Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-12-20

ett, Jul lnulreCliy -NeIy IhuiTeCtlys IAc
spent the evening in Dickie Dclroy's
box Mt the opera"
1t was my turn to stare.
Godfrey" | said suddenly, "thcre
are two points I'd Ike to submit to
you-both ather important ones, I fan
cy. But first want you to tell me the
story of the crime, just as it occurred.
/ suspect there were some details that
didn't get into the Record. Start
cigar first
! He took n cigar and struck a match.
"Therc were" he asscnted, with
smile, "a number Of details that didn't
get before the public. Most of them
have m unfortunate tendency to impi-
cate Miss Croydon"
He got up and walked across the
room and placed his finger over Il little
! hole in the woodwork of the bedroom
| door.
"There's where the bullet from her
revolver struck" he said. There's no
doubt about that. 1t was taken out
and found to fit. I'd give Il good deal
| to know who It was she fired at and
why she fired. l tell you, Lester, the
more one thinks about that affair the
more incomprehensble il becomes,
! there are so many questions which
seem unauswerable. Who was Tbomp-
son? How did he get in condition to
receive her? Was the murderer Il
| friend Of Thompson's? If not, how did
! he get into tie roolns1 Above all. why,
/ after he knocked Thompson down,
should he stand over him and shoot
/ him through the heart? That savors
more of Il wild beast than of a human
! being"
lie paused Il moment in n sort of
helpless perplcXlty, then sat down alb
ruptly and turned to Inc.
what were your points, he asked.
The first l said, looking at him,
twill, | fear, help to tip the scale
against Miss Croydon. She came here
the morning after the inquest and
tried to rent this apartment"
lie stared at ne, astounded, his cigar
in the air, while repeated the story
Higgins had told me. When | had fin
ished. he sat gazing into vacancy, his
! lips compressed
II see it puzzles you" I said at last,
enjoying his pcrplexity 81 confess
couldn't make anything out OF it."
! Puzzles me- he repeated, getting
up again and walking nervously about
the room. why, it's the most as
founding thing ever heard. It's tue
most uneXplainablc feature Of this
whole unexplainablc case. | should
think she'd never want to enter these
rooms again. But perhaps Higgins was
mistaken" he added, stopping short.
That might be-" admitted, though
he swcars he wasn't
well, let's pass over IT for mo-
ment What's the second point? Is it
another staggerer:'
Not a staggerer, but another twist
to the puzzle ! imagine. Did Thomp-
son have any jewelry on him.
"Jewelry? Not bit He was practi-
Cally in rags"
"Where was his body lying:'
Right here" and lie indicated the
spot with his foot.
"And right there" I said, two days
later | found this, pressed into the
carpet" and | took "A little paper packet
from my pocketbook.
He opened it carefully and looked
at what lay inside. Then he whstled
softly.
"A diamond, by all that's wonder.
full
Tell me what 1t came out of" l
said.
zone of group. should say: or
perhaps a border around Il larger cen
trail stone"
"Precisely,' nodded, And last
night | happened to notice that Mrs,
Trcmaine wore n pin with Just such
an arrangement Of stones. one of the
small diamonds in the border was
missing"
Godfrey wrapped up the tiny bit of
crystal and handed it back to me with
an exceedingly thoughtful face.
That's mighty pretty bit of evil
dence," ho said ut last. though, of
course, it may be only Il coincidence.
Taken by itself it isn't worth cent;
IN connection with other evidence il
would be worth great deal"
"And there isn't any other?'
"Just one little bit You say Ire
maine comes from Martinique. Well,
among Thompson's clothes | found Il
peculiar nut, called snake nut, which
grows only in the West Indies. When
you add to this that Thompson's cloth
Ing was all such as is worn in the
tropics, the presumption is pretty
strong that he lived for awhile some
where IN Tremaine's neighborhood,"
! nodded: then my face fell.
"After ALL" | pointed out, "all that
amounts to nothing. Both Tremaine
and his wife can prove an abb. They
weren't In the building when the crime
was committed. You yourself saw
them coming back"
"Well, we'll puzzle it out in time. II
! only had chance to study Tremaine
to hear him talk, TO watch him without
being seen. That would be worth more
to me than all this theorlzlng. Then
I'd have my feet on solid ground;
could sh WHO'S thatF
A door opened and step crossed the
hall There came tap ut my door.
Godfrey shot me one electric glance
then. lightly as panther, he seized
| =, TO Va,