re was engraving on the outside cover, initials, and a
crown on the other side."

"What were the initials?"

"I don't know that, sir; at least I'm not sure about it. There were so
many twists and curves to them that I couldn't make them out. I think
one of them was a W though, sir."

"The other was probably an L then."

"That might be, sir."

"The younger clerks in the office may be able to tell something more
about the watch," said Pokorny, "for they were quite interested in it
for a while. It was a handsome watch and they were envious of Winkler's
possession of it. But he was so tactless in his boasting about it that
they paid no further attention to him after the first excitement."

"You say he didn't have the watch long?"

"Since spring I think, sir."

"He brought it home on the 19th of March," interrupted Mrs. Klingmayer.
"I remember the day because it was my birthday. I pretended that he had
brought it home to me for a present."

"Was he in the habit of making you presents?"

"Oh, no, sir; he was very close with his money, sir.

"Well, perhaps he didn't have much money to be generous with. Now tell
me about his watch chain. I suppose he had a watch chain?"

Both the bookkeeper and the landlady nodded and the latter exclaimed:
"Oh, yes, sir; I could recognise it in a minute."

"How?"

"It was broken once and Mr. Winkler mended it himself. I lent him my
pliers and he bent the two links together with them. It didn't look very
nice after that, but it was strong again. You could see the mark of the
pliers easily."

"Why didn't he take the chain to the jeweler's to be fixed?" asked the
commissioner.

The woman smiled. "It wouldn't have been worth the money, sir; the chain
wasn't real gold."

"But the watch was real, wasn't it?"

"Oh, yes, sir; that was real gold. I pawned it once for Mr. Winkler and
they gave me 24 gulden for it."

"One question more, did he have a purse? And did he have it with him on
the day of the murder?"

"Yes, sir; he had a purse, and he must have taken it with him because he
didn't leave it in his room."

"What sort of a purse was it?"

"A brown leather purse, sir."

"Was it a new one?"

"Oh, no, sir; it was well worn."

"How big was it? About like mine?" Riedau took out his own pocketbook.

"No, sir; it was a little smaller. It had three pockets in it. I mended
it for him once, so I know it well. I didn't have any brown thread so I
mended it with yellow."

D