Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1905-07-01

| and for the constable. Then. with the
, aid Of the groom and the stable boy
| they had conveyed their injured mis-
tress to her room. Both she and bel
| husband had occupied the bed. She
was clad in her dress, he in his dress
ing gown, over his night clothes. Moth
ing had been moved in the study. Sc
far as they knew, there had never been
any quarrel between husband and wife
They had always looked upon them as
very united couple.
These were the main points OF the
servants evidence. In answer to In
spector Martin they were clear that ev-
cry door was fastened upon the inside
and that no one could have escaped
from the house. In answer to Holmes
they both remembered that they were
conscious of the smell of powder from
the moment that they ran out of their
rooms upon the top floor. Il commend
that fact very carefully to your atten-
tion," said Holmes to his professional
colleague. "And now I think that we
are in a position to undertake thor
|
The study proved to be small cham
Der lined on three sides with books
and with a writing table facing an Or
binary window, which looked out upon
the garden. Our first attention was
given to the body of the unfortunate
squire, whose huge frame lay stretch
! ed across the room. His disordered
dress showed that he had been hastily
aroused from sleep. The bullet had
been fired at him from the front and
had remained in his body after pene-
trating the heart. His death had GER
tainly been instantaneous and painless.
There was no powder marking either
upon his dressing gown or on his
hands According to the country sur
geon, the lady had stains upon her
face, but none upon her hand.
""The absence of the latter means
nothing, though it's presence may mean
everything" said Holmes. ''Unless the
powder from badly fitting cartridge
happens to squirt backward one may
fire many shots without leaving a sign.
I would suggest that Mr.. Cubitt's body
may now be removed. 1 suppose, doc
tor, you have not recovered the bullet
which wounded the lady?,
"a serious operation will be necessa-
ny before that can be done. But there
are still four cartridges in the revolver.
Two have been fired and two wounds
inflicted, so that each bullet can be &C.
counted for.
$50 it would SEEM" said Holmes.
"Perhaps you can account also for the
bullet which has 50 obviously struck
the edge of the Window
He had turned suddenly, and his
long, thin finger was pointing to hole
which had been drilled right through
the lower window sash about an inch
above the bottom.
"By Georgev' cried the inspector
"How ever did you see thatT"
Because I looked for it."
"Wonderfulv' said the country doc
tor. "You are certainly right, sir Then
a third shot has been fired, and there
fore a third person must have been
present. But who could that have been
and how could he have got awayw
''That is the problem which we are
now about to solve" said Sherlock
Holmes. AYou remember, Inspector
Martin, when the servants said that on
leaving their room they were at once
conscious Of smell of powder I re-
marked that the point was an extreme
ly important one?'
eyes, sir; but l confess 1 did not
quite follow you"
''It suggested that at the time Of the
firing the window as we'll as the door
Of the room had been open. Otherwise
the fumes of powder could not have
been blown SO rapidly through the
house. A draft in the room was nee
essary for that Both door and win
dow were only open for very short
time, however"
''How do you prove that?"
Because the candle was not gut
tered"
"Capitalv' cried the inspector. cap
italv'
.sFeeling sure that the window had
Deen open at LQe time OIL Lue Tragedy, |
l conceived that there might have been
a third person in the affair, who stood
outside this opening and fired through
it. Any shot directed at this person
might hit the sash. / looked, and there,
sure enough, was the bullet markv' I
''But- how came the window to be T
shut and fastened?"
.The woman's first instinct would be
to shut and fasten the window. But,
hello! What is this2'
1t was lady's hand bag which stood
upon the study table-a trim little hand
bag of crocodile skin and silver.
Holmes opened it and turned the con-
tents out. There were twenty fifty
pound notes Of the Bank Of England,
held together by an india rubber band
nothing else.
"This must be preserved, for it will
figure in the trial." said Holmes as he
handed the bag with it's contents to the
Inspector. SIT is now necessary that
we should try to throw some light rnon