We all assented to this suggestion, and by tacit consent Quintus Oakes began:
"First, we have found that the cartridge picked up in the cellar, and evidently dropped by the man in the robe, is of the same pattern as the old ones in the pouch upstairs.
"They all belong to the old revolver which was taken away from its place—and for which another was substituted since my first visit here. With regard to its calibre (the important point), that old revolver meets the requirements of our deductions about the weapon used to murder Mr. Mark. Therefore we have a chain of evidence connecting my assailant in the cellar—the man in the robe—with the assassin.
"We know also that the revolver was fired not far from the hundred-and-fifty-foot distance; the man was an excellent shot, for you must consider the old style of weapon.
"He must have been large, or at least strong in the wrist, for a good shot with such a weapon cannot be made by a weak person."
I interrupted: "The murder of Smith was considered to be due to a pistol ball of large calibre. Could the same weapon have been used?"
"It could," said Oakes. "That one has been in the family for years. The style of the cartridges is somewhat similar to our modern ones, but they are very old, as we know by their appearance.
"Further," he continued, "in my opinion the 'woman story' connected with the Smith murder is based on a man in a black robe. It may have been the same man who is at the bottom of these later mysteries—though we are to remember that when Mr. Mark was killed Joe saw no robe.
"In the annals of crime we find very few women doing murder in that way; it is a man's method.
"We must look then for a strong-wristed man—a man who has also strong arms, and a cross on the left one; finally, a man with a knowledge of revolvers, and who has in his possession—or has had—a large, old-fashioned weapon and cartridges, and also a robe.