Rock Island Argus., 1907-01-19

alibi, carefully arranged; there was
nothing to disprove il, and at the end
the jury, without retiring, handed in
the usual verdict OF death at the hands
| of a person unknown.
When it was over Simmonds crooked
at Godfrey an inviting finger, and to-
! tive'S private office.
"Sit down." said Simmonds. Il want
to talk to you. We're up against a
| tough proposition"
Godfrey sat down and looked at him.
Have you gone through ThompsOn's IS
belongings?"
Here they are" and Simmonds
brought out Il canvas bag and opened
it. Look at them"
Godfrey turned out the contents and
examined them piece by piece. 1t was
| merely Il lot of ordinary clothing, most
of it much the worse for wear and all
of it strongly impregnated with the
odor of tobacco.
| Godfrey
Not thing except some loose smok-
ing tobacco. There's one thing about
the clothing. though-hGve you noticed
| It's all summer clothing; see these
| linen trousers. nOw:''
Godfrey nodded with drawn brows.
Whats thisE' he asked suddenly,
holding up 4 swart object shaped like
clam shell and halving in the same
way along the sharp edge.
II don't know. a curio picked up at
sea somewhere. perhaps. l have a
! theory that Thompson was Il sailor"
Why"
''WelI. the bag, in the first place
only sailor would carry his clothes
that way Then put your head down
in it and under the tobacco you'll
smell the salt"
Godfrey shifted and nodded again.
Then he got out his knife.
Lets take a look at the inside of
Mr.. Thompson's curio," he said, and
inserted the blade.
y twist and the sides Enclosed. Sim
monds spran, back with Il sharp cry of
surprise as he saw what lay within,
and even Godfrey's heart gave a sud
den leap.
For there, coiled thrice upon itself,
lay little viper, with venomous, tri-
angular head.
Then in an instant Godfrey smiled.
Its not alive" he'said. Don't you
see. it's some marvellous kind of nut"
SimmOndS approached cautiously and
took another look.
"a nut:' he repeated. "a nut? Well,
that beats mer
And we'll it might, for in every de-
tail the form was perfect. Godfrey
looked at it musingly.
This may give us n clew," he said.
Il shouldn't imagine a nut like this
grows in many parts of the world.
though, of course, a sailor might pick
it up anywhere-from another sailor.
In slop shop, even here in New York.
perhaps"
He closed the shell together again
and placed it in the bag. stuffing the
rest of the clothing in after it.
Thompson had no very exalted idea
of cleanliness" he remarked. His
clothing needs n visit to the laundry.
And this is all:''
YES. He'd rented his furniture from
n store down the street. He had to pay
his rent in advance because he had so
little baggage. That receipts the only
thing that's got his name on it-oh, yes.
There's a letter tattooed on his left
arm. but it's not a Tits J."
(Which goes to show that his name
wasn't Thompson. / think you're right
Simmonds. in putting him down as n
sailor. L thought so last night; in fact,
I've already got two men making q
tour of the docks trying to find some
body who knew him."
Have you:" said SimmonGs, smiling
That's like you. There's another Curl
Gus thing, though, about the clothing
he had on
what is that?"
"Some of it's marked with one initial,
some with another. Not one piece is
marked with his"
The door opened and the coroner's
clerk entered.
''Mr. Goldberg sent the exhibits back
to you" he said, holding out a parcel
to Simmonds.
Simmonds opened it and took out a
pocketbook, Il pipe, a knife and some
silver money.
"All right" he said, and signed a
receipt
Godfrey waited until the door closed,
then he rose and came over to Sim
monds' side.
There's something here that might
help u.s." he said, picking up the
pocketbook. ''Those newspaper clip
pings-why, they're not herew
Simmonds smiled dryly.
That's another thing I wanted to
tell you. The clippings have been re-
moved"
Removed? BY whom?"
''That's a question. They were re-
moved some time between the moment
we looked at them and the moment
the coroner took charge"
Godfrey stared at him with startled
eyes.