The Washington times., 1913-04-14

~ that sort of freight. Perhaps
the murderer had never
meant to use a boat. He
brought the body down and threw it in
from the landing. And then he saw that
the current wasn't going to carry it
away. 1t was caught in the eddy per-
haps. So he got out the boat and rowed
over to it, He must tow IL out into the
channel
He passes the painter around il.
under the arms, perhaps. His boat
drifts away from IL a little before ne
has time TO make the line fast about
the body. He doesn't want to handle il
any more than Necessary, SO he simply
makes the other end of the painter fast
to the thwart-the forward thwart.
mind you-because he's got to tow
backward, and pulls away out into the
channel
When he gets out there he tries to
unite the line. but cuts II instead TO
save time. You can guess that hex be
in a panic of haste by then. and rows
back to the boathouse. There's the pic
ture. Can you see tt?'
Il can See it. as you describe 1t TO
me in that convincing way of yours.
But do YOU suppose Richards could
see Il, too?'
jeffrey smiled rucfully. Il shouldn't
even want him to. A man who could
too fiighty for the force. There are
probably a dozen hypothetical expla-
nations of everything l found there al
the boathouse that would cover tine
case as we'll as this picture / see. But
do see this ore. Drew. plaiEer than
] can make you understand, ana De-
lievc it's true.
When / went up the path again.
bound for the big house this time,
scrutinlzed IT pretty closely. | suppose
Sherlock Holmes would have found no
End of clues. and by the time he'd
reached the veranda of the house would
have been able to tell the whole storJ
OF the crime. Just where everybody
had gone and how fast the walked. and
whether they were right or left hand
ed. and whether their shirts were Gus
tom-made or not.
But | didn't find anything except
here and there a pair of wheel tracks.
They were narrow gauge; no wider than
child's express wagon: but the wheels
themselves were broad: nearly two
inches, ! should say. In some of the
shady parts of the path where the
ground was still frozen hard the tracks
were there frozen in. so 7 knew they
must have been made before the freeze.
AT the end of ten minutes walking
the path bent around over the crest Of
little ridge and gave me- my first view
of the house. ] stopped a minute and
looked II over. II waS rather ramb-
ling structure, two stories high, com
posed roughly of a Series of LIS, juttIng
out to catch the southwest breeze on
one side and to give the windows and
terraces on the other a view Of the
river.
THE architecture was a little too
socd to be true. In other words. Il had
been made into something a little more
strictly colonial than anything they
really built in the colonial DAYS 1t
looked rather desolate and austere. as
such place Is likely to look when II
isn't occupied by enough people to keep
IL tolerably full
1T wasn't boarded up. though. and
that was a relief, because ! had fully
determined to break In If there was 40
ether way of accomplishing my pur-
pose. But as long as there was care
tsker there the purpose would be vastly
easier of mplishment.
THE path had been following con-
verged now into a brick-laid walk
which curved about through the shrub
berry and led. not TO the pOrticoed main
entrance, but te smaller doorway at
the head OF flight of brick steps. The
steps led also 20 a brick-paved pergo-
Ia. evidently meant In the summer
tine to have gay-striped awning
stretched over II. Just now 1t was
bs skiing warmly III the March sun.
Il went up TO the door and raped