Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-07-27

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the pack door. from which there Is
direct access to the study. Any other
way would have been exceedingly COM
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
garden path, which was saturated with
recent rain. and would certainly show
any footmarks.
MY examination showed that I was
dealing with n cautious and expert
criminal. No footmarks were to be
found on the path. There could be no
passed along the grass border which
| lines the path, and that he had done
so in order to avoid leaving a track.
/ could not find anything I'm the nature
of a distinct impression, but the grass
was trodden down and someone had
undoubtedly passed. 1t could only
have been the murderer, since neither
the gardener nor anyone else had been
there that morning n the rain had
only begun during the night"
lone moment said Holmes. "Wherf
does this path lead to?"
ITO the road"
How long is it?"
"A hundred yards or So"
well, on the road ~itself?"
mo, it was all trodden into mire."
"Tut-tut! Well. then, these tracks
upon the grass, were they coming or
going?"
1T was impossible to say. There
was never any outline
"A large foot or a small?"
You could not distinguish"
Holmes gave an ejaculation OF i'm
patience.
1T has been pouring rain and blow
ing a hurrican ever since" said he. TT
will be harder to read now than that
palimpsest. Well, well, ii cam be
helped. What did you do, Hopkins,
after you had made certain that you
had made certain of nothing"
II think / made certain of a good
deal, Mr.. Holmes. I knew that m
n had entered the house cautiously
from without. / next examined the
corridor. 1t is lined with cocoanut
mating, and had taken no impression
Of any kind. This brought me into
the study itself. 1t is a scantily fur
nished room. The main article is a
large writing table with a fixed bureau.
This bureau consists of a double coll
umn Of drawers, with a central small
cupboard between them. The drawers
We're open, the cupboard locked. The
drawers, 1t seems, were always open,
and nothing of value was kept in them.
There were some PAPER of Importance
in the cupboard, but there were 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. 1t was found near the bureau,
just to the left of 1t, as marked upon
that chart. The stab was on the right
side OF the neck and from behind for
wards. so that IL is almost impossible
that it could have been self inflicted"
Unless he fell upon the knife said
Holmes.
Exactly. The idea crossed my mind.
But we found the knife some feet away
from the body, SO that seems impos-
sible. Then, Of course, there are the
mans w dying words. And, finally,
there was this very important piece OF
evidence which was found clasped in
the dead mans right hand"
From his pocket Stanley Hopkins
drew a small paper packet. He un-
folded it n disclosed a golden pince-
neg, with two broken ends Of black silk
cord dangling from the end of it.
"Willoughby Smith had excellent
sight" he added. There can be no
question that this was snatched from
the face or the person of the assas-
sim"
Sherlock Holmes took the glasses into
his hand and examined them with the
utmost attention and interest. He
held them on his nose, ~endeavored to
read through them, went to the win
dow and stared up the street with them,
looked at them most infinitely in the
full light Of the lamp, n family with
a chuckle seated himself at the table
and wrote a few lines Upon a sheet Of
paper, which he tossed across to Stan
ley Hopkins.
That's the best / can do for YOU"
said he. 1T may prove to be of some
use"
"The astonished detective read the
note aloud 1t ran as follows:
Wanted, a woman Of good address,
attired like a lady. She has a re-
markedly thick nose, with eyes which
are set close upon either side of 1t.
She has a puckered forehead, a peer
ing expression, and probably rounded
shoulders. There are indications that
she has had recourse to an optician
at least twice during the last few
months. AS her glasses are of re-
markable strength, and as opticians are
not very numerous, there should be no
difficulty in tracing her."
Holmes smiled at the establishment
of Hopkins, which must have been re-
iected upon my features.
Surely my deductions are simplicity
ITSELF" said he. 1T would be difficult
to name any articles which afford a
amer field for inference than a pair of
glasses, especially so remarkable a pair
as these. That they belong to a wom-
and l infer from their delicacy, and also,
of course, from the last words of the
dying man. As to her being a person
OF refinement and well dressed, they
are, as you perceive, handsomely
mounted In solid gold, INK 1t is incon-
ceivable that anyone who wore such
glasses could be slatternly in other re-
spects. You will find that the clips
are too wide fer your nose, showing
that the lady's nose was very broad at
the base. This sort of nose is usually
a short an coarse one, but there is a
sufficient number Of exceptions to pre-
vent me from being dogmatic or from
insisting upon this point In my descrip-
ton. My own face is a narrow one,
and yet l find that / cannot get my
eyes into the center, nor near the con-
ter of these glasses. Therefore. the
lady's eyes are set very near to the
sides Of the nose. You will perceive,
Watson, that the glasses are concave
and of unusua strength. A lady whose
vision has been so extremely contracted
all her life is sure to have the physical