The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-06-24


the stick belonging to our client. lie
admits It. Footmarks Of both men
could be made out on the carpet. but
none OF any third person, which again
Is 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 It amounted to nothing.
l 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 We're not. 50 far as /
could judge Of any great value. nor
lid the bank book show that Mr.. Old
acre was in such very ahiuent circum-
stances. Cut il seemed to me that all
the papers were not there. Tslere
were allusions to some possibly
the more valuable which I could nor
find. This, of course. If we could def
nitely prove II, would turn Lestrade's
argument against himself for who
would steal a thing If he knew that he
would shortly inherit it,
FINALLY, having drawn every other
cover and picked up no scent. tried
my luck with the h0usekeeper. Mrs
Lexington is her naIne-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. McFariane in ut half past
Q. 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 aud 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
AoA "A AAAUhAns IL 1AAAtu ilkG AiuutIs
and by the time she reached the spot
nothing could be seen but danes She
and all the fremen smelled the burn
ed flesh from inside it. She knew
nothing Of the papers nor Of Mr.. Old
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 conviction-"I know it's all
wrong. l feel It In my bones. There
is something that has not come out,
anG that housekeeper knows II. There
was sort Of sulky defiance ia her
eyes which only goes with guilty
knowledge. However there's no good
talking any more about Il, Watson.
But unless some lucky chance comes
bur way / fear that the Norwood dis
appearance case will not figure in that
chronicle Of our successes which I fore
see that a patient public will sooner or
Later have to endure"
Surely" said l. the mans appear
ance would go far with any jury"
That is a dangerous argument, my
dear Watson. You remember that ter
rible murderer, Bert stevens, who
wanted us 20 get him OF in 'e77 Was
there ever a more mild hammered, Sun
day school yong man?"
'Itis true"
Unless we succeed in establishing
an alternative theory this man is lost
You can hardly find a tlaw 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 hook
ing over the bank book found that the
low state Of the balance was principal
" due TO large checks which have been
made out during the last year TO Mr..
Cornelius. / confess that / should be
interested TO know who this Mr.. Corne-
Illus may be with whom a retired build
er has such very large transactions. Is
IL possible that he has had a hand in
the AFFAIR." Cornelius might be bro
key, but we have found no scrip TO cor
respond with these large pigments.
Failing any other indication, my re-
searches must now take the direction
Of an inquiry az the bank for the gen
tleman who has cashed these checks.
But fear, my dear fellow. that our
case viii end ingloriously by Lestrade
hanging our client which will certain
iy be a triumph for Scotland Yard"
1 do not know how far Sherlock
Holmes took any sleep that night. but
when 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