There was an anxious eagerness in the voice; the gray pallor of the face, and the feverish eyes were those of a man whose nerves were clamoring, but whose roused mind refused to give them rest.
"Such is the case in the great majority of instances," said Dr. Shower, firmly. "We are seldom led astray."
"There has been no weapon found," persisted young Burton; "and that being the case do you not think it possible——"
But here a sudden exclamation from Osborne, who had gone to one of the windows and stood looking out, interrupted the speaker. In spite of his bigness the detective was in excellent training; with a spring he went through the window which opened upon a walk fringed with autumn-brown bushes; and in another moment he was back in the room.
"Don't be too sure about no weapon being found," said he, triumph in his face and voice. "What would you call this?"
As he spoke he held up a heavy brass candlestick; it had a solid base of metal, and the edge of this was darkly clotted with blood.
CHAPTER IV
Ashton-Kirk Makes One Visit, and Plans Another
Ashton-Kirk sat cross-legged upon a sofa, the amber bit of his Coblentz pipe between his teeth, and the wreaths of smoke curling above his head. About him were scattered bound volumes of police papers; and upon his knees rested a huge book, canvas covered and seeming full of carefully spaced entries done in a copper plate hand.