“And how long would it take him to get from his apartment at the Benedict to the New Willard?”
“Seven minutes if he went in the cars, and fifteen minutes if he walked.”
Lieutenant Raymond was then excused, and after his departure Detective Hardy was called to the witness chair. He gave a brief résumé of all that took place after the murder was discovered.
“Did you find any trace of the end of the weapon?” asked the coroner.
“No, sir. I turned the whole place inside out, but could find nothing. The only clue I had to go upon was the ring which we found in Mrs. Trevor’s hand. I saw at a glance that it was a naval class ring, so I at once went to the Navy Department. There I looked through the register of Annapolis graduates, and found that two men in that class had the two initials ‘D. G.’—Donald Gordon and Daniel Green. The latter is stationed at Mare Island, California. That eliminated him, so I went to Mr. Gordon’s quarters at the Benedict Apartment House.” He paused.
“Go on,” ordered the coroner. “Tell your story in your own way.”
The jury to a man were leaning across the table, regarding the detective with deep interest.
“The janitor there is a friend of mine, so he let me into Mr. Gordon’s apartment, which is on the second floor, with his pass key. I searched his rooms thoroughly, but could find nothing. Then I went through his personal belongings. In the inner pocket of his overcoat, I found a few pieces of a torn note.
“It didn’t take me long to fit the words together. I then pasted them all on a sheet of note paper. Here, you can see for yourselves.”
He drew out his pocketbook as he spoke, and removed from it a sheet of paper on which were pasted scraps torn in different shapes, and handed it to the coroner. After one startled glance, the coroner read the contents aloud.