The Right Clue

Mrs. Phillips sent her confidential business man a parcel of bonds to deposit in a place of safety. Mr. Forbes, the gentleman in question, was about to put them in a safe, when an interruption took him from the room, and the precious papers found their way into the waste-paper basket, and, subsequently, into the waste can out of doors. A detective being called in, discovers in the course of his investigations some cigar ash and comes to the conclusion that the man who smokes this kind of cigar must be the recipient or custodian of the lost bonds. The detective following up this clue examines the cigars smoked by a great many persons much to their discomfiture and his own inconvenience. Finally, he comes across a policeman smoking the identical brand of cigar and this fact leads to the discovery that the lost documents are concealed in the policeman's hat, the same being placed there by his sweetheart, the cook, who thinks the hat too large to be becoming and thus pads it out sufficiently for a good fit. And so the cigar ash proved the right clue which led to the recovery of the documents and their return to the proper owner.