"And did your father manage to destroy the will then before it—happened?"
"No. He had it in his hands. I was wrestling with him, trying to get it away, and Paula had caught me by the shoulders and was endeavouring to get me away, too, when the lights suddenly went out, and—and came up again. And there he was in his chair—dead!"
"And you say that you heard the sound of the spinning wheel 'humming' in the darkness? You really did hear that, Miss Duggan?"
"Yes—I would swear to it on my oath."
"And how then did your father die? By what means?"
"By a shot through his temple, I suppose (though he was stabbed as well)—although there was no noise, Mr. Deland, nothing to tell us that the awful thing was happening, save the failing of the current at that moment."
"H'm. I see. A soundless pistol—in fact, an air-gun. Any one in the house got such a thing, do you know?"
She shook her head.
"Not that I know of, unless ... but he gave his away long ago."
"Who, may I ask?"