Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-05-27


 candle VII burning upon the table Their master lay upon his face in the center of the room, He was quite dead. Near the window his wife was crouching. her head leaning against the wall. She was horribly wounded l and the side of her face was red with blood. She breathed heavily, but was 1 incapable of saying anything. The passage as well as the room was full ! of smoke and the smell of powder The window was certainly shut and l fastened upon the inside. Both wo. men were positive upon the point They had at once sent for the doctor 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 her 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 a very united couple.
 These were the main points of the servants evidence. In answer to In spector Martin they were clear thai ey- cry door was fastened upon the inside and that TO one could have escaped from the house. h answer to Holmes they both remembered that they were conscious of the srnell of powder from the moment that. they ran out of their rooms upon the top floor. T commend tha. 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 ough examination of the room"
 The study proved to be small cham Der lined on three sides with books and with a writing table facing an or dinary window, which looked out upon the garden. Our first attention was given to the body of the unfortunate squire, whose huge frame lay stretch cd 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 cer- tainly been instantaneous and painless. There was no powder marking either upon his dressing gown or on his t1 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 a badly fitting cartridge happens to spurt backward one may fire many shots without leaving sign. I would suggest that Mir. Cubitts body may now be removed. suppose, doc tor, you have not recovered the bullet which wounded the ladyT
 "A serious operation will be necessa- " 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 ac- counted for.
 "So 1t would seem." said Holmes Perhaps you can account also for the bullet which has so obviously struck the edge os the windowY'
 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 Georgew cried the inspector How ever did you see thatY'
 Because looked for it."
 Wonderful" said the country doc tor. You are certainly right. sir. Then a third shot has been fired, and there fore a third nerson must have been present. But who could that have been and how could he have got awayT
 That is the problem which we are now about to solve" said Sherlock Holmes. You remember, Inspector Martin. when the servants said that on leaving their room they were at once conscious of a smell of powder re- marked that the point was an extreme ly important oney'
 ''Yes. sir; but I confess I did not quite follow you"
 Tt suggested that at the time of the firing the window as well 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 a very short time. however"
 How do you prove that,"
 Because the candle was not gut- tered"
 "Capitalr cried the inspector. cap italv'
 Feeling sure that the window had been open at the time of the tragedy. I conceived that there might have been a third person in ;he affair. who stood outside this opening and fired through if. Any shot directed at this person might hit the snsh. looked. and there. sure enough. was the bullet markr
 But how came the window to bs shut and fastenedT'
 The womsn's first instinct would be to shut and fas.en the window. But, hello. What is this7''
 If rss lsdy's hand bag which stood u'lon the study table-a trim little hand Jag of crocodile skin and silver. lIOlnles opened ft and turned the con