The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1907-12-19
A {. OF MANHATTAN.

, this evening ver.. profitably in weigh
ing end classifying my discoveries;
In getting a fresh start.
As / opened my door 1 noticed that
II scraped on the carpet, n an ex-
animation showed me that h carpet
had come loose along h sill. l stepped
to the speaking tube and blew down
1t. I'll.
'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 I want you to do"
do?" =
"oh. yes; any time this evening"
/ got out pipe. tobacco and matches
and sat down in my most comfortable
chair. I was no longer so discouraged
as / had been the evening before. On
the whole, I told myself, I had pro-
gressed-I had succeeded in forging the
chain more tightly about Tremaine,
in strengthening 1t in many places. /
could show certainly:
]. That he knew Thompson and lied
about 1t.
2. That he apparently hated him.
3. That he had come to New York
on the same boat with him, and prob
ably on the same errand.
4. That Thompson had Joined him
as soon as released from jail.
On paper, I had to admit, the chain
appeared a gcod deal weaker than /
had thought 1t. There were many gaps
indeed, now that / looked at ii, Il
seemed to consist largely of gaps. OBJ
jections to the theory OF Tremaine's
guilt doomed larger and larger. One
OF the weightiest was Miss Croydon's
attitude toward him-that seemed un-
eXplalnable. The she described
as the murderer was quite unlike Tre-
maine in appearance. Was she, then.
shielding him? But why should she
do that? Above all, if he were guilty
OF such a crime, would she have con-
sented to his admission to the Del
roy family? And again, liz 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 one and forever.
This last question seemed so un-
answerable that / paused to look at
1t again, for 1t was evident that one
really insuperable objection must in
validate the whole theory. BY the COM
mission OF a crime, especially of a
crime so serious as this one, would
he not place himself as much in Miss
Croydon's power as she could possibly
~ AA AAAS a. oAAS vi ~ III lllD
power. then, he had committed no
crime; and IL lie had committed no
crime, why, of course, he had not
killed Thompson. But in that case, who
had? Where had that diamond come
from?
1 knocked out my pipe and filled
It again. / felt a good deal as though
l was wandering around and around
In a maze; ! was getting a little
dizzy.
If Tremaine had not killed Thomp-
son, / asked myself again, who had?
Not Miss Croydon. To suppose that
4 d~elicately reared girl would smash
a man over the head with a piece of
pipe was to descend to the ridiculous.
Yet IL he had attacked her, she might
have nerved herself to do 1t. But that
vas absurd, too, since, admittedly, she
had a pistol In her pocket and was
not afraid to use 1t. Who else, then?
Jimmy the dude? But he had already
proved an alibi; besides, a motive vas
wanting.
Then thought Of CeciIy. Could she
have been the assassin? Certainly 1t
was not impossible; 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
. SNSAAJ ~ PO0oCooCa InC SGCTGI =
Was there some connection between
them? / remembered the other famous
case In which I had been engaged
must / 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 hat one, knowing them
both. might be able to detect a subtle
resemblance. / closed my eyes and en-
deavored to recall the features of Miss
Croydon's portrait; her face had much
n common with Ceci;y's. Both were
dark, both were : ..
A knock at the door brought me out
OF my thoughts. ! opened it and found
the janitor standing there.
TITS nothing very much, Higgins
said, but I thought you'd better
fix 1T before 1t got n worse. The
carpet has come loose here along the
door. Three or four tacks are all 1t
needs"
He stepped over the threshold and
looked at IL.
IAN right, SIR" he said. "Tn fix It
in tn mornin'. Them fellers what put
tn carpet down didn't half do their
work, 1 tackled a loose place down
over there by tn wall jest afore you
moved in"
Where was tit" 1 asked as calmly
as I could.
nlSnI mere Dy thlS ANGLE, ne SAID,
indicating the place with his foot.
Il think maybe I'd better go all around
tn wall t'morrer."
Perhaps II would be best" I said;
thank you," and I closed the door
upon him. E.H
The next instant I was down ON my
hands and knees tearing away the car
pet, my blood Ginging In my ears. ]
had found them-the clippings-it was
here they must be hidden; but foI
those chance tacks driven by the jan
itor. Tremaine would have had pos
session Of them long ago, and per.
haps we should never have penetrated
the mystery OF Thompson's death
Now, II would be laid bare before III
the whole secret. What a little thing
it was that had saved US.
I had the carpet loose-I turned Il
back, and there they lay, that little
roll Of clippings, just as they had beer
taken from Thompson's pocketbook
They were to tell us the whole story
we could not again be led astray.