Suspicion of
Murder and Arson. A Clue to the Criminal.' That is the clue
which they are already following, Mr. Holmes, and I know that
it leads infallibly to me. I have been followed from London
Bridge Station, and I am sure that they are only waiting for the
warrant to arrest me. It will break my mother's heart -- it will
break her heart!" He wrung his hands in an agony of apprehen-
sion, and swayed backward and forward in his chair.
I looked with interest upon this man, who was accused of
being the perpetrator of a crime of violence. He was flaxen-
haired and handsome, in a washed-out negative fashion, with
frightened blue eyes, and a clean-shaven face, with a weak,
sensitive mouth. His age may have been about twenty-seven, his
dress and bearing that of a gentleman. From the pocket of his
light summer overcoat protruded the bundle of endorsed papers
which proclaimed his profession.
"We must use what time we have," said Holmes. "Watson,
would you have the kindness to take the paper and to read the
paragraph in question?"
Underneath the vigorous headlines which our client had quoted,
I read the following suggestive narrative:
"Late last night, or early this morning, an incident oc-
curred at Lower Norwood which points, it is feared, to a
serious crime.
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