Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-23
CHAPTER II.
Treasure Trove.

--r
1t seemed that my sudden abstraction had
offended Cecily more deeply than l mag
ined. for when / knocked at her door next
evening, She told me curtly that she was
not feeling well and intended going early
to bed. So went back to my room. rather
glad OF the chance of an evening to myself.
Besides. Cecily was good deal like
highly favored dish--to be fully enjoyed only
at intervals And, too. there was only one
point as yet uHsettled-where she and Ire
maine had been the night of the murder.
That / felt could be cleared up without
much difficulty the first time she received
me. which would probably be not later than
tomorrow. l had premonition that that
line of inquiry. too. would lead nowhere
that Cecily would prove, by word, that
neither she nor Tremaine had been any.
where near the Marathon at the hour OF
the crime. In any event, / had plenty OF
time and / could spend this evening very
probably in weighing and classifying my
discoveries; in getting a fresh start.
AS opened my door, noticed 1t scraped
on the carpet. and an examination showed
me that the carpet had come loose along
the sill. / stepped to the speaking tube and
blew down it.
'Hello!'' called UP voice in a moment.
+ rs that you. Higgins?"
Yes, sir
This is Mr.. Lester. Come up after a
while. will you? I've a little job up here /
want you to do.
'.All right. sir; will half an hour dor
"Oh. yes: any time this evening.
1got out pipe. tobacco and matches and sat
down In my most comfortable chair. / was
no longer discouraged as l had been the
evening before. On the whole, | told my
self. / had progressed-I had succeeded in
forging the chain more tightly about Ire
maine, in Strengthening 1t in many places.
/ could show certainly:
1. That he knew Thompson and had lied
about it.
2. That he apparently hated him.
3. That he had come to New York on the
same boat with him. and probably on the
same efrand.
T. That Thompson had Joined him as soon
as released from Jail.
On paper, / had to admit, the chain APP
peared a good deal weaker than l had
thought It, There were many gaps-indeed.
now that looked at 1t, it seemed to con-
sst largely of gaps. Objections to the
theory of Tremaines guiltloomed larger
and larger. One of the weightiest was Miss
Croydon's attitude toward him-that seem
ed unexplainable. The man she described
the murderer was quite unlike Tremaine
In appearance Was she, then, shielding
him? But why should she do that? Above
all. If he were guilty of such a crime, would
she have consented to his admission to the
Delroy family? And again. If she feared him
why not denounce him to the police, or at
least threaten to do so? That would re-
move him from her path once and forever.
This last question seemed so unanswcr
able that / paused to look at It again, for
1t was evident that one really insuperablc
objection must invalidate the whole theory
BY the commission of crime. especially
of a crime so serious as this one. would he
not place himself as much In Miss Croy-
don's power as she could possibly be IN
his? If she were still in his power then.
he had committed no crime: and If he had
committed no crime. why. of course, he
had not killed Thompson But in that
case. who had? Where had that diamond
come from?
I knocked out my pipe and filed 1t again
I felt good deal though / was wan
dering around and around in a maze; l was
getting little dizzy.
II Trcmaine had not killed Thompson, I
asked myself again. who had? Not Miss
Croydon! To suppose that, delicately
reared girl would smash man over the
head with piece Of pipe was to descend
to the ridiculous. Yet II he had attacked
her she might have nerved herself to do It,
she had a pistol in her pocket and wac not
afraid to use It, Who else, then? Jimmy
the Dude? But he had already proved an
alfbi; besides, motive was wanting.
Then l thought of Cecily. Could she have
been the assassin? Certainly 1t was not
impossible: that last savage act, that shoot
Ing OF an unconscious man. fitted in. some
how, with my estimate of her character.
She might have done that. But why should
Miss Croydon seek to shield her? Was IL
Cecily who possessed the secret? Was
there some connection between them? /
remembered the other famous case in which
l had been engaged-must I look for the
same solution here? Was there blood
relationship between Cecily and Miss Croy-
don? Clearly, such a thing was possible;
l even fancied that one, knowing them
both. might be able to detect subtle
semblance l closed my eyes and endeay-
ored to recall the features of Miss Croy-
dons portrait: her face had much In COM
mon with Cecily's. Both were dark, both
we're
A Knock at the door brought me out of
my thoughts. 1 opened it and found the
janitor standing there.
It's nothing very much. Higgins" l
said, but thought you'd better fix it be-
fore 1t got any worse. The carpet has
come loose here along the door. Three or
four tacks are all 1t needs"
He stepped over the threshold and looked
at it.
"All right. SIR he said. 'Tll fix it in III
mornin'. Them fellers what put tn carpet
down didn't half do their work. / tackled
loose place down over there by tn wall
Jest afore you moved in"
Where was it?' l asked as calmly as 1
could.
Right here by this angle" he said indi-
eating the place with his foot. II think
maybe I'd better go all around tn walls
tmorrow"
you." and closed the door upon him.
The next instant was down on my hands
and knees tearing away the carpet, my
blood singing in my ears. I had found
them-the clippings-it was here they must
be hidden; but for those chance tacks
driven by the janitor. Tremaine would have
had possession Of them long ago, and per-
haps We should never have penetrated the
mystery of Thompson's death. Now, it
would be laid bare before us-the whole Sc
cret! What little thing it was that had
saved US!
had the carpet loose-I turned 1t back.
and there they lay. that little roll of clip
pings. just as they had been taken from
Thompson's pocketbook. They were to tell
us the whole story-we could not again be
led astray. l was quite calm again. l
picked them up carefully and laid them on
my desk. Then I washed my hands and
filed my pipe. There was certain ex
Quisfte pleasure in holding myself back
from them, in tantalizing myself. in defer
ring for moment or two the revelation
which was to come.
But at last l sat down and spread them
out on the desk before me. There were
twelve Of them. some only few lines In
length. others of half a column. or one
there were four copies. but of the others
only one apiece. They were tattered and
stained from long carrying: some were in
English and some were in French. and they
were dated from places as far apart as
Dieppe New York. Sydney.
/ piled them carefully beside me and