“Were there no blood stains?”
“None. The weapon, which pierced the heart, was broken off in the wound preventing any outward flow of blood. She bled internally. Death was probably instantaneous.”
“Have you the weapon?”
“Yes. I probed the wound in the presence of the deputy-coroner and Doctor Wells. Here it is.”
There was instant craning of necks to see the small object which Doctor Davis took out of his pocket. It was a piece of sharp-pointed steel about four inches long. The coroner passed it over to the jury, then continued his questions.
“Could the wound have been self-inflicted?”
“Impossible, unless the victim was left-handed.”
“Now, Doctor, what kind of a weapon do you think this point belongs to?”
“Well—” the doctor hesitated a moment—“I don’t think it could be called a weapon in the usual sense of the word. To me it looks like the end of a hat-pin.”
His words caused a genuine sensation. A hat-pin! Men and women looked at each other. What a weapon for a burglar to use!