Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-10-04

u DlOOQlecS one, ana nOpcQ tuat IL Tue
body were consumed it would hide all
traces of the method Of his death
traces which, for some reason, must have
pointed to him. Is not all this obvious?"
ut strikes me, my good Lcstradc, as
being Just a trifle too obvious" said
Holmes. 'You do not add imagination
to your other great qualities, but il
you could for one moment put yourself
in the place of this young man, would
you choose the very night after the will
had been made to commit your crime2
Would it not seem dangerous to you
to make so very close q relation be-
tween the two incidents? Again, would
YOU choose an occasion when you are
known to be in the house, when a
servant has let you inr And, finally,
would you take the great pains to con-
ceal the body, and yet leave your own
stick rs sign that you were the GRIM
inal? Confess, Lcstrade, that all this
is very unlikely"
Gas to the stick, Mr.. Holmes, you
know as well, as / do that criminal is
often Hurried, and does such things,
which cool man would avoid. He
was very likely afraid to go back TO
the room. Give me another theory that
would fit the facts"
Il could very easily give you half a
Dozen" said Holmes. Here, for ex-
ample, is very possible and even
probable one. l make you q free pres
ent of it. The older man is showing
documents which are of evident value.
A passing tramp secs them through the
window, the blind of which is only half
down. Exit the solicitor. Enter the
tramp! He seizes stick, which he
observes there, kills Oldacre, and de-
parts after burning the body,
Why should the tramp burn the
body?"
For the matter of that, why should
McFarlane?"
ITO hide some evidence"
Possibly the tramp wanted to hide
that any murder at all had been COM
mitted."
"And why did the tramp take moth
ing?"
Because they were papers that he
could not negotiate"
I.esradc shook his head, though it
seemed to me that his manner was less
absolutely assured than before.
We'll, Mr.. Sherlock Holmes, you
may look for your tramp, and while
YOU are finding him we will hold on
to our man. The future will show
which is right. Just notice this point,
Mr.. Holmes: that so far as we know
none of the papers were removed, and
that the prisoner is the one man in
/ the world who had no reason for re-
moving them, since he was heir-at-law
and would come into them in any case.
My friend seemed struck by this re-
mark.
Il don't mean to deny that the evil
deHce is in some ways very strongly IN
favor of your theory" said he. / only
wish to point out that there are other
theories possible. As you say, the fu-
lture will decide. Good morning.
dare say that in the course of the day,
l shall drop in at Norwood and see how
you are getting on"
When the detective departed, my
friend rose and made his preparations
for the days work with the alert all
of man who has a congenlal tass
before HIM.
MY first movement Watson" said
he, as he hustled into his frock-coat
must, as l said, be in the direction o;
Blackheath."
"And why no. Norwood
Because we have in this case one
singular incident coming close to the
heels OF another singular incident
The police are making the mistake o.
concentrating their attention upon the
second, because it happens to be the
1,o u-h,,b g anf,tollx- CRIMINAL R,f1
it is evident to me that the logical way
to approach the case is to begin by
trying to throw some light upon the
first incident-the curious will, so sud
denly made, and to so unexpected az
heir. 1t may do something to simplify
what followed No, my dear fellow,
don't think you can help me. There i
no prospect of danger, or should no
dream Of stirring out without you
trust that when ] see you in the eve
ming, ! will be able. to report that
have been able to do something TO
this unfortunate youngster, who ha-
thrown himself upon my protection"
1t was late when my friend returned
and / could see, by glance at hi
haggard and anxious face, that tn
high hopes with which he had starte'
had not been fulfilled. For an hour h
droned away upon his violin, endeavor
ing to soothe his own ruff1ed spirits
At last he flung down the instrument
and plunged into a detailed account c
. his misadventures.
Its all going wrong. Watson-sll a
, wrong as it can 60. kept bold fac
before Lestrade, but, upon my soul,
believe that for once the fellow is o
the right track and we are on tn
wrong. All my instincts are one way
and all the facts are the other, and
much fear that British juries have nc
yet attained that pitch of inteligenc
when they will give the preference t
; my theories over Lestrade's facts"
did you go to Blackheath?'
''Yes, Watson, ! went there, and
found very quickly that the late l.
: mented Oldacre was 6 pretty consic
cradle BLACKBOARD. The father ws