Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-08-28

return of Lady MAynooth and her
daughter. Desiring to say good-nieht,
she attempted to enter her sons room:
The door was locked on the inside, and
no answer could be got to their cries
and knocking. Help was obtained, and
the door forced. The unfortunate
young man was found lying near the
table. His head had been horribly mu-
tilated by an expanding revolver bullet,
but no weapon of any sort was to be
found in the room. On the table lay
two banknotes for ten pounds each and
seventeen pounds ten in silver and
gold, the money arranged in little piles
of varying amount. There were some
figures alsoupon sheet Of paper, with
the names of some club friends op-
posite to them, from which it was con-
jectured that before his death he was
endeavoring to make out his losses or
winnings at cards.
a minute examination OF tho circum-
stances served only to make the case
more complex. In the first place, no
reason could be given why the young
man should have fastened the door
upon the inside. There WAS the posi-
bility that the murderer had done this,
and had afterwards escaped by the
window. The drop was at least twenty
feet, however, and bed of crocuses
in Sull bloom lay beneath. Neither the
| flowers nor the earth showed any sign
of having been disturbed, nor were
there any marks upon the narrow strip
of grass which separated the house
from ths road. Apparently, therefore,
1T was the young man himself who had
/ co. h.. At ItH hA
come by his death? No one could have
climbed up to the window without
leaving traces. Suppose man had
fred through the window, he would in
deed be a remarkable shot who could
with a revolver inflict so deadly a
wound. Again, Park Lane is a fire.
quented thoroughfare ; there is a cab
stand within hundred yards of the
house. No one had heard a shot. And
vet there was the dead man, and there
the revolver bullet, which had mush-
roomed out, as soft-nosed bullets will
and so inflicted a wound which must
have caused instantaneous death. Such
were the circumstances of the Park
Lane Mystery, which were further
complicated by entire absence of mo-
tive, since, as l have said, young Adair
was not known to have any enemy, and
no attempt had been made to remove
the money or valuables in the room.
All day / turned these facts over in
my mind endeavoring to hit upon some
theory which could reconcile them all,
and TO find that line of least resistance
which my poor friend had declared TO
be the starting-point of every mvesti-
cation. j confess that l made little
progress. In the evening | strolled
across the park, and found myself
about six o'clock at the Oxford street
end of Park Lane. A group of loafers
upon the pavements, all staring up at
a particular window, directed me tc
the house which had come to see. A
tall, thin man with colored glasses,
whom l strongly suspected of being
a plain-clothes detective, was pointine
out some theory OF his own, while the
Others crowded round to listen to what
he said. / got as near him as could
but his observations seemed to me tc
be absurd, so / withdrew again in some
disgust. As / did so l struck against
an elderly, deformed man, who had
been behind me, and knocked dowr
several books which he was carrying
/ remember that as picked them up,
observed the title of one of them, THE
Origin of Tree Worship" and it strucl
me that the fellow must be some poo
bibliophile, who, either as a trade o.
as a hobby, was collector of obscur,
, volumes. endeavored to apologize TO
, the accident, but it was evident tha
, these books which l had so unfor
tunately maltreated were very preciou
objects in the eyes of their owner
! With snarl of contempt he turne,
. upon his heel, and l saw his curve,
back and white side-whiskers disap
) pear among the throng.
Tomorrow-The Mystery of the
} Empty House, continued.