The Washington herald., 1912-02-04
THE WASHINGTON HERALD.


fire many shots without leaving a sign
l would suggest that Mr.. Cubftt's body
may now be removed. l suppose, doc
tor, you have not recovered the bullet
which wounded the ladyp
"A serious operation will be neces-
sary before that can be done. But
there are still four cartridges in the re-
volver. Two have been fred and two
wounds inflicted, so that each bullet can
be accounted for"
so it would SEEM" said Holmes.
Perhaps you can account also for the
bullet which 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, about an inch
above the bottom.
by Georgep cried the inspector.
How ever did you see that?"
Because looked for it."
Wonderful T. said the country doc
tor. You are certainly right, sir. Then
a third shot has been fired, and there
fore third person must have been
present. But who could that have been,
and how could he have got awayr
That is the problem which we are
now about to solve.o 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 extremely
important onei"
"'Yes, sir; but l confess did not
quite follow you"
TT suggested that, at the time OF the
Nta .Uas,I 4. ~.
OF the room had been open. Otherwise
the fumes of power could not have been
blown so rapidly through the house. A
draught in the room was necessary for
that. Both door and window were only
open for very short time, however"
How do you prove thatS"
Because the candle was not gut
tered" '
Capital" cried the Inspector. "Capi-
Feeling sure that the window had
been open at the time of the 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 markP
But how came the window to be
shut and fastened?"
THE woman's first instinct would be
to shut and fasten the window. But,
halloa what is thisI"
II was a ladys handbag which stood
upon the study table-a trim little
handbag OF crocodile-skin and silver.
Holmes opened II 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 its contents
to the inspector. 1T Is now necessary
that we should try to throw some light
upon this third bullet, which has clearly,
from the splintering Of the wood, been
fired from inside the room. | should
like to see Mrs. King, the cook, again.
You said, Mrs. King. that you were
awakened by loud explosion When
you said that, did you mean that It
seemed to you to be louder than the
second one"
"Well, sir, it wakened me from my
sleep, and so 1t is hard to Judge But
it did seem very loud"
You don't think that il might have
been two shots fired almost at the same
instantl"
II am sure couldn't say, sir"
IL believe that it was undoubtedly
so. rather think, Inspector Martin,
that we have now exhausted all that
this room can teach us. If you will
kindly step around with me, we shall
see what fresh evidence the garden has
to offer"
A flower bed extended up to the
study window, and we all broke into
an exclamation as we approached it.
The flowers were trampled down, and
the soft soil was imprinted all over
with footmarks. Large, masculine feet
they were, with peculiarly long, sharp
toes. Holmes huntedsabout among the
grass and leaves like a retriever after
a wounded bird. Then, with a cry of
satisfaction, he bent forward and picked
up a little brazen cylinder.
Il thought So" said he; "the revolver
had an ejector, and here is the third