Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-10-05


thing II she would am convinced O.
it. But she was rs close as wax. Yes,
she had let Mr.. McFarlane in at half
past nine. She wished her hand had
withered before she had done so. She
had gone to bed at half-past ten. Her
room was at the other end Of the house,
and she could hear nothing Of what
passed. Mr.. McFarlanc had left his
hat, and to the best of her belief his
stick in the hall She had been awak-
ened by the alarm of fire. Her poor,
dear master had certainly been muir
dered Had he any enemies? Well,
every man had enemies, but MIR. Old
acre kept himself very much to him.
self, and only met people in the way OF
business. She had seen the buttons,
and was sure that they belonged to the
clothes which he had worn last night.
The wood-pile was very dry tor 1t had
not rained for month. 1t burned like
finder, and by the time she reached the
spot, nothing could be seen but flames.
She and all the fremen smelled the
burned flesh from inside it. She knew
nothing of the papers, nor OF MIR. Old
acres private affairs.
80, my dear Watson, there's my re-
port OF failure. And yet---and yet"
he clenched his thin hands in par
oxysim Of conviction-"I know it's all
wrong. ! feel it in my bones. There
is something that has not come out,
and that housekeeper knows it. There
was sort of sulky defiance IN her
eyes, which only goes with guilty
knowledge. However, there's no good
talking any more about it, Watson;
but unless some lucky chance comes
our way / fear that the Norwood Dis
appearance Case will not figure in that
chronicle of our successes which / fore
see that patient public will sooner or
later have to endure"
Surely" SAID l, 'the mans appear
ance would go far with any jury?'
That is dangerous argument, my
dear Watson. You remember that ter
rible murderer, Bert Stevens, who
wanted us to get hun off IN 81? Was
there ever a more mild-mannered. Sun
day-school young man.?
ut is true"
Unless we succeed in establishing
an alternative theory, this man is lost.
You can hardly find flaw in the cSSe
which can now be presented against
him, and all further investigation has
served to strengthen 1t. By the way,
there is one curious little point about
those papers which may serve us as
the starting-poin for an inquiry. On
| looking over the handbook | found
that the low state of the balance was
principally due to large checks which
have been made out during the last
year to Mr.. Cornelius. ] confess that
| | should he interested to know who
this Mr.. Cornelius may be with whom
retired builder has such very large
transactions. Is it possible that he has
hand a hand in the AFFAIR." Cornelius
might be q broker, but we have found
no scrip to correspond with these large
payments. Failing any other idea
ton, my researches must now take the
direction of an inquiry at the bank for
the gentleman who has cashed these
checks. But ] fear, my dear fellow,
that our case will end ipgloriously by
Lestrade hanging our client, which will
certainly be a triumph for Scotland
Yard"
/ | do not know how far Sherlock
Holmes took any sleep that night, but
when ! came down to breakfast
found him pale and harassed, his
} bright eyes the brighter for the dark
shadows round them. The carpet
J round his chair was Uttered with
! cicarette-ends and with the early editions
of the morning papers. An open tele'
gram lay upon the table.
What do YOU think of this, Wat
SOM" he asked, tossing it across.
1t was from Norwood, and ran al
, follows:
Important fresh evidence to hand
, McFarlane's guilt definitely established
Advise YOU to abandon case.-Lestrade.'
This sounds serious" said l.
. 1T is Lestrade's little cock-a-doodl
. Of victory" Holmes answered, with, {
bitter smile. And yet it may be pre-
mature to abandon the, case. After all
. important fresh evidence is two
= edged thing, and may possibly cut in
) very different direction to that whicl
! Lestrade imagines. Take your break
fast, Watson, and we will go out TO
I gether and see what we can do. | fee
, as if l shall need your company an
your moral support today"
Ny friend had no breakfast himself
: for Il was one of his peculiarities tina
: in his more intense moments he woul
q permit himself no food, and / hav
I known him 10 presume upon MS irol
= strength until he has tainted fror
pure inanition. AT present l cannc
spare energy and nerve force for d
4 gestion," he would say in answer 10 m
= medicla circumstances. WAS nc
surprised. therefore, when this mornin
! be left his untouched meal behind hin
and started with me for Norwood.
J crowd of morbid sightseers were sti
! gathered round Deep Dene Hous.
! which was just such suburban viii
as l had pictured. Within the gate
= Lestrade met US, his face flushed wit
! victory, his manner grossly triumphan
well, Mr.. Holmes, have you prove
> us to be wrong yet? Have you foun
! your tramp" he cried.
II have formed no conclusion wha-