Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-09-14

Let us look at it Halloa. halloa!
What is this?"
The three glasses were grouped to-
gether, all of them tinged with wine,
and one of them containing some dregs
of beeswing. The bottle stood near
them, two-thirds full, and beside lay
a long. deeply stained cork. It's APP
| pearance and the dust upon the bottle
showed that was no common vintage
which the murderers had enjoyed.
A change had come over Holmes
manner. He had lost his l~istless ex-
preston, and again l saw an alert
light of interest in his keen. deep-set
! eyes. He raised the cork n examined
it minutely.
How did they draw it?" he asked.
Hopkins pointed to n h~alf-opened
drawer. In it lay some table linen and
a large csrkscrew.
"Did Lady Braekenstall say that
screw was used?"
mo, you remember that she was
senseless at the moment When h bot
tie was opened"
Quite so. AS n matter of fact, that
screw was not used. This bottle was
opened by a pocket screw, probably
contained in q knife, n not more
than an incl and a half long. If you
will examine the top OF the cork, you
will observe that the screw vas driven
III lIItt NllltS ptloIe lH' NoIh was ga
tracted. 1t has never been transfixed.
This long screw would have transfixed
It and drawn It up with a single pull.
When you catch this fellow, you will
find that he has one of these multiplex
knives in his possession"
Excellent" said Hopkins.
But these glasses do puzzle me, 1
confess. Lady Brackenstall actually
saw the three men drinking. did she
not?"
Yes; she was clear about that"
Their there is an end Of 1t. What
more Is to be said? And yet, you must
admit, hat the three glasses are very
remarkable, Hopkins. What? o see
nothing remarkable? Well, well. let 1t
pass. Perhaps. when a man has spe-
cial knowledge and special powers like
my own, II rather encourages him to
q q complex explanation when a
simpler one is at hand. OF course. 1t
must be a mere chance about the
glasses. Well. good morning. Hopkins.
! don't see that / can be of any use to
you, and yOu appear to nave your case
very clear. Yeu will let me know when
Randall is arrested, and any further de-
velopments which may occur. l trust
that I shall soon have to congratulate
you upon a successful conclusion. Come,
Watson, I fancy that we may employ
ourselves more profitably at home"
During our return journey. ! could
see by Holmes face that he was much
puzzled by something which he had OBJ
served. Every now and then, by an
/ effort, he woul throw off the impress
sion, and talk AS If the matter were
clear. but then his doubts would settle
down upon him ag;,n, and his knitted
brows and distracted eyes would show
that his thoughts had gone back once
more to the great dining room of the
| Abbey Grange, in hitch this midnight
tragedy had bean enacted. At last, by
a sudden impulse, just as our train
was crawling out of a suburban sta
ton, he sprang onto the platform and
Dulled me out after him.
Excuse me, my dear fellow said he,
as we watched the rear carriages of our
train disappearing round a curve, Il
am sorry to make you the victim of
what may seem a mere within, but on
my life, Watson, l simply can't leave
that case in this condition. Every in
stinct that / possess cries out against
II. It's wrong-it's all wrongful swear
that it's wrong. And yet the lady's
story was complete, the maids corro-
boration was sufficient, the detail was
fairly exact. What have I to put up
against that? Three wi~neglasses, that
Is all. But If / had not taken things
for granted, IL I had examined every
thing with care which / should have
shown a we approached the case de
novo and had no cut-and-dried story TO
warp my mind, should l not then have
found something more definite to go
upon? OF course / should. Sit down
ON this bench, Watson. until a train
for Chiselhurst arrives. and allow me
TO lay the evidence J fore you, implor-
ing you in the first instance to dismiss
from your mind the idea that anything
which the maid or her mistress may
have said must necessarily be true.
The lady's charming personality must
not be permitted to warp our judg-
ment.
Surely there are details in her story
which, II we looked at 1t In cold blood.
would excite our suspicion. These
burglars made a considerable haul at
Sydenham, q fortnight ago.. Some ac-
count of them n Of their appearance
was in the papers,, and would naturally
occur to anyone who wished TO invent
q story In which imaginary robbers
should play q part. AS a matter of fact,
burglars who have lone a good stroke
OF business are, as a rule, only too glad
to enjoy the proceeds in peace and
quiet without e~mbarking on another
perilous undertaking. Again, it is un-
usual for burglars to operate at SO
early an hour, 1t is unusual for burglars
to strike a lady to prevent her cream
ing, since would imagine that was
the sure way to make her scream, 1t is
unusual for them to ommit murder
when their numbers are sufficient to
overpower one man, IL is unusual for
them to be content with a limited
plumber when there was much more
within their reach, and finally, / should
say. that Ii was very unusual for such
men to leave a bottle half empty. How
do all these unusuals strike you, Wat
SOM"
Their cumulative effect is certainly
considerable. and yet each of them is
quite possible in itself. The most un-
usual thing of all, as it seems to me,
is that the lady should be tied to the
chair"
We'll. / am not so clear about that,
Watson. for it Is evident that they
must either kill her or else secure her
in such a way that she could not give
immediate notice Of their escape. But
at any rate / nave shown. have I not,
that there is a certain element of i'm
probability about the lady's story? And
now. on the top OF this, ZONES the in
cident Ga h wineglasses."
What about the w~ineglasses?"
Can you see them in your minds
eyer"
II see them clearly"
from them. Does hat strike you as
ikely?"
why not? There was wine in each