Of
Hyams. who was Oldacres tailor. |
then worked the lawn very carefully
for signs and traces. but this drought
has made everything as hard as iron.
Nothing was to be seen save that some
body or bundle had been dragged
through low privct hedge which is in
a line with the wood pile. All that, of
course. fits in with the official theory.
I crawled about the lawn with an
August sun on my back. but I got up
at the end Of an hour no wiser than
before.
We'll, after this fiasco went into
the bedroom and examined that also.
The blood stains were very slight, mere
smears and discolorations. but un-
doubtedly fresh. The stick had been
removed. but there also the marks
were slight. There is no doubt about
the stick belonging to our client. He
admits 1t. Footmarks Of both men
could be made out on the carpet. but
none of any third person. which again
Is a trick for the other side. They
were piling up their score all the time,
and we were at standstill.
"Only one little CLEAN Of hope did
get, and yet 1t amounted to nothing.
/ examined the contents of the safe.
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 affluent circum-
stances. But 1t seemed to me that all
the papers were not there. There
were illusions to some deeds-possibly
the more uable-which l could not
find. This. Of course. il we could def
nitely prove II. would turn Lestrade's
argument against himself, for who
would steal a thing II he knew that he
would shortly inherit It?
FINALLY. having drawn every other
cover and picked up no scent. 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
II she would. l am convinced Of it.
But she was as close as wax. Yes, she
had let Mr.. McFarlane in at half past
D. She wished her hand had withered
before she had done So She had gone
to bed at half past 10. Her room was
Mt 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