Mr. Howell looked at me and smiled. "Mr. Holcombe and I are old
enemies," he said. "Mr. Holcombe believes that circumstantial evidence
may probably hang a man; I do not." And to Mr. Holcombe: "So, having
found a wet slipper and a broken knife, you are prepared for murder
and sudden death!"

"I have more evidence," Mr. Holcombe said eagerly, and proceeded to
tell what we had found in the room. Mr. Howell listened, smiling to
himself, but at the mention of the onyx clock he got up and went to
the mantel.

"By Jove!" he said, and stood looking at the mark in the dust. "Are
you sure the clock was here yesterday?"

"I wound it night before last, and put the key underneath. Yesterday,
before they moved up, I wound it again."

"The key is gone also. Well, what of it, Holcombe? Did he brain her
with the clock? Or choke her with the key?"

Mr. Holcombe was looking at his note-book. "To summarize," he said,
"we have here as clues indicating a crime, the rope, the broken knife,
the slipper, the towel, and the clock. Besides, this scrap of paper
may contain some information." He opened it and sat gazing at it in
his palm. Then, "Is this Ladley's writing?" he asked me in a curious
voice.

"Yes."

I glanced at the slip. Mr. Holcombe had just read from his note-book: