The differences in the two hands are so pronounced
throughout the note that I am inclined to think that one of the writers
was a woman."
"Exactly what I thought," said Inspector Chippenfield, looking hard at
Crewe so that the latter should not question his good faith.
"Then there are sometimes slight differences in the alternate letters
written by the same hand. Look at the 'T' in 'last' and the 'T' in
'night'--the marked variation in the length and angle of the cross
stroke. It is evident that the writers were labouring under serious
excitement when they wrote this."
Rolfe was so interested in Crewe's revelations that he stood beside the
deductive expert and studied the paper afresh.
"And now, about finger-prints?" asked Crews.
"None," was the reply of the inspector, "We had it under the microscope
at Scotland Yard."
"None?" exclaimed Crewe, in surprise. "Why adopt such precautions as
wearing gloves to write a note giving away this startling secret?"
"Easy enough," replied Inspector Chippenfield. "The people who wrote the
note either had little or nothing to do with the murder, but were afraid
suspicion might be directed to them, or else they are the murderers and
want to direct suspicion from themselves.
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