The Record-courier. [volume] (Gardnerville, Nev.) 1904-current, 1905-11-24
BY A. CONAN DOYLE.

/ CONSCIOUS uI me slltil pi IbNA'l iA'4-i
the moment thal HEY ran ont Of tie.f
ra3eas lt,on the top flpar. Il commend
that fact Wy carefully II yrw aiien-
Il a." said Holmes - hi professional
colleague. And noN | ihuk that 80
are IN Il 20 itiu IT, undertake th 1f-
ougl examination Of The roaal.
The study proved ia he a small cham
Der lined on three sides with ho1ss
anl '~iih writing table facing am o..
+ binary window, which booked CIT upon
/ the garden. oar first attenti3a MS
/ given Ia TIM b. y of the unfortunate
squire. whose huge frame lay esfa'el-
cd across tie roam. lis Disorder J
dress showed that he hal heca H. g :.
aroused from Sleep Tie hH!tst Id
+ been fred ut him from the front anl
/ had remained In his body afi'f pcne-
tratlng the heart Ills death Ii cef
tainly been instantaneous and painlcss.
/ There WAS no powder marking either
+ upon his dressing gown or Oh Is
i hands. According to the country sur
geon. the lady had stains upon her
/ face. but nonc upon her hand.
Tile absence Of the latter mcans
/ nothing. though its presence may mean
-. everything" said Holmes. I Mess tie
powder from a badly lifting cartridge
F., happens TO squirt back ward one may
tire many shots without leaving sign
/ | would suggest that Mr.. Cubltt's body
may now be removed. | suppose, doe
tor. you have not recovered the bullet
which wounded the lady,
y serious operation will be necessa-
ry before that can be done. But there
are still four cartridges ia the revolver
Two have been fired and two wounds
inflicted. 50 that each bullet can be ae-
counted for
so it would SEEM said Holmes
Perhaps you can account also for the
bullet which has SO obviously struck
the edge Of the window
He had turned suddenly. and his
long. thin finger was pointing to a hole
which had been drilled right through
the lower window sash abont IN inch
above the bottom.
by George" cried the Inspector
How ever did you see thatT'
Because | looked for it
"Wonderfr*" said the country doe
Tor. ''You are certainly right. sir. Then
third shot has been fired, and there
fore n third person must have been
present But who could that have becd
aud how could he have got away
That is the problem which we are
now about To solve said Sherlock
Holmes. You remember. Inspector
Martin. when the servants said HAT on
leaving their room they were NJ once
conscious of u smell Of powder | re-
marked that the point was an extreme
ly important one.n
Yes sir; but confess did not
quite follow you
I'll suggested that at the time of the
+ firing tire window rs well rs the door
/ of The room had been open. Otherwise
f the fumes OF powder could not have
been blown 50 rapidly through the
house \ 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 wis not gut
tered"
capital" cried the inspector Cap.
ital."
Feeling sure that the window had
been open al the time Of the tragedy.
conceived that there might have been
a third person in the affair. who stood
outside this opening and fired through
il. Any shot directed AT this person
might hit the sash. looked. aud there.
sure enough. was the bullet mark"
But how came the window TO be
shut and fastcnedt'
The woman's first instinct would be
TO shut and fasten the window. But.
hello. What Is thisf"
1t was lady's hand bag which stood
upon the study table-a trim little hand
bag of crocodile skin and silver
Holmes opcned il 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 il will
figure in the trial" said Holmes as he
handed the bag with its contents TO the
Inspector. III is now necessary that
we should try To throw some light upon
this third bullet. which has clearly
from the splinrering of the wood, been
fired from inside the room. should
like TO see Mrs. King the cock, again
You sald Mrs. King, that you were
awakened by loud explosion When
you said that did you mean that il
seemed TO you to he louder than tn,
second onef"
well, sir, 1t Weakened me from my
sleep. aud SO it is hard to Judge But
It did seem very loud"
You don't think that it might have
been two shots fired almost at the sam,
instantf7
Il am sure | couldn't say. sir
II believe that it was undoubtedly