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"Well," he rejoined, "you've hit the nail on the head,--that's just what it is, but you are entirely wrong in your assumption that the thumb-mark can have no value as evidence Do you not know that there are no two thuuishable marks?" I was not aware of this "How do you know," I asked, "that this mark was made by the assassin? It seems to me there can hardly be a doubt that one of the painters, while prilass His hands would naturally have been painty, and this impression would as naturally have resulted"

"What you say," replied Maitland, "is very good, so far as it goes My reasons for believing this thumb-mark was made by the assassin are easily understood First: there was another impression of a thumb in the lass Both marks were made by the same thumb and, in the lower one, the ravel dust, not elsewhere discernible upon the sill The thumb carried the dust there, and was the thuravel,--the hand of which I have a cast You see how this sho the thulass Second: the two an and Charles Rice, were the only persons save the assassin known to have been upon that side of the house the day of the lass froan and Rice made with the same paint You see that neither of these lass So there you are But we arethe question before us What line of procedure can you suggest, Doc? I'm all at sea"

"We must find soht to have a particularly good reason for concealing his footprints, and is evidently la else we have to go by, unless it be the long nail of the little finger, and I don't see how that is going to help us find the assassin--unless we can find out why it orn long If we knew that it ht have a long nail on the little finger, but he would also have the other nails long, wouldn't he? Furtherht use the boards to conceal the prints of his telltale foot-gear; but why should he not have put on shoes of the ordinary type? If he had time to prepare the boards,--the whole affair shows pree his boots The Chinese are usually sht easily account for the smallness of the hand as shown by your cast These are the pros and cons of the only clue that suggests itself to me By the way, Maitland, it's a shame we did not try, before it was too late, to track this felloith a dog"