Evening star., 1918-05-19
8 CLEEK, THE MASTER DETECTIVE 300 szzG1eMAS

I thing until after a detective has seen
it. Father said 1t was silly and sem
timental Of me to go on sleeping in
the little box of a hall bedroom when
I could be SO much more comfortable
if / returned to my own. But
couldn't. I felt that might possibly
be unconsclously destroying some
thing in the shape of a clue IL
moved a solitary object. and So
Look! there Is the drawn blind. just
AS he left it: there is a portmanteau
On that chair by the bedside. and
Her voice sank to sort
OF awed whisper. her shaking finger
in the direction of blue
in the middle of the floor.
There is the belt. He had 1t round
his waist when he crossed this thresh-
Did that night. 1t was lying there
Just as you see it when the servant
brought up his tea and his shaving
water the next morning. and found
the room empty and the bed undis-
turbed."
cleek walked forward and picked
up the belt.
"IIumph. Unfastened." he said. as
he took 1t up: and Miss Morrison.
closing the door. went below and left
them. Our wonderful wizard does
not seem to have mastered the simple
IF the thing without first unfastening
the buckle. 1t appears. 1 should have
he could have managed. that.
shouldn't you. Mr.. Narkom. II he could
nave nanaged the business Of max
ing him melt into thin air?
the belt over and examined 1t. Not
seen much use. apparently; the 1eath-
er's quite new and the inside quite
British manufactured brass.
100. in the buckle. Shouldn't have ex-
,ected that in Persian-made article.
inscription scratched on with the
point of knife or some other imple-
nent not employed in metal engrav-
ng. May l trouble you for pin?
Thank you. Hum-m-m! Thought SO.
some dirty, clayey stuff rubbed in to
hake the letters appear old and of
ong standing. Look here. Mr.. Mar
Nom: metal quite bright underneath
ton very recently added; leather.
american tanned; brass, Birming-
ham: stitching, by the Blake shoe and
harness machine; wizard probably
.'orn in Tottenham Court road and his
knowledge of Persia confined to Per-
sian powder in four-penny tins"
He laid the belt aside and walked
slowly round the room. inspecting
the contents before turning his at
tention to the portmanteau.
Evidently the vanishing qualities
of the belt did not assert themselves
WY IapioIys MF. NdEkoW. ne Saiu.
for Mr.. Carboys not only prepared
to go to bed, but had time to get
himself ready to hurry of to busi-
ness in the morning with as little
delay as possible. Look here; here
are his paJamas on the top of this
chest Of dlawers; neatly folded. just
as he left them out Of his portman-
teau; and, as a razor has been wiped
on this towel tsee this slim line Of
dustlike particles of hair), he shaved
before going to bed in order to save
himself the trouble of doing SO In
the morning. But as there is no
shaving mug visible. and he couldn't
get hot water at that hour of the
night. we shall probably discover a
spirit lamp and its equipment when
we look into the portmanteau. Now,
as he had time to put these shaving
articles away after using. and as
no man shaves with his collar and
too. in the portmanteau, we may
conclude that he put them on again !:
and as he wouldn't put them on again
II he were going to bed the In
ference Is obvious; something caused
him to dress and prepare to leave
thing must have manifested itself
very abruptly and demanded great
haste-either that or he expected to
return, for you will observe that. al
though he replaced his shaving
tackle in the portmanteau. he did
1t. While 1 am poking about do me
the favor of looking in the bag. Mr..
Narkom. and tell me II you find the
collar and necktfe there"
Not a trace of them." announced
the superintendent moment or two
the brush and the spirit lamp. how
ever. just as you suggested. and
Halo! what have you stumbled
upon now?" For cleek. who had
been "poking about he termed
1t. had suddenly stopped. piched up
hxedly as 1t lay in the palm of his
hand.
"a somewhat remarkable thing to
discover in a lady's bedchamber. Mr..
Narkom, unless Just step down.
stairs and ask Miss Morrison to come
up again for a moment, will you?"
And then held out his hand SO that
hempseed. two grains of barley and
an oat lay upon his palm. Miss Nor
rison," he inquired, as Mary returned
in company with the superintendent
Miss Morrison, do you keep pig
eons?"
her hands together. as il reproaching
herself for some heartless act.
"Oh" she said. moving hastily to-
ward the window. Poor dears! How
good of you to remind me. To think
that I should forget to feed them for
three whole days. They may be dead
by now. But at such time I could
think of nothing but this hideous
mystery. My pigeons. my poor. pret.
ty pigeons!"
"oh. then you do keep them?"
Yes: on. yes. In a wire-inclosed
cote attached to the house just out
side this window. Homins pigeons.
for me. We had an even half dozen
each. We used to send messages to
each other that way. He would bring
his over to me and take mine away
with him at night when he went
home: so we could correspond at any
That's how / sent him the message
about the arrival of the belt Oh, do
unlock the window and let me see IL
the pretty dears are still aliver'
1T DOESN'T need to be unlocked.
nn,1sa M'ss M9rrisSn; orr en- he % replied as he
opened easily-the catch is not Sc
cured"
Not secured? Why. how strange!
! myself fastened it after I dispatched
the bird with the message about the
belt. And nobody came into the room
aiter That until George did so that
night. Oh. do look and see II the
pretty creatures are dead! They
generally coo SO persistently: and
now don't hear sound from them"
Cleek threw up the sash and looked
out. A huge wistaria. with tendrils
as thick as a mans wrist. covered
the side Of the house and made a
veritable ladder down to the little
garden; and. firmly secured to this,
on level with the window sill and
within easy reach therefrom, was
the dovecote in question. He put
In his hand and slowly drew out four
stfn. feathered little bodies and laid