Evening star., 1924-03-28

of England note lay under 4 paper
weight. Styler calmly and uncere-
moniously lifted the paper-weight
aside and looked at the denomination
of the note.
"Ffver, eh," he observed. Reward.
! suppose? oh!-and to whom did,
or does, the charm belong. them
Maj. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Renton's
brother" replied the inspector. Mill
tary mani dare say you've seen him
about. He was here when the Kest-
even affair happened"
"Ah, l dare say I've set eyes on
him" remarked Styler carelessly
! Big chap, gray mustache. Oh-so it
belongs to him, does it? Well. / dare
say you can do with a flyer $ well
as anybody else. and it's an i'll wind
that blows nobody any good"
"oh, therell be two or three OF us
to share at that" said the inspector.
"Yes-it's Maj. Esmondhaughs is that
I, charm. lie came in here about an
! hour ago. oh" he says. I say
when I was down here at my sisters
| the other day, lost a trinket off my
watch -charnl--a little bit of gold.
!, carved and ornamented-andI 7 want
to offer a reward to anybody who
. hnds or has found It'll offer five
pounds, he says. 1t was keepsake.
! don't know where 1 lost it, he says.
1t may have been in the street here.
or III the lane going up to the War
ren. or it may have been in some Of
, these woodland paths in the park at
there for an hour or two in the even
ing. Can you put paper or two up
about the village, offering five
pounds" he says I'm anxious TO get
it back-it was keepsake he says
again. So / made no more to do
about it, but got the thing out and
handed it TO him. And mighty sur
prised he was, I can tell you. Now
where did you find it?' says he. In
one OF the paths at Lynne court. when
we were searching, after the murder.
says l. 'Ah. TO be sure he says. L
was round about there that very eve
ming he says. And then he said we
must have this FLYER. and forked it
out, handsome enough. and there ii
| is. So you see there's no mystery
about that charm, after all" conclud-
ed the inspector. plain enough, that
Well, and how are you getting on?
Been down here on the lookout,
reckon?'
II left something behind me last
time 1 was here" answered Styler
"Oh, I've no particular news. Those
London folks of yours made any in
quiry here about this Miss Brock af-
fair YETI"
Not yet" answered the inspector
I'm expecting they will, though. Now
what do you think? Was it an
other job by the same hand, that?"
Il II.
replied Styler, Il would be here all
day. However, / don't mind saying
that ] think we shall all have a big
surprise in the end And I'm glad to
find you well, and I'll bid you good
morning-Ive got an appoint
with my guv-nor."
But before that appointment was
| kept Styler had done lot of think
ing, and he was quite ready for dis
cussion when he had made his re-
- -n ir,O tn fr,
the quiet chambers in Pump court.
Smith. who had listened with silent
attention, was eager on his part, to
sum things up.
| Now. Styler," he said, drawing a
sheet of paper toward him and be-
ginning to scribble, Tets summarize
! what we know from these inquiries
or discoveries of yours; I'll jot them
down-there's nothing like seeing
things in black and white, even if
they go into the fire or the basket
Immediately afterward.
a. We now know that Maj. Es-
nondhaugh was down there at Lynne
on the night of Westeven's murder.
"2 We know that he was in Lynne
! Court woods that night. or evening.
and lost trinket there, about the
loss of which he's quite candid.
o.
..There's a point about that second
didn't the major announce his loss
why did he wait to tell
| the police Of it until several days
| later? Had my visit to his sisters s
house last night anything to do with
his going to the police this morn
I'm plain words, StyIer." said Smi tn,
! "you want to know a lot more about
| Maj. Ess1ondhaugh."
I'm plain words, sir" replied Styler.
| "we'ye got to know a lot more about
both Mai. Esmondhaugh and Mrs.
Renton--both of 'em! 1 say-we've
very good agree" said Smith
| "And-we are going to. For-to re-
sumo:
"3. We now know that between
| Mrs Renton, MAJ. Esmondhaugh and
Mr. Samuel Pegge-otherwise Septi-
! mus Philcox-some secret exists"
| .Is 1t a secret-or a business mat
ter-or something that's quite inno-
! cent? asked Styler. 1--WE figured it
/ up in all sorts of ways. They might
F! have gone to see the old chap on sew
I eral matters. OF one thing I'm GER
/ tain, MIR. Smith-they don't know
\ that Samuel Pegge is Septimus Phil
cox"
"why?' asked Smith.
| Because I'm sure Maj. Esmond-
| haugh'S q gentleman-looks it, any
| way" replied Styler, land / can't un-
! derstand a gentleman accepting a
| whisky d-soda and a cigar from
| an ex-convict. See?"
(Continued in TomorroM's Star)