“But what of that?” questioned Patsy argumentatively. “I don’t see how that cuts any ice. Darling could have shot himself in the head.”
“I admit that he could—but he didn’t,” Nick said dryly.
“Why are you so sure of it, chief?”
“Because the bullet would have made a hole in his skull. Even if sent into his mouth, or through an eye, it would surely have passed through the brain and have fractured, at least, the back of the skull. Doctor Lyons is positive, however, that the skull was intact. I questioned him particularly about that. Admitting that my premises are correct, then, it’s a hundred to one that Cyrus Darling did not shoot himself.”
“Gee! there’s no getting around that argument,” Patsy thoughtfully allowed. “You must be right, chief, after all.”
“I think so.”
“But how came the revolver near him? Some one else must have shot him. In that case, chief, he must have been murdered, as Doctor Lyons and Lawyer Clayton suspect.[Pg 17]”
“On the contrary, Patsy, both of them are wrong,” Nick said confidently. “Cyrus Darling was not shot at all.”
“Not shot at all!” echoed Patsy incredulously.
“That is my opinion.”