During the evidence of this witness the bullet was produced to the Court, and afterwards the Coroner summed up. Going on the evidence produced, the jury brought in a verdict of murder against some person or persons unknown. In addition to this bold report of the case, there was a short leader, which theorised a great deal, but ultimately came to the conclusion that nothing could be done to unravel the mystery, and (as usual) complimented the police on their vigilance, a compliment wholly undeserved, as, from all appearances, the case had been conducted in a singularly slip-slop fashion, utterly unworthy of English justice.
Being an engineer, Maxwell was consequently a mathematician, therefore, having been trained in that exact science, he had a singularly logical mind. Two and two, according to his way of looking at things, made four, but in this instance he was doubtful as to whether they did so. Everything in connection with the case was wrapped in mystery, and there seemed to be no one on whom suspicion could rest. All the people present in the house on the night in question had given satisfactory accounts of their movements, except, perhaps, Mrs. Belswin, and the only possible suspicion against her was that she had been last in the company of the dead man.
This was all very well, but the committal of a crime pre-supposes a motive, and as Mrs. Belswin, according to her own account, was a complete stranger to Sir Rupert, it would certainly be very foolish to even hint such a thing against her. She had seen the baronet, spoken to him for a few minutes, and then retired to bed. Nothing could be simpler, and whosoever had a hand in the murder it was certainly not Mrs. Belswin, so Archie dismissed this fancy as a foolish one.
The curious part about the whole affair was that no one had heard any report, and, as Sir Rupert had been shot the sound of the weapon employed would certainly have been heard. Yet all present in the house averred that they heard nothing; which was, to say the least, very peculiar.
Judging from the evidence of the doctor, Sir Rupert was shot from the terrace, which argued that the assassin must have been a stranger to the house. With this idea in his head, Maxwell wondered whether any suspicious stranger had been about the neighbourhood at that time, and made up his mind to inquire. Sir Rupert, from all accounts, was not a loveable character, and, in fact, his conduct towards Maxwell had been anything but courteous, so that he was just the kind of man to have enemies. This being the case, what was more probable than that some man or woman whom he had wronged had followed him to Thornstream and revenged themselves by killing him. It was rather a wild idea, still it seemed the only feasible one, so Maxwell made up his mind to go down to Deswarth, ask the hospitality of the vicarage for a few days, and make inquiries regarding what strangers had been to the village on that fatal day.
This was the conclusion he came to, but then the assertion of every one that they had heard no shot was puzzling, and the more Maxwell thought the more puzzled he became.
Suddenly an idea struck him and he jumped to his feet.
"I have it," he cried, "it was an air-gun."