with which he flung the would-be necklace at the wall, and kicked about
and stamped upon its rapidly rolling beads.

"Booty! That was what he was after; to find and carry away the poor
needlewoman's supposed hoardings. If the scene baffles description--if,
as some believe, he dragged her yet living from spot to spot, demanding
information as to her places of concealment under threat of repeated
blows, and, finally baffled, dealt the finishing stroke and proceeded on
the search alone, no greater devastation could have taken place in this
poor woman's house or effects. Yet such was his precaution and care
for himself that he left no finger-print behind him nor any other token
which could lead to personal identification. Even though his footsteps
could be traced in much the order I have mentioned, they were of so
indeterminate and shapeless a character as to convey little to the
intelligence of the investigator.

"That these smears (they could not be called footprints) not only
crossed the hall but appeared in more than one place on the staircase
proves that he did not confine his search to the lower storey; and
perhaps one of the most interesting features of the case lies in the
indications given by these marks of the raging course he took through
these upper rooms. As the accompanying diagram will show [we omit the
diagram] he went first into the large front chamber, thence to the rear
where we find two rooms, one unfinished and filled with accumulated
stuff most of which he left lying loose upon the floor, and the other
plastered, and containing a window opening upon an alley-way at the
side, but empty of all furniture and without even a carpet on the bare
boards.

"Why he should have entered the latter place, and why, having entered
he should have crossed to the window, will be plain to those who
have studied the conditions. The front chamber windows were tightly
shuttered, the attic ones cumbered with boxes and shielded from approach
by old bureaus and discarded chairs. This one only was free and,
although darkened by the proximity of the house neighbouring it across
the alley, was the only spot on the storey where sufficient light could
be had at this late hour for the examination of any object of whose
value he was doubtful. That he had come across such an object and had
brought it to this window for some such purpose is very satisfactorily
demonstrated by the discovery of a worn out wallet of ancient make lying