The evening world. Newspaper, March 18, 1905, Page 12

Toy eg, WeWold conbisted of his wite, ls daughter, axed twenty, and two i, hese last wore continually changing; for it was never a Bituation, and sometimes it became past all bearing. The man ‘an intermittent drunkard, and when he had the fit on him he was a “perfect flend. He has been known to drive his wife and daughter out of adore in the middle of the night, and flog them through the park until the ‘wiiolo village outside the gates were aroused )y their screams, “Hie was summoned once for a savage assault upon the old vicar, who had’ catled upon him to remonstrate with him upon his conduct. In short, Mr. Holmes, you would go far before you found a more dangerous mah than Poter Carey, and I have heard that he bore the same character when he commanded his ship. He was known in the trade Black Peter; and the name was given him, not only on account of his swarthy features aud the color of his huge beard but for the humors which were the terror of all around lim. I need not say that he was Iwathed and avoided by every one of fis neighbors, and that I have.not heard one single word of sorrow about ah fale terrible end, nf ‘You must have read tn the acconnt of the inquest about the man’s )) cabin, Mr, Holmes; but perhaps your friend here has not heard of it. He ‘hai! built himself a wooden outhouse—he always called ft the ‘cabin'—a few jundred’ yards from his house, and {t was here that he slept every night, SOTt WaH'm little, ringlo-roomod hut, sixteen fect by ten, He kept the key in Dis pooktet, made his own bed, cleaned {i himself, and allowed no other foot ‘to eross'the threstiold, There are small windows on each side, which were © covered! by curtains and never opened. One of these windows was turned toward) the high road, and when the light burned in it at night the folk used! topoint it out to each other and wonder what Black Peter was doing there, That's the window, Mr. Holmes, which gave us one of the few {ite of positive evidence that came out at the inquest. “You remember that a stonemason, named Slater, walking from Forest Row about L o'clock in the morning—two days before the murder—stopped i as He passed the grounds and looked at the square of light still shining @minng the trees. He swears that the shadow of a man’s head turned side- ‘that of Peter Garey, whom he knew wolli Tt was that of 9 bearded man, it’ the heard’ was short and bristled fin @ way very different from “that of the captain. So he says, but ‘he tina! beentwo hours in the public- ‘owse; and it is some distance from ‘the'rond'to the window. Bealdes, this fire to the Monday night, and the ‘Was done upon the Wednesday. ite Tuesday Peter Carey was in ‘OF his bikelrest moods, flushed @ithk at@ as onynge as a dan- ‘wild’ beast, He roamed about ®, anid the women ran for it i thiey Hieard tlm coming, Late nintig He: went down to his About’ 12 o'clock the follow- ng tis daugliter, who slept wittdow open, heard a most 11 from that jon; but for him to shout when he was in drink, ce) Wa thiken, On rising at the midy notteed that the the hut was open: but so which the man at it’ wae midday before any d veritire down to see what Of itm, Peeping into the ‘saw a sight which with white faces, : Within an hour I ad had taken over } fairly sterdy nerves, Holmes; but I give T got a shake when ) that little house, tea harmonium with Ottles, and the floor # slaughter-house, was tho ¢whited like @ lont soul in torment, and his great brindled j Hight through his broad’ breast! a steel! Had suitk deep into the wood’ of the wall like a beetle on a card. Of course, he was: 80 trom the inetunt that he had uttered that, last i wieehOad; atr;and T applica them, Botore t permitted any- pyar TL examined most’ carefully the ground outside and also There were no footmarks,” ening er vou saw none?” dbeure you, sir, that there were none.” good Hopxins, I have Mvesugated uuny crimes, but I have nover one which was committed by e flying creature, As long as the remains upon two lega so long must there be some Indentation, B abrasion, somo trifling displacement which can be detected by the fic searcher, It js incredible that this blood-bespattered room con- 8 no trace which could have aided us. I understand, however, from fnquest that there were some objects which you failed to overlook?” ‘The young inspector winced at my companion’s ironical comments, Mf was fool not to call you in at the time, Mr, Holmes, However, 6 pact praying for now. Yes, there were several objects in the room ealled for special attention. One was the harpoon with which the was committed, It had been 'smatihed down from a rack on the wall, ru remained there, and there was a vacant place for the third. On r took Was engraved ‘Ss, Sea Unicorn, Dundee,’ This seemed to establish tiie crime had been done in a moment of fury, and that the mur- i r ot Hind seized the first weapon which came in his way. The fact that h ‘orime was committed at 2 in the morning, and yet Peter Carey was ally’ dressed, suggested that he had an appointment with the murderer, aie ig borne out by the fact that a bottle of rum and two dirty glasses Was “Yes; there was a tantalus containing brandy and whiskey on the sea- i eat, It is of no importance to us, however, since the decanters were full, and it liad therefore not been used.” “For all that, its presence has some significance,” said Holmes, “How- ever, let us hear some more about the objects which do seem to you to bea upon the case.” “Tiere was this tobacco pouch upon the table.” 1 “Wit part of the table?” * TE lay in the middle, It was of coarse sealskin—the straight-haired ‘plein, ‘with a leather thong to bind It. Inside was ‘P, C.’ on the flap. There ‘Was half an ounce of strong ship's tobacco in it.” “Excellent! What more?” Stanley Hopkins drew from his pocket a drah-eolored notebook. The wiltten the Initials “J, H. Nv” and the dave “1885. Holmes Jat@ st on the table and examined !t in his minute way, while Hopkins and { gazed over each shoulder, On the second page were the printed letters “C, P, R,” and then came sevoral sheets of numbers, Another heading was “Argen- tine,” another “Costa Rica" and another “San Paulo,” each with pages of s and figures after it, “What do you make of these?” asked Holmes. “They appear to be lists of Stock Exchange securities, I thought that ‘J. H. N,’ wero the initials of a broker, and that ‘O. P. R.’ may have been his client, . “Try Canadian Pacific Railway,” said Holmes, Stanley Hopkins swore between his teeth and struck his thigh with clenched hand, “What a fool I have been!” he cried. ‘Of course, it is as you say. Then ‘J. H, N.’ are the only Initials we have to solve, I have already ex- amined the old Stock Exchange lists, and I can find no one in 1883, either in the House or among the outside brokers, whose initials correspond with these, Yet I feel that the clue is the most important one that I hold. You will admit, Mr. Holmes, that there is a possibility that these initials are those of the second person who was present—in other words, the mur- derer. I would also urge that the introduction in the case of a document relating to large masses of valuable securities gives us for the first time some Indication of a motive for the crime,” Sherlock Holmes’s face showed that he was thoroughly taken aback by this new development, “I must admit both your points,” said he. “I confess that this note- book, which did not appear at the inquest, modifies any views which I may have formed, I had come to a theory of the crime in which I can find no place for this, Have you endeavored to trace any of the securities here mentioned?” “Inquiries aro now being made at the offices; but I fear that the com: plete register of the stockholders of these South American concerns is in South America and that some weeks must elapse before we can trace the shares,” his “We Watched Him. Holmes had been examining: the cover of the notebook with his mag- nifying: léne, “Surely there is some discoloration here,” sald he, “Yes, sir; it is a bloodstain, I told you that I picked the book off the floor.” “Was the bloodstain above or below?” “On the side next the boards.” “Which proves, of course, that the book was dropped after the crimo was committed,” “Exactly, Mr. Holmes, I appreciated that point, and I conjectured that it was dropped by the murderer in his hurried flight, It lay near the door,” “I suppose that none of these: secuvities has been found among the Property of the dead man?” “No, sir.” “Have you any reason to suspect robbery?” “No, sir. Nothing seemed to have been touched.” “Dear me, it is certainly a very interesting case. knife, was there not?” “A sheath-knife, still in its sheath. man, , . ° . Then there was a It lay at the feet of the deal Mrs, Carey has identified it as being her husband's property.” Holmes was lost in thought for some time. “Well,” sald be, at last,'“I suppose I shall have to come out and have a look at it.” Stanley Mopkins gave a ery of joy. “Thank you, sir. That will, indeed, be a weight off my mind.” Holmes shook his finger at the inspector. “It would have been an easier task a week ago," sai now my visit may not be entirely fruitless, time, lhe, “But even Watson, if you can spare the I should be very glad of your company. If you will call a four- wheeler, Hopkins, we shall be ready to start for Forest Row in a quarter of an hour,” Alighting at the small wayside station we drove for some miles through the remaing which were part of that great forest which for so long held the Saxon invaders at bay: pald,” for sixty years the bulwark of Britain, Vast sections of it have of widespread woods, once the impenetrable been cleared, tor this is the seat of the first iron works of the country, and the trees have been felled to It the o: Now the richer flelds of tbe North have absorbed the trade, and nothing save these ravaged gro and great scars in the earth show the work of the past. Here, in a cle: ing upou the green slope of a hill, stood a long, low stone house, approach by a curving drive running through the flelds. Nearer the road, and sur rounded on three sides by bushes, was a small outhouse, one window and the door facing in our direction, It was the scene of the murder! Stanley Hopkins led us first to the house, shere he introduced us to a haggard, gray-haired woman, the widow of the inurdered man, whose gaunt and deep-lined face, with the furtive look of terror in the depths of her red-rimme eyes, told of the years of hardship and ill-usage which she had endured, With her was her daughter, a pale, fair-haired girl, whose eyes blazed defiantly at us as she told ue thet stie was glad thint bor fattion was! dead, and that she blessed the hand which had struck ‘h{m down, It was a terrible household that Black Peter Carey had made for himself; and it was with a sense of relief that we found ourselves in the sunlight again and making our way along a path which had been. worn across the flelds by the feet of the dead man, The outhouse was the simplest of dwellings, wooden walled, shingle roofed, one window beside the door and one on the further side, Stanley Hopkins drew the key from his pocket and had stooped to the lock, when he paused with a look of attention and surprise upon his face. “Some one has been tampering with it,” he said, There could be no doubt of the fact, The woodwork was cut and the scratches showed white through the paint, as if they had been that instant done, Holmes had been examining the window, “gome one has tried to force this also, Whoever it was has failed to make his way In, He must have been a very poor burglar.” “This 18 a most extraordinary thing,” said the inspector; “I could swear that these marks were not here yesterday evening,” “Zome curious person from the village, perhaps,” I suggested, “Very unlikely, Few of them would dare to set foot in the grounds, far less, try to force their way into the cabin, What do you think of It, Mr. Holmes?” “1 think that fortune is very kind wi us.” “You mean that he will come again?” “Tt is very probable, He came expecting to’ find the door open. He tried to get in with the blade of a very small penknife, He could not man- age it. What would he do?” “Come again next night with a more uséful tool.” “go I should say, It will be our fault if we are not there to rebefve, him, Meanwhile, let me see the inside of the cabin.” ‘ ‘The traces of the tragedy had been removed, but the furniture within the little room still stood as it had been on the night of the crime, For two hours, with most intense concentration, Holmes examined every object in turn; but his face showed that his quest was not a successful one, Once only he paused im his patient investigation, He Returned with a Large Book.” “Have you taken anything off this shelf, Hopkins?” “No; I have moved nothing.” “Something has been taken, There is less dust in thf corner of the shelf than elsewhere, It may have been a book lying on its side, It may have been a box. Well, well, I can do nothing morey Let us walk in these beautiful woods, Watson, and give a few hours to the birds and the flowers.. We shall meet you here later, Hopkins, and see if we can come to close quarters with the gentleman wlio hes naid this visit in the night,” It was past 11 o'clock when we formed our little ambuscade, Hopkins was for leaving the door of the hut open, but Holmes was of the opinion that this would rouse the suspicions of the stranger, ‘The lock was a per- fectly simple one, and only a strong blade was needed to push it back Holmes also suggested that we should walt, not inside the hut but outside it among the bushes which grew reund the further window. In this way We should be able to watch our man If he struck alight, and see what his object was in this stealthy nocturnal visit, It was a long and melancholy vigil and yet brought with it something of the thrill which the hunter feels when he lies beside the water pool and waits for the coming of the thirsty beast of prey, What savage creature was it which might steal upon us out of the darkness? Was it a flerce uger of crime, which could only be taken fighting hard with flashing fang and claw, or would it prove to be some skulking jackal, dangerous only to the weak and unguarded? In absolute silence we crowhed among the bushes, waiting for what- ever might come. At first the steps of a few belated villagers, or the sound of voices from the village, lightened our vigil; but one by one these inter- ruptions died away, and an absolute stillaess fell upon us, save for the chimes of the distant church, which told us of the peogress of the night, and for the rustle and whisper of a fine rain falling amid the foliage whi:h roofed us in Three o'clock had chimed, and it was the darkest hour which precedes the dawn, when we rection of the gate, Some one ha 1 entered the drive, Again there was a long silence, and I had begun to fear that it was a false alarm, when a Stealthy step was heard upon the other side of the hut, and a moment later a metallic scraping and clinking. The man was trying to force the lock! This time his skill w greater or his tool was better, for there was a sud- k of the hinges den snap and the ere Then a match was struck, and the next instant the udy light from a candle filled the Intesior of the hin Through the gauze curtain our eyes were all riveted upon the scene within. The nocturnal visitor was a young man, frail and thin, with a black mustache which intensified the deadly pallor of his face, He conld not have been much aboye twenty sof age, I have neve’ seen any human being who appeared to be in such a pitiable fright, for his teeth were vis- ibly chattering, and he was shaking In e y limb, He was di ied like a gentleman, in orfolk jacket and knickerbockers, with a cloth cap upon his head, We watched him staring round with frightened eyes, Then s@ laid the candle-end upon the table and disappeared from our view into one all sta‘ted as a low but sharp click came from the di- $8: ots Blab ie ha LiF iie Cokie cieio wi ee Vania which formed a line upon the shelves, Leaning on the table ho rapidly turned over the leaves of this volume until he came to the entry which he sought. Then, with an angry gesture of his clenched hand, he closed the book, re- placed it in the corner and put out the light. 'He had hardly turned to leave the hut when Hopkins’s hind was on the fellow’s collar, and I heard his loud gasp of terror as he understood that he was taken, The candle ( was roelit, and there was our wretched captive, shivering and eowerlng in j the grasp of the detective, He sank down upon the sea-chest and looked helplessly from one of us to the other. “Now, my fine fellow,” said Stanley Hopkins, “who are you and what do you want here?” The man pulled himself together and faced us with an effort at self- composure, “You are detectives, I suppose?” said he. ‘You imagine I am connected with the death of Capt. Peter Carey. I assure you that I am innocent,” “We'll see about that,” sald Hopking, “First of all, what is: your name?” “It is John Hopley Neligan.” I saw Holmes and Hopkins exchange a quick glance, ‘What are you doing here?” “Can I speak confidentially?” “No, certainly not.” “Why should i tell yout” | ‘ “It you have no answer, it May go badly with you at the trial.” ‘The young man winced, “Well, I will tell you,” he said, “Why should I not? And yet I hate to think of this old scandal gaining a new lease of life, Did you ever hear of Dawéon %& Neligan?” T could see, from Hopkina’s face, that he never had; but Holmes was keenly interested, “You mean the West country bankers,’ said he. “They falled for a million, ruined half the county families of Cornwall, and Nellgan disap- peared,” “Fxactly. Neligan was my father,” At last we were getting something positive, and yet it seemed a long gap between an absconding banker and Capt. Peter Carey pinned against the wall with one of his own harpoons, We all listened intently to'th’ young man’s words. “Tt. was my father who was really concerned, Dawson had retired. I was only ten years of age at the time, but was old enough to feel the shame and horror of it all. It has always been sald that my father stole all thé securities and fled. It is not true. It was his belief that if he were given time in which to realize them, all would be well and every creditor paid in full, He started in his little yacht for Norway just before the warran' was issued for his arrest, I can re ‘member that last night, when he bade farewell to my mother. He left usa list of the securities he was taking, and he swore that he would come back with his honor cleared, and that none who had trusted him would suf- fer. Well, no word was ever heard from him again, Both the yaoht and he vanished utterly. We believed, ‘my mother and I, that he and it, with the securities that he had taken with him, were at the bottom of the sea. We had a faithful friend, however, who is a business man, and it was he who discovered some time ago that some of the securities which my father had with him have reappeared on the London market, You can im- agine our amazement, I spent months trying to trace them, and at last, after many doublings and difficulties, dis- covered that the orfginal seller had been Capt. Peter Carey, the owner of this hut, “Naturally, I made some inquiries / about the man, I found that he had / been in command of a whaler which ‘was due to return from the Arctic seas at the very time when my father was crossing to Norway, The autumn of that year was g stormy, one, and there was a long succes siom of southerly gales, My father’s yacht imay well have been blown to the north, and there met by Capt. Peter Catey’s ship. If that were so, what had become of my father? In any case, if I could prove from Peter Carey's evidence how these securities came on the market it would be a proof that my fathen had not sold them, and that he had no view to per- sonal profit when he took them, “T came down to Sussex with the intention of seeing the captain, but it was at this moment that his terrible death occurred. I read at the in- quest a description of his cabin, in which it stated that the old logbooks of his vessel were preserved in it. It struck me that if I could! see what occurred in the month of August, 1888, on board the Sea Unicorn, F might settle the mystery of my father's fate. I tried last night to get at these logbooks, but was unable to open the door, To-night I tried again and auc- ceeded, but 1 find that the pages which deal with that month have been torn from the book, It was at that moment I found myself a prisoner im) your hands, ‘ that all?” asked Hopkins, “Yes, that is all.” His eyes shifted as he said it. “you have nothing else to tell us?” He hesitated, “No; there is nothing,” f “You have not been here before last night?” “No.” \ “Then how do you account for that?” eried Hopkins, as he held up the damning notebook, with the initials of our prisoner on tie ‘rst leaf and od the blood stain on the cover, The wretched man collapsed, Med all over, Vhere did you get it?” had lost it at the hotel." “That is enough," said Hopkins, sternly, you must say in cou You will walk down with me now to the police Well, Mr Tam very much obliged to you and your friend for coming down to help me, As it turns out your presence waa wnneces- He sank, his face in his hands and trem- he groaned, ‘I did not know. T thought 1 “Whatever else you have to tion Holmes, sary, and T would have brought the ease to this successful issue without you; but, none the less, | am grateful, Rooms have been reserved for you A at the Brambletye Hotel, so we can all walk down to the village together.” “Well, Watson, what do you think of it?” asked Holmes, as we trav- elled back next morning, “T can see that you are not gatisfed.” “Oh, yes, my dear Watson, Iam perfectly satisfied, At the same time Stanley Hopkins's methods do not commend themselves to me, I am disappointed in Stanley Hopkins. 4 had hoped for bette; things from him One should always look for a poseible alternative and provide against jt It is the first rule of criminal investigation,” “What, then, is the alternative?” ’ "The line of investigation whlch [ have myself been pursuing, give us nothing, I cannot tell Tt may But at least I shall follow it to the end. ' Stila &