Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1907-01-22
"And why should he do thatT'
ITO get better light, perhaps"


"To get better light, perhaps" l
ventured.
HE might have done 1t In the day
time, to get better light, but at
night he would get much worse one
over there by the window than here.
The lights, you'll observe, hang from
the center OF the ceiling"
Then he did It," said, "in order
that he might be seen from outside"
THAT'S it. Not only that he might
he seen. but that Drysdale might see
him. / wonder IL this is the kind Of
paper lie wrote On?"
I'VE keep supply Of it in all tn
guest rooms, sir" volunteered Thomas.
Godfrey took it up and looked ut 1t.
1t was a plain white linen of good
quality, with tile word "Edgemere"
embossed in blue at. the top. There
were also OH the table pens, an ink
stand and two or three blotters. He
turned the blotters over, but only one
Of them showed any sign Of having
been used, and the marks on 1t were
very faint, yet they seemed to interest
Godfrey. He bent over them with pliZ-
zled face. Then he got out little
magnifying glass and studied them
again.
Lester" he said, at last, II wish
you'd take look at this" and he
pushed the blotter and glass toward
me. "What do you make Of 1t"
gazed through the glass ut the
marks, but for a moment could make
nothing Of them. Then they resolved
themselves into string Of letters
marching backward, fairly distinct at
one end, but fading away to nothing
ness at the other.
Somebody seems to have been scrib-
bling n lot Of disconnected letters on
piece of paper" said, ut last. 81 can't
make out any words. The letters seem
to be mostly BIS and G's-yes. and
here's an |"
Thomas" said Godfrey, will you go
down and ask Mr.. Delroy II he has a
sample Of Mr. Tremaine's handwriting,
and, IL so, IL lie will let us see it for n
moment"
Thomas went out instantly and l
looked at Godfrey in surprise.
"You think those marks have some
value?" asked.
Godfrey drummed absently on the
table and stared out of the window.
81 don't know" he answered, but
in an investigation Of this kind no
point Is too small to be important.
We've got to examine everything,
weigh everything. .,ile up every little
atom Of evidence, il we expect to tip
the scale in our direction. It's very
probable that Tremaine never made
these marks at all; even II he did, they
probably have no significance. But In
any event 1t won't do any harm to
make sure; and, besides, I'd like to see
sample Of his handwriting. just for
its own sake-the handwriting OF man
like that ought to be interesting. All,
here Is Thomas"
Here's letter, sir" said Thomas.
Godfrey opened 1t and glanced at the
contents.
"He's a good penman," he said; "see,
Lester" and he handed me the sheet,
"but it's quite different hand from
the one on the blotter-much broader
and more nasculne-just such a hand
o. one would naturally expect man
Ike Tremaine to write" -
He explained II again for momcnf.> .
then folded It up and handed it back to
Thomas.
Perhaps Mr.. Delroy will want 1t
again." he said.
Now, let us see Mr.. Drysdale's
rOom."
AS he got up from the table no.
ticed that he still held the blotter in
his hand, and saw him place ii care
fully in an inner pocket. AFTER all
then, he did attach some Importance
to ii.
The room which had been occupied
by Drysdale was the counterpart OF
Tremaine's, but it was in great dis
order. An open trunk stood in the mid
die of the floor, with clothing strewn
about it; the bed had not been made.
1--WE was ordered not L do anything
toward settin' this room to rights eX-
planned Thomas apolosctic@!ly, iii
| the coroner sent US word We might.
He amt sent no word yet
1t was evident that Drysda!e had
been packing very hastily when he
was interrupted by the arrival OF the
officers. The clothing which was in
the trunk had been crammed in care
lessly-though. Of course, that might
have beea done by the coroner after
| searching IL.
"Drysdale evidently didn't spend
much time in bei that night" observed
Godfrey and indicated IL pile OF ci2a-
rette stubs heaped high OH an ash
| tray OH the table. "ue must have had
| some knotty problem to wrestle with
to need so many
He walked slowly about the room,
looking at everything kcenly, but
touching nothing. He stood gazing ut
| Tue Ucu lOI iouS ehh~'
| turned again to the table.
Here's the diary" he said, picking
up little book which lay there. 80
| Heffelbower didn't get 1t. wen,
guess I'd better see he doesn't have
| another chance
He weighed it in his hand, ana l
could see how it tempted him. Per-
haps here lay the very key w''icii lie
had been seeking in yain! BIT "a
moment he slipped 1t unopened into
his pocket.
"A man Is fool to make promises
he observed. with wry smile, anu
sat down ut the table. Hello, what's
thisY" he added suddenly. and, stoop-
ing. he fished from the wasteDasket
beside him the fragments OF cane.
1t was u cane certainly of ut least
ordinary strength, and yet it had been
broken into half II dozen pieces ana
hurled into the basket.
Whistlng softly to himself. Golirey
surveyed 1t moment: t:'A ~ h'A'