Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-30
easily distinguished beneath.

blood are easily distinguished beneath
We were about to conclude our exarnt- !
nation in despair, utterly unable 20 ac--$j
! count for the Extraordinary wound. Wnen
| the door opened and ST.. bernard teteu;
| He looked upon the body OF his oid
/ friend. not pleasing spectacle indeed
and then grasped my hand without
word.
IL, read the evening papers on my way
up. ~ he said at last. in voice trernoilns
with emotion. The afair see5n as N 81,
mysterious Poor Courtenay! Poor Eel
! low" -.
| have lust concluded the post mortem;
| and then introduced the police surgeon
to the man whose name was nousenolu
/ world through the medical profession.
/ showed my chief the wound. explain,
| ed its extraordinary eatures. and asked
his opinion. He removed his coat. turned
| up his shirt cuffs, adjusted his big spec
1 tacles. and bending beside the board upon
| which the body lc,, made long ana
/ careful inspection of the injury
Extra ordinary he calculated. I've
/ never known of such a wound before
! One would almost suspect an explosive
| bullet were it not for the clean lnc'seo
wound on the exterior. The ribs seem
grazed, yet the manner in which SUCH
1 hurt has been inflicted is utterly unac-
countablc."
1--WE have been unable to solve the
| enigma" DR.. Farmer observed. was
an army surgeon before entered prlvate
practice, but have never seen sl111iae
case
/ 1T is most puzzi<,g.
do you think that this knife could
| have been used?'' I asked handing my
! chief the weapon.
| in,
! as though to strike. felt its edge, ana then
/ shook his head, saying:
| "No, I think not. The instrument useo
was only sharp on one edge. inns mas
| both edges sharpened.'
| It was a point we had not overlooked,
hut in a moment we agreed with him.
/ and at once abandoned our half-formeu
! theory that the Indian dagger had caused
! the wound.
j With Sir Bernard we made an exam1na-
F.! ton of the tongue and other organs, IN or
| der to ascertain the progress of the dis
! ease from which the deceased mad oeen
! suffering. but a detailed account Of our
! discoveries can have no interest Tor the
| lay reader.
In word our conclusions were that
| the murdered man could easily have liveu
another year or more. The disease was
| not so advanced as we had believed. Sir
Bernard had a patient to see in Grosve-
I nor Square; therefore, he left about
O'Clock, regretting that he had not time
! to call around at the neighoor's ana eA-
press his sympathy with the widow.
Give her all my sympathies. poor
young lady" he said to re. And tell
| her that will call upon her tomorrow"
Then, after promising to attend the IN
| quest and give evidence regarding the
post mortem, he shook hands with both OF
| us and left.
At s o'clock that evening I was back in
my. own rooms in Harley Place. eating my
dinner alone, when Amber Jevons en-
tered
He was not as cherry as usual. He did
! not exclaim as was his habit. We'll, my
| boy how gees it? Whom have you killec
i to-day?" or some such grim pleasantly.
| On the contrary. he came in with scarce
| ly word. threw his hat upon side table
and sank into his usual armchair with
/ scarcely a word, save the question, ut
| tered in almost g Growl:
May l smoker
| "Of course, said, continuing my meal.
Where have you been?'
II left while you were cutting up the
| body he said. I've been about lot
since then, and I'm tired.
You look it. Have a drink
NO" he responded. Il don't drink when
am bothered. This case is an absolute
mystery" And striking match he lit his
rather foul pipe and pulled away vigor-
| ousy, staring straight into the fire the
while.
Well" I asked. after. long silence,
Whats your opinion now?"
1--WE none he answered, gloomily.
whats yours?"
Mine is that the mystery increases
| hourly
What did you find at the post NOR
tenn "
In few words explained the unac
countabie nature of the wound. drawing
for him rough diagram on the back Of
an old envelope, which I tossed over to
| where he sat.
He looked at it for long time without
speaking then observed:
Hum. Just as I thought. The police |
theory regarding that fellow Short and |
the knife is all a COMPOUNDED myth. De-
! pend upon it Boyd. old chap, that man is
no fool. He's tricked Thorpe finely-and
with a motive, too.
What motive do you suspect?" I in
CURED, eagerly. for this was an entirely
fresh theory.
"one that you'd call absurd if were to
tell it to you now. I'll explain later on.
when my suspicious are confirred-as
feel sure they will be before long"
you're mysterious, Amber" said, |
surprised. "Why?'
II have a reason, my dear fellow" was
all the reply he vouchsafed. Then he
puffed again vigorously at his pipe, AND
filled the room with clouds of choking |
smoke OF q not particularly sou VI am
of tobacco.
CHAPTER (WHICH PUZZLES THE!
DOCTORS
At the inquest held in the big upstairs
room of the Star and Garter Hotel at
Kew Bridge, there was crowded at
tendance. BY this time the public eN-
element had risen to fever heat. It had
by some unaccountable means leaked out
that at the post norton we had beer
puzzled; therefore the mystery was much
, increased and the papers that morning
| without exception gave prominence to the
startling affair.
The coroner. seated at the table at the
head of the ROOM took the usual forma
evidence of Identification. writing down
the dispositions upon separate sheets OF
blue foolscap.
| Samuel Short was the first witness OF
! in, nnrtarce and those in the loom listen