The San Francisco call., 1906-06-10

kthat." said Nj. Hamard. seeing you
had just left NJ. Bedor in his ofhce2"
SIt was just an idea" she persisted
Net during that time the assassin
must have taken your keys from the
Kitchen of the fiat right beside you, in
the dark-and you heard nothing He
certainly needed the keys, if only TO
fee"
On this Germaine took refuge In
silence
! And the mystery thickened- All
Paris was divided over the guilt or
four deeply involved persOns-when
Sherlock Holmes emerged from the
Bedor workshops.
All Paris is admiring the gray
bearded NJ Borromans, morocco worker
by his trade. patriarchal, placid and
worthy in his big silver-rimmed spec
tacles on the fourth day he came to
NJ. Hamard.
THE assassin is other than you
think" he said. IT have been with
Charles and Bedor since the founda-
ton of the house. NJ Charles, the
| brother Frederic. the young wife. yes
and the servant girl-they are all in
capable of such a crime. From the
start, therefore. 1 looked elsewhere
flor the assassin, and 1 have found
him.
Explain yourself" said NJ. Hamard.
| THE secret of the crime must be
| with the watchdog Diane. 1 saw that
at once" continued the old French
lSherlock 1T is certain that the as
sassin stood beside her when he put
the lamp on the table-yet she made
no sign Therefore I asked myself
| who among us-knowing the offices
and stairways well enough to go about
them in the dark-could have passed
that ferocious mastiff.
Most of the workmen are my
friends" he continued with proud
humility. Together with Francois
lombard. an artist in repOusse leather,
[ persuaded all of them, one by, one, at
different times. when all was quiet OF
evenings. to penetrate to the dog in NJ.
Bedors private of1ce."
'swelI?"
only one made an engagement with
US and failed to keep it, Yet he was
the one among us all whom the mastih
loved-the man who fed her and
tended her box-the assassin of my
beloved employ automobile
chauffeur of the firm, Auguste Ma
| thieuf'
Then the French Sherlock told how
he and lombard had caused Matthew to
be shadowed by friends OF theirs. un-
known to him. Two of the most de-
| voted Shadows were the nineteen
year-old son of the leather artist and
Borroman's own daughter. of II spring
times. A holy zeal infiamed the young
couple; they desired romantically to
rescue the fair widow from suspicion.
mo suspicion had laIlen on Matthew,
because he did not sleep on the prem
ises." said M. Borromans. Also you
had discarded robbery as motive for
the crime"
effectively" said NJ Hamard. "the
safe cash drawer, opening with two
keys. one held by NJ. Charles and one
found in the dead mans pocket, was
intact Nothing was missing"
Yet robbery was the motive. and it
was successful insisted the gray
! beard 1T is certain that Matthew. who
was borrowing small sums from his
companions only last week, paid $50
francs cash for lot of furniture the
day after the crime"
IF you can show that. I'll arrest
, him." said NJ. Hamard.
They showed it. and Matthew was ar
rested. Being horribly and dramati-
cally surprised in the usual way. he
broke down and made a full confession.
He was engag ged to be married to a
good young girl he loved devoutly. He
had Dragged of his savings. He had
told OF furniture already bought. They
were TO be married in a mOnth-and
the girl and her mother were coming
next week to see the furniture.
Matthew was desperate. Acting as a
sort of uniformed runner for NJ. Bedor
when not automobiling. he had often
seen his employer put wallet bulging
with banknOtes in the safe, but not in
the double-locked cash drawer.
Matthew says he only intended sneak
ing this wallet when Bedor's back was
turned. and now see the value of those
; scientific reconstructions. Matthew had
hid in the archives, besides the private
office. ever since closing time, at
o'clock. He says he got scared toward
the end. What If his master should
discover and shoot him? So he took
off his shoes and slipped silently down.
stairs, through the door opening from
! the interior into workshop. through
the salesroom and upstairs TO the pri-
vate fiat All was silent
From the hallraek he took NJ Be-
! doris word-cane-which the experts
testified too large to make the wounds,
With this / can defend myself" he
says he said to himself Then he hid
himself under the stairs
r NJ Bedor came at last. lamp in hand
Il thought he saw me-" saws the as
sassin, and that look was fatal to
him. saw red. / jumped out and
struck at him with the cane. He
[ grabbed IL. The cane-sheath remain
t ed in his hand had the blade He
ran on it. We fell together. rolling
down the stairs. The lamp chimney
: was smashed but the lamp still burned
lying fiat. 1 righted it. NJ Bedor Law
! there writhing. the blade still in him.
+ 1 pulled it partly out and thrust again
for his heart ss+sI bore down on
IL
The rest was easy to understand. He
took Bedor's safe keys from his pocket
there was no combination-and re-
turned them to the victims pocket
again He dared not touch his person
al valuables-he took only the secret
I fund He took the lamp up with him
naturally, TO see by. Then he care
5 fully washed and dried the blade OF
a the swordcane and sneaked up and re-
] placed 1t in the rack. One mvsferv
5 only remained 1t turned out 10 have
2 been mystery to the assassin him
4 self. And 1t remains mystery 90
day.
e How did you get out the street
2 door, he was asked
2 BY a providentiaI accident r.
f piled the assassin when thev uada