The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-03-02
il.-THE ADVENTURE OF THE
NORWOOD BUlLDER-Cont;nued.

viii, and was looking at them witt
the keenest interest upon his face.
There are some points about that
document, Lestrade, are there not?'
said he. pushing them over.
The official looked at them with q
puzzled expression.
II can read the first few lines. and
these in the middle OF the second page,
and n or two at the end. Those
are as clear as print" said he, but
h writing in between is very bad, and
there are three places where I cannot
read it at ALL"
What do you make Of that?' said
Holmes.
We'll. what do o make of 1t?
That it was written in a train. The
good writing represents stations. the
bad writing movement, and the very
bad writing passing over points. A
scientific expert would pronounce at
once that this was drawn up on a
suburban line, since nowhere save in
the immediate vicinity OF a great city
could there be SO quick a succession of
points. Granting that his whole jour-
will, then the train was an express,
only stopping once between Norwood
and London Bridge"
Lestrade began to laugh.
you are too man for me when you
begin to get on your theories. Mr..
OLIlIS 81 IN lSs 41OM AOCS I1llS OSdI
on the case?"
We'll. 1t corroborates the young
mans story to the extent that the will
was drawn up by Jonas Oldacre in his
Journey yesterday. 1t is curious-is 1t
not?-that a man should draw up so
important a document in so h%aphazard
a fashion. 1t suggests that he did not
think II was going to be OF much prac-
tical Importance. II a man drew up a
will which he did not intend ever to be
effective, he might do 1t So"
We'll. he drew up his own death
warrant at h same time" said Les
trade.
'Oh. you think sou
Don't your"
Well, 1t Is quite possible, but the
case 1t not clear to me yet"
Not clear? Well, IL that isn't clear,
what could be clear? Here is a young
mar who learns suddenly that, IL a
to g. fortune. What does he do? He
says nothing to anyone, but he ar
ranges that he shall go out on some
pretext to see his client that night.
He waits until the only other person
In the house is In bed, and then in the
solitude of the mans room he muir
.ders him, BURNS his body in the wood
pile, and departs to a neighboring hotel
The blood stains in the room and also
on the stick are very slight. 1t is
probable that he imagined his crime
to be a bloodless one, and hoped thai
IL the body were consumed 1t would
hide all traces of the method of his
death-traces Of which. for some rea-
Q must have. pointed to him. Is not
all this obvious?"
1T strikes me, my good Lestrade, as
being just a trile too obvious said
Holmes. You do not add Imagination
to your other great qualities, but il you
0oYp1A NE<r -, r.A ,,- T.
the place OF this young la would you
choose the very night after the will
had been made to commit your-cri,ne ?
Would 1t not seem dangerous to you
to- make SO very close asrelation be-
tween the two incidents? Again,
would you choose an OCCASION when
you are known to be in the house, when
asservant has let you In? And. finally,
would you take the great pains to
concealsthe body, and yet leave your
own stick as a sign that you were the
criminal? Confess. Lestrade. that all
this IS very unlikely
AS to the stick, Mr.. Holmes, you
know as we'll as I do that a criminal
ass often Hurried, and does such things
which a cool nan would avoid. He was
very likely afraid to go back to the
room. Civ me another theory that
would At the facts"
could easily give 9 half a dozen
E0tN x1OllllCSs i= I1cIC, 6OI CxdIJpl6y lS
a very possible and even probable one
y make you a free present of II. The
older ma IL showing documents which
are Of evident value. A passing tramp
sees them through the window. the
blltndssof which Is only half down. Exit
h solicitor. Enter the tramp! He
ssizes 2 stick. which he observes there
ing the body"
why should the tramp burn the
body?"
For the matter of that. why should
McIrarlane?"
ITO hide some evidences"
Possibly the tramp wanted to hide
that any murder at all had been COM
mitted."
And why did the tramp take moth
ing:?.s
Because they were papers that he
could not negotiate"
Lestrade shook his head, though II
seemed to me that his manner was
less absolutely assured than before.
Well, Mr.. Sherlock Holmes, you may
look for your tramp. and while you are
finding him we will hold on to our mar
The future will show which Is right,
Just notice this point. Mr.. Holmes:
that SO far az we know, none Of the
papers were removed, and that the
prisoner Is the one man in the world
who had no reason for removing them
since he was heir-at-law. and would
come into them in any case"
NY friend seemed struck by this re-
mark.
Il don't NEAR to deny that the evil
dence Is In some ways very strongly
In favor Of your theory" said lie. q
only wish to point out hat there are
other theories possible. As you say,
the future will decide. Good morn
ing! I dare say hat in the course OF
the day I shall drop in at Norwood and
see how you are getting on"
When the detective departed my
friend, rose and made his preparations
for the days work with the alert al,
OF q man who has a congenial task be-
fore him.
MY first movement, Watson" said
he, as he hustled into his frock coat
slnust as ! said. be in the direction OF
Blackheath."
And why not Norwcod?'
Because we have in this case on
singular incident coming close to til.
heels OF another singular Incl
eert. The police are making thu
mistake of concentrating their at
tention upon the second, be
satise It happens To be tie one whic.
s1s saetually criminal. But 1t is evil