Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1906-07-26

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in following my investigation"
He unfolded the rough chart. which
I here reproduce. and he laid it across
Holmes knee. l rose and standing be-
hind Holmes. studied it over his
shoulder.
1T is very rough. of course. and 1t
only deals With the points which seem
to me essential. All the rest you will
see later for yourself. Now. first of all,
presuming that the assassin entered
the house. how did ne or she come in?
Undoubtedly by the garden path and
the back door. from which there is
direct access to the study. Amy other
way would have been exceedingly conn
plicated. The escape must also been
made along that line, for of the other
two exits from The room one was
blocked by Susan as she ran down
stairs and the other leads straight to
the professors bedroom. therefore
directed my attention at once to the
gardcn path Which was saturated With
recent rain, and would certainly show
amy footmarkS.
My examination showed that was
dealing with n cautious and expert
criminal. No footmarks We're To be
found on the path. There could be no
question, however, that someone had
passed along the grass border which
lines the PATH and that he had done
so in order to avoid leaving Il track.
l could not find anything i'll the nature
of distinct impression. but the grass
was trodden down and someone had
| undoubtedly passed. 1t could only
have been Vhe murderer. since neither
the gardener nor anyone else had been
there That molnMg and the rain had
| only begun during the night.
zone moment said Holmes. "Where
does this path lead lo?'
TO the road"
How long is ii? p
"A hundred yards or So.
Nell, on the road ITSELF"
NO. it was all trodden into ntrc."
"Tut-tul. Nell. then. these tracks
upon the ;slass, We're they coming or
going"
III was impossible 10 say. There
WAS never amy outline
"A large foot or ~ small?"
You could not DISTINGUISH"
Holmes gaze an ejaculation of Inn
patience
III has been pouring ls1in and blow
| ing II hurrican ever since, said he. 1T
Win be harder To read NOM than that
palmpsest. Well, Nell it can't be
helped. What did YOU do. Hopkins.
after YOU had made certain that you
had n,tic certain of nothing"
| II think made certain of a Goot:
deal Mir. Holmes. 1 knew that some
one had entered the houst cautiously
from without | next examined the
| corridor. 1t is lined with oocoaiut
mating, and had taken no Impression
OF amy kind. This brought me into
the study itself. 1t is a scantly fur
| nished room. The main article is IL
large writing table With Il fixed bureau.
| This bureau consists of Il double COLI
umn of drawers, with a central small
| cupboard between them. The drawers
We're open, the cupboard locked. The
| drawers. ii seems We're always open,
and nothing of value was kept in them.
/ There were some papers of Importance
4 in the cupboard, but there We're no
signs that this had been tempered with.
and the professor assures us that Moth
ing was missing. 1t is certain that no
robbery has been committed.
II now come to the body of the young
man. Ii WAS found near the bureau,
| just to the left OF it, as marked upon
that chart. The stab was ON the right
side of the neck and from behind for
wards, so that i'll is almost impossible
that it could have been self inflicted
"Unles., he fell upon the knife" said
Holmes.
Exactly. The idea crossed my mind.
4 But We found the knife some feet away
from the body. so that seems impos-
sible. Then, of course, there are the
mans own dying words. And, finally,
there WAS this very important piece of
evidence which was found clasped In
the dead mans right ':anI."
From his pocket Stanley Hopkins
drew u small paper packet. He UNI
folded II and disclosed Il golden pince-
ncz, with two broken ends of black silk
cord dangling from the end of it.
"Willoughby Smith had excellent
sight" he added. There can be M
4 question that This was snatehed from
the face OF the person of the assas5-
4 sim
Sherlock Holmes took the glasses into
/ his hand and examined them with the
/ utmost attention and interest. He
/ held them on his nose, endeaVorcd To
| read through them. went To the Vim
dow and stared up the street with them,
looked at them most infinitely i'm the
| fun light OF the lamp, and family with
u chuckle seated himself at the table
and wrote u few lines upon n sheet of
| paper. which he tossed across t. STAN
| ley Hopkins.
That's The hest | can do for you"
said he. III may prove to be of some
use.
The astonished detective read the
note aloud. 1T ram as follows
"Manted, a woman of good address,
a,ired like i l.,dY. She has !; re-
markedly thick nose with eyes which
are set close upon either side pf it.
She has u iucke:"d forehead, Il peer
Ing ,xijression, and probably rounded
shoulders. There are indications that
She has had recourse to All opticiall
IA least tNien duria. the last fe%
mouths. As her glasses arc ~ re-
,naikaDc strength, aud rs opticiats are
not worry numerous, there SHOULD be 40
difficulty IN tracing her
Holmes smiled ~ liie ast0inisAnent
OF Hopkins, which must have been re-
i tlrrtpfl JEOu nay featIlrcg