"Secondly: the man in the cab died of a wound caused by a bullet fired at very close quarters. Indeed, the weapon must have been held either against the victim's body, or, at any rate, very near to it; for the coat is badly burned by the powder."
"On these points at least," assented Doctor Thurston, "I can agree with you. The bullet probably penetrated the upper lobe of the left lung."
"Yes," added Sturgis, "and it passed out at the back, far below where it went in."
"What makes you think it passed out? The wound in the back may have been caused by another bullet fired from the rear."
"That hypothesis might be tenable, were it not for this."
With these words, the reporter pulled out his watch, opened the case, and with the blade of a penknife took from the surface of the crystal a minute object, which he handed to the physician.
"Look at it," said he, pushing over a magnifying glass.
Doctor Thurston examined the tiny object carefully.
"A splinter of bone," he said at last.
"Yes. I found it on the surface of the wound in the back. How did it get there?"