"I do not think, so; but unless he has destroyed the paper in his madness, we shall he able to find it among his possessions."
With this idea in mind, Mr. Watson ordered the servants to remove the gardener's body to a room in the carriage-house, and as soon as this was done he set to work to search for the paper, assisted by John Merrick.
"It was a telegraph blank, he said."
"Yes."
"Then we cannot mistake it, if we find any papers at all," declared the lawyer.
The most likely places in James' room for anything to be hidden were a small closet, in which were shelves loaded with odds and ends, and an old clothes-chest that was concealed underneath the bed.
This last was first examined, but found to contain merely an assortment of old clothing. Having tossed these in a heap upon the floor the lawyer begun an examination of the closet, the shelves promising well because of several bundles of papers they contained.
While busy over these, he heard Uncle John say, quietly:
"I've got it."
The lawyer bounded from the closet. The little man had been searching the pockets of the clothing taken from the chest, and from a faded velvet coat he drew out the telegraph blank.