Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-10-28

nave arisen from some totally 0lHerenL
cause. Perhaps more may hinge on that
than what we think"
Late in the afternoon l went to the
stateroom where the murdered man lay,
and shut myself in. Locking the door, I
turned on the electric light, which illumin-
ated every corner of the room. I sent
my thoughts back to the night before, try
ing to put myself in the position of Ire
fusis. when he had come down into the
stateroom. He had hung up his coat and
vest, and had taken off his collar, which
he had laid on the ledge beneath the mir
ror. He had then probably wound his
watch, had stopped to place 1t under his
pillow. and-the blow had come. Either
some one had opened the door and sud-
denly sprung forward and dealt it, or else
had been hidden behind the various things
which hung on the wall Two bath gowns
were there, large and voluminous, which
might temporarily have concealed a hu-
man form, if the occupant Of the state
room were unobservant and utterly un-
suspicious. Probably Trefusis would have
been both.
"Now," l said to myself, "if Sewer
really didn't have that knife about his
person, but had left it lying in the state
room granting it was with that the
murder was done), there's hope for him
yet. He could hardly have entered the
room, found the weapon, and stabbed Ire
fusis with it. before Trefusis had time to
turn around; for, after what had just
passed between them, he certainly would
have turned round rather quickly after
the door opened. The only way in which
Sewer could have stabbed Trefusis in the
back, after their quarrel, would have been
by rushing in on him unawares."
Surprising it to be fact that some
one was concealed In the stateroom before
Trefusis came down, Sewer is exonerat-
ed altogether, as l would be in a position
to prove, knowing as l do that he was on
deck for at least ten minutes after Ire
fuss left it. There is so much to the
good. But who besides Sewer and Miss
Ransome had any reason to wish for Ire
| fusis' death?"
AS questioned myself, lifted the bath
robes with the other clothing on the
WALL and put myself behind them. At
once a faint but agreeable perfume was
perceptible to my nostrils.
Slowly 1 took down the garment
| with the perfume than the other, and
then-suddenly-I gave vent to a slight
exclamation. A hairpin was sticking in;
the loosely woven meshes of the Turkish
toweling of which the robe was made, as
though it had, in close contact, been drag
| ged from a woman's hair.
put the pin to my nostrils. The sweet
scent that chung to the garment in the
place where it had been caught, also i'm
pregnated the peculiarly fashioned, silk
wound bit of metal.
Fine silken thread of reddish-brown
color entirely covered the hairpin, in ODE
dience to some new fancy for matching
the hue of the wearer's tresses.
We carried two stewardesses on the
Canada, and lost no time, on leaving
the room of the dead, in going first to
one. and then to the other. "When you
make your round in the staterooms this
evening"" / said to each Git is needless
to explain without giving any clue to my
reason) bring me a hairpin from every
one occupied by ladies alone, or by a
husband and wife. Mark each one with
the number of the room, lightly written
in pencil, stick the hairpins on paper,
and put the numbers under them as we'll"
After dinner the stewardesses came to
me in my cabin. There was a long array
of hairpins arranged according to my
order, but comparatively few bottles.
could hardly control my excitement
as my eyes lighted upon the mate to the
hairpin had concealed in my pocket l
drew it from the paper, 1t, too, was
scented.
IL ~ Il
underneath.
In a moment l was alone. In another 1
had found the name of the woman who
occupied No. 81. 1t was the next state
room but one to that in which the muir
der had been committed, and the name of
its inmate was Mrs. Rochester, of Quebec.
The Ransomes, Trefusis, and Sewer had
all come from Montreal and handsome,
authenticated Mrs. Rochester in her
widows weeds was the woman who had
bowed to Trefusis on deck the first day
out.
A daring plan entered my head 1 had
no right to execute it, and in doing so [
might be insulting, deeply injuring an in
nocent woman, but nevertheless l deter
mined upon the venture.
l went out on deck / had seen Mrs
Rochester there several times, though new
er, save for the first scarcely answered
bow, had observed any intercourse be-
tween her and any member of the Ran
some party.
had the good luck to find her alone,
leaning over and gazing through the deep
ening twilight into the depths of the great
malachite waves.
She started and looked around as l ap-
preached and took up a position beside
her.
"Will you allow me to offer a penny
for your thoughts?" l inquired.
"They are worth more than that" she
answered in a low voice.
"You are right, Mrs. Rochester," 1
said; "but 1 believe 1 can guess that you
are thinking of last night; living over
again the time when you stole into state