The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-10-24

YES: but I shall not leave you on
that account,
Very WELL" he said. as he opened
the shirt and the vest beneath It.
Smeared and patched in dark etch-
ing upon the white skin was a broad
stain Of blood, of dried and ciotted
blood, the nfe's blood of man.
He is wounded, Peace" I cried.
Poor fellow, he must have nearly
bled to death"
DO not alarm yourself" said the
inspector. dryly. '1t is the blood of
Baron Stsen."
A week had gone by. and I was sit
ting alone In my Keble Street rooms.
when Peace walked in, with q heavy
travelling coat over his arm.
Thank Heaven, you have come at
last" I cried. How is Maurice Ter
tyr"
''Dead-poor fellow" he said, with
an honest sorrow In his voice yet,
after all. Mr.. Phillips. 1t was the best
that could have happened to him"
And his story-the causss-the
method7" I demanded.
ut has taken some hard work. but
the bits Of the puzzle are fitted to.
gether at last. You wish to hear It, !
suppose?"
According to your promise" I re-
minded him.
ut Is a case OF unusual interest. |"
he said. Though It bears a certain
similarity to the Cottstetn trial at
Kiel in SO"
He paused to light his big pipe.
and then sat back IN his ohair, with
his eyes fixed in abstract contempia-
ton.
Il was convinced that the murderer
was in the house: and that he had
entered By the side door, towards
which you had seen him pass. When
studying the spot made a discovery
of some importance. Steen had left
by the same exit. Also he had reason
to fear some person In that wing, for
he had turned from the path and made
q circuit over the grass. I had al.
ready noted his broad-toed boots when
examining his body-and the foot.
prints in the snow were unmixtak,
able. Who was his enemy in that
wing? 1t was problem to be solved
I discovered no stained clothing,
and no signs of its cleansing or de-
struction. From what information |
could gather, all the house party had
been In the rouiette-room save you
yourself: and all the servants had
been at the dance save Henderson
and man waiting on the guests. But
In the course Of my search the foot.
man who accompanied me discovered
that q quantity Of gold plate was miss,
ing. 1t was reasonable to imagine
that Henderson was the thief. Prob,
sbly the confidential valet had learnt
Of the Baron's projected flight and
Of the warrant for his arrest. It was
a moment for judicious robbery, the
traces Of which would be covered by
the confusion of the news. But was
Henderson also a murderer? I did
not think so. The death of his mas
ter was the one thing which would
wreck his scheme In the early morn
ing I interviewed the farmer On
whose car he had driven into Nor
bridge. He told me that, acting on
orders he had received from Hender.
son, he met that person at the cor
ner of the stables at eleven o'clock
precisely-f1ve minutes before the
murder occurred. That finally clint
mated the valet from the list
son my return from the farm / ex
amined the gardens again with great
minuteness. At the corner of the lit
tie pavilion, about fifteen feet from
where the body had lain, there was a
patch of bloody snow. This puzzled
me a good deal, until the solution Of
fered itself that the murderer had
tried to wash his hands IN the snow
the water of the pond being frozen
hard. Yet his clothing would also
bear the stain. What had he worn
that showed so white to you in the
starlight? Could 1t have been that he
wore no clothes at all?
"a naked mani The suggestion
was full Of possibilities.
at was fortunate that I had brought
assistants to help me in Stems cap
ture. Their presence gave me a wild
er scope, for they were both good
men. I left them to search the pavil-
ion and laurels for the clothing,
which the murderer might have con-