The Springfield herald., 1912-03-29
CHAPTER xII.-(contInued.)

And the door at the head of the
stairs which leads from here into the
kitchen. was that disturbed?" asked
was painting from excitement and the
haste OF her movements.
mo. the door was locked and Just
as l left 1t last night with the key
still on the inside. He could not
have gone up higher than the head
Of the basement stair. Just hap
pened to remember that had left
broom down here yesterday. and when
came down after It 1 noticed this
door right >away. Who on earth do
you suppose could have done it?" She
was wringing her hands weakly, the
perspiration of nervousness popping
from her forehead.
Being In total darkness myself.
made no attempt to ehlighten her as
] carefully examined the place. Out
side of the scanty supply of coal that
remained from last winters supply
the basement contained little save an
accumulation of odds and ends and
an old chest of mine that contained
articles that / had stored away years
before. However, l still retained the
key to 1t, and l now opened 1t and
made careful inspection Of its In
terror. So far as could discover by
a minute scrutiny the articles within
It had remained untouched since had
last placed them there. and satisfied
on that point l shut and locked 1t
again without having as yet received
the faintest ray of light to assist
my search. I must have spent at least
half an hour In my examination Of the
place and my questions Of the house
keeper. but at the end of that time
was compelled to give up with abso-
lutely nothing learned that 1 had not
known to start with. Another thing
that perplexed me somewhat was as
to whether or not should inform my
uncle OF this new crime. / did not
see that anything would be gained by
telling him, while 1t would most GER
tainly agitate him and lead to further
outbursts; therefore l decided to
leave him in ignorance OF 1t and re-
Quested Mrs. Tebbets to do the same.
l also decided to see LeDuc and get
his opinion on the matter, and repair
ing the outraged doors as best could
with hammer. boards and nails. and
soothing the housekeeper by my as
surances that the incident was triv-
ialty to which she need pay no further
attention, ! went upstairs and sat
down to my breakfast with Uncle Abb
ner as usual. But an hour later when
/ had reached my office l telephoned
the detective with the request that he
meet me at the noon hour. He readily
assented and I then went about my
daily work.
He met me at luncheon and l e1-
planned the matter to him without
prelude. He looked serious minded
as / finished What do you think of
it?" l asked In his abstraction he
delayed his reply for perhaps 30 sec
onds.
at seems peculiar. But l am more
inclined to consider 1t as separate
and distinct offence rather than as
an aftermath of the original happen
ing. Further than that l don't be-
lieve have any theory to advance as
yet. However, it may all come out in
the final solution. provided there is
one. and in the meantime would dis
miss 1t from my mind II L were you-
II you find that difficult, you may
look upon 1t In this light. II l re-
member, we had sharp shower last
night-the thunder awoke me. 1t is
not unreasonable to assume that some
back-yards prowler caught in the
storm may have forced his way in
merely to secure a dry nest In which
to sleep" While did not take much
stock In that explanation and SO in
formed him, added that being in a
receptive mood l would file 1T in my
mind for future reference. and then
began interrogating him as to his own
movements since we had last fore
gathered But when 1t came to that
he had little to say and at first
seemed dIsinclined to part with even
that. Later on as we ate, however,
he became trif1e more communi-
cative. Under the warming influence
of tobacco and coffee he began to
make more satisfactory replies to my
quizzings, but If he had learned any
thing of Importance he did not betray
1t. Since the day upon which he had