The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-03-03
xamInatlOn made Of the acene Of the

examination made Of the scene OF the
tragedy.
THE injury from which the unfortu-
nate veteran was suffering was found
to be a jagged cut some two inches
long at the back part of his head,
which had evidently been caused by a
violent blow from a blunt weapon
Nor was 1t difficult to guess what
that weapon may nave been. Upon
the floor. close to The body, was lying
a singular club of hard carved wood
with a bone handle. The colonel pos
sessed a varied collection of weapons
brought from the different countries
in which he had fought, and it is con-
jectured by the police that this club
was among his trophies. The servants
deny having seen it before, but among
the numerous curiosities in the house
1t is possible that it may have been
overlooked. Nothing else of impor-
lance was discovered in the room by
the police, save the inexplicable fact
that neither upon Mrs. Barclays per-
son nor upon that Of the victim nor in
any part of the room was the missing
key to be found. The door had eventu-
ally to be opened by a locksmith from
Aldershot.
That was the state of things, Wat
son, when upon the Tuesday morning
l, at the request of Major Murphy,
went down to Aldershot to supplement
the efforts of the police. 1 think that
you will acknowledge that the prob
lem was already one of interest, but
observations soon mad me realize
that it was in truth much more ex-
traordinary than would at first sight
appear.
Before examining the room I cross
questioned the servants, but only sue
ceeded in eliciting the facts which [
have already stated. One other detail
of interest was remembered by Jane
Stewart, the housemaid. You will re-
member that on hearing the sound Of
the quarrel she descended and returned
with the other %ervants On that first
occasion, when she was alone, she saysl
that the voices of her master and mis-
tress were sunk so low that she could
hear hardly anything, n judged by
their tones rather than their words
that they lar fallen out. On my press
ing her, however, she remembered that
she heard the word David uttered twice
by the lady. The point is of the utmost
importance as guiding us towards the
reason of the sudden quarrel. The
colonels name, you remember, was
James.
There was one thing in the case
which had made the deepest impression
both upon the servants and the po-
lice. This was the, contortion of the
~colonel's face. 1t had set, according to
their account, into the most dreadful
expression of fear and horror which
a m countenance is capable of
assuming. More than one person tainted
at the mere sight of him, so terrible
was the effect. 1t was quite certain
that he had f%oreseen his fate, and that
1t had caused him the utmost horror.
This, of course, fitted in well enough
with the police theory, if the colonel
could have seen his wife making a
murderous attack upon him. Nor was
the fact of the wound being on the
back of his head a fatal objection to
this. as he might have turned to avoid
the blow. No information could be got
from the lady herself, who was tenn
porarily insane from an acute attack
of brain fever.
From the police learned that Miss
Morrison, who you remember went out
that evening with Mrs. Barclay, denied
having any knowledge of what it was
which had caused the ill-humor in
which her companion had returned.
Having gathered these facts, Wat
son, l smoked several pipes over them,
trying to separate those which We're
crucial from others which were merely
incidental. There could be no question
that the most distinctive and sugges-
tive point in the case was the singular
disappearance of the door key. A most
careful search had failed to discover it
in the room. Therefore it must have
been taken from it, But neither the
colonel nor the c%olonel's wife could have
taken it. That was perfectly clear.
Therefore a third person must have
entered the room. And hat third per-
son could only have come in through
the window. 1t seemed to me that a
careful examination of the room and
the lawn might possibly reveal some
traces of this mysterious individual. You
know my methods. Watson. There was
not one of them which l did not apply
to the inquiry. And it ended by my
discovering traces, but very different
ones from those which 1 nae expected.
There had been a man in the room,
and he had crossed the lawn coming
from the road. / was able to obtain
five very clear impressions of his foot
marks: one in the roadway itself, at
the point where he had climbed the low
wall. two on the lawn, and two very
faint ones upon the stained boards
near the window where he had en-
tered, He had apparently rushed
across the lawn, for his toe marks
were much deeper than his heels. Blu
it was not the man who surprised me.
1t was his companion
Ills c~ompanion!"
Holmes pulled a large sheet of tissue
paper out of his pocket and carefully
unfolded it upon his knee.
What do you make of that?' he
asked.
The paper was covered with the trac-
ings of the footmarks of some small
animal. 1t had five w-ell-marked foot
pads, an indication of long nails, and
the whole print might be nearly IS
large as a dessert spoon.
ITS a dog" said l.
Did you ever hear of a dog running
up a curtain? | found distinct traces
that this creature had done So
"A monkey, then2'
But it is not the print of a mon
key"
"what can it be, hen2'