The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-12-20

this evening YER, profitably ii weigh
ing n classifying my discoveries;
in getting a fresh start.
AS l opened my door l noticed that
1t scraped on the carpet, and an ex-
animation showed me that the carpet
had come loose along the sill. l stepped
| to the speaking tube and blew down
"Hello!" called up a voice In a mo-
ment.
rs that you. Higgins?"
Yes, sir"
This is Mr.. Lester. Come up after
a while. will you? I've a little job up
here l want you to do"
do?"
"Oh, yes: any time this evening""
l got out pipe. tobacco and matches
and sat down In my most comfortable
chair. I was no longer so discouraged
as l had beer the evening before. On
the whole. I old myself. I had pro-
Eressed-I had succeeded in forging the
chain more tightly about Tremaine,
in Strengthening 1t In many places. l
could show certainly:
I. That he knew Thompson and lied
about it.
2. That he apparently hated him.
g.. That he had come to New York
on the same boa with him, and prob
ably on the same errand.
4. That Thompson had Joined him
as soon as released from Jail.
On paper. l had to admit, the chain
appeared a good deal weaker than L
had thought it. There were many gaps
Indeed. now hat l looked at it, it
seemed to consist largely Of a OBJ
1ections to the theory of Tremaine's
guilt loomed larger and larger. One
Of the ~we1ghtiest was Miss Croydon's
attitude toward him-that seemed I'M
explainable. The man she described
as the murderer was quite unlike Ire
shielding him? But why should she
do that? Above all. if he were guilty
OF such a crime, would she have con-
scented to his admission to the Del
roy family? And again. If she feared
him, why not denounce him to the po-
lice, or at least threaten to do so?
That would remove him from her
path once n forever.
This last question seemed so UNI
answerable that 1 paused to look at
1T again, for 1t was evident thai
really tnsuperable objection must in
validate the whole theory. BY the com
mission OF a crime, especially of a
he not place himself as much in Miss
Croydon's power as Ii could possibly
be In HIS? If she We're still in his
power. then, he had committed no
crime; and il he had committed no
crime, why, Of course, he had lot
killed Thompson. But in thai case, who
mad? Where had that diamond com
from?
l knocked out my pipe and filled
1t again. I felt a good deal as though
l was wandering around and around
IN a maze; 1 was getting a little
II Tremaine had not killed Thomp-
son. L asked ynvSa1P npoir u. III q
Not Miss Croydon. To suppose that
a ~delicately reared girl would smash
a mar over the head with a piece Of
pipe was to descend to the ridiculous.
yet If he had attacked her, she might
nave nerved herself to do it. But that
had a pistol in her pocket and was
not afraid to use it. Who else, them
Jimmy the dude? But he had already
proved an alibi; besides, a motive was
wanting.
Then l thought OF Cecily. Could she
rave been the assassin? Certainly it
was not tmpossible; that last saw
age act, that shooting Of an uncon-
scious man, fitted in. somehow, with
my estimate of her character. She
might have done that. But why should
Miss Croydon seek to shield, her? Was
IT Cecily who possessed the secret?
was there some connection between.
= ASIIClAIOSIS Gu lI1C OllGr lnlOu
case in which I had been engaged
mus look for the same solution
here? Was there a blood relationship
between Cecily and Miss Croydon?
Clearly, such a thing was possible: I
even fancied that one, knowing them
both, might be able to detect a subtle
resemblance. I q closed my eyes and en-
deavored to recall the features of Miss
Croydon's portrait; her face had much
IN common with Ceci;y's. Both were
dark, both were sss
A knock at the door brought me out
OF my thoughts. I opened 1t and found
the 5anitor standing there.
It's nothing very much. Higgins"
L said. but l thought you'd better
fix it before 1t got any worse. The
carpet has come loose here along he
door. Three or four tacks are all It
needs"
He stepped over III threshold and
looked at it.
~ "A" a.! right; sir" he said. "1n fix it
tn carpet down didn't half do their
work. l tackled a loose place down
over there by TIL wall jest afore you
moved in.''
Where was it?" I asked as calmly
as I could.
indicating the place With his foot.
~ think maybe I'd better go all around
tn wall t'morrer."
Perhaps 1t would be best" I said;
thank you," n I closed the door
upon him.
The x instant I was down on my
hands and knees tearing away the car
pet. my blood cinging in my ears.
had found them-the clippings-it was
here they must be hidden: but for
those chance tacks driven by the Jam
itor, Tremaine would have had pos
session OF them long e and per-
haps we should never have penetrated
the mystery Of Thompson's death.
Now. it would be laid bare before Vi
the whole secret. What a little thing
1t was that had saved us.
I had the carpet loose-I turned 1t
back. n there they lay, that little
troll of clippings, just as they had beer
taken from Thompson's pocketbook.
They We're to tell US the whole story
we could not again be led astray.
was quite calm again. I picked then
up carefully and laid them on my desk.
Then washed my hands and filled my
pipe. There was a certain exquisite
pleasure In holding myself back from
them. In tantalizing myself, in defer
ring for a moment or two the revelation
which was to cone
But at last I sat down and spread
them out on the desk before me. There
We're twelve Of them, some only a few
nneq in lenfh ct1,oro ~ boJ% = ,.1,,~-