The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-03-24

paid no attention to il, but Davis was
obeyed. So quickly that il almost
seemed as il Williams had been listen
ing outside the door the landlod ap-
peared carrying the black coat and
skirt the woman had worn. Perhaps
i was something in Davis authorita-
tive manner, perhaps II was due to re-
spect for his position, but at any rate
Williams brought the clothes at once.
There's no use in Your looking those
over" j said They were carefully
examined to-day, and there is not a
mark on them. The only clew is the
letter s. on two black-bordered hand
kerchiefs and a return ticket to Bridge
port. She sgned her name as Mary Jane
:. She signed her name as Mary Jane
Teller, but there is none of the Bridge
port Teilers who answer her descrip-
ton, nor are any of them missing. ]
fotnd out all that long ago"
Davis was paying little attention TO
my conversation. / doubted il he was
even aware that ] had spoken. With
a small pocket tape measure he
was taking the various dimensions Of
the coat and skirt He turned up the
hem Of the latter and inspected it as
carefully as il he expected to find
name written there. He did the same
unnB Hrst WIN OHc sleeve anu tHeH
with the other.
you say that she registered as Teller
and that her handkerchiefs we're mark
ed with an 50 he suddenly asked me,
showing that he had heard all | said.
Both the landlord and ] answered
him afirmatively.
Where is the telephone" he asked,
II want to call long distance"
There was a note of excitement m
his voice that indicated TO me that he
believed himself on the verge of some
discovery, though what il was | could
not imagine. II there were any clews
that had been revealed in those rusty
garments his methods were too much
for me.
He dashed away to the telephone, the
landlord following. ate my supper
alone and waited. Just as l was FIN
ishing he came back into the room, and,
seating himself, began to eat, appar-
emily indifferent to the fact that every
thing had grown cold in the half hour
he was absent.
WELL" | said inquiringly, did you
learn anything?"
He nodded and calmly finished drink
ing his cold coffee, seemingly with a
relish.
Expectantly, | sat there, waiting for
him to go on. He seemed not to notice
my impatience, though II must have
been apparent, and waited until he had
pushed back his chair and lighted his
cigarette. He always rolled his own,
and never before had / realized what an
irritating operation rolling a cigarette
can be made. II seemed to ME that he
was taking entirely unnecessary pains
10 have the ends twisted just so. Final
ly, ] could brook no further delay and
burst out with: well, what have you
discovered, Mr.. Inspector!"
l supposed that he might have obtain
ed a clew to where the woman's gar
ments had been manufactured, some
tiny thread by which he hoped t9 run
her identity to earth. Little was / pre-
Volleyed at me, so tersely, so concrete
ly put that could not doubt the ac-
curacy of his information.
''The woman was Sarah Sackett,
spinster. She lived on little farm
Just outside Bridgeport with her broth
err Robert, who is somewhat Older
than she. They inherited the farm
from their parents and have lived there
all their lives. The brother is EN-.
ployed as cashier in little country
bank about ten miles away. Every
morning he drives into Bridgeport and
takes the train. When his sister left
two days ago, he came with her to the
station He evidently is not aware OF
her death, though he seems greatly
worried over her absence. He pre-
suInably expected her to return last
night, for he waited over several trains
This morning he was askeng the sta
ton agent if he had seen her
The dry, matter-of-fact way in which
he recited the facts he had learned
added to the value OF his narrative
More and more marveled at the man:
detective ability. ! was overwhelmed
with sense OF my own incapacity. Al
day long the coroner, the constable
the mystery of the unfortunate
womans identity with practical
" no result. With the same clew:
10 work on, with identically the same