* * * * * "I rushed into the laboratory. My husband was lying by his slate-topped table. The device, I noticed, was gone. It was no bigger than a coffee-mill, I thought, as I bent over my husband. Strange how such a thought could have crowded in at such a time. "My husband's head was bleeding. It was cut, a long gash over the ear, just below the bald spot. It must have been a frightful blow. I looked in his eyes. My nurse's and pharmaceutical course gave me knowledge which sent a chill to my heart. He was dead. I must have fainted. "When I recovered I ran for Peck. I found him near the house, coming my way and holding his right eye. "'Something struck me,' he said. Then, seeing me so pale, he said, 'My God! Mrs. Darrow, what has happened?' "'Run for the doctor,' I said. When the doctor came he called the police and coroner. They told me not to disturb the body. Later they took it away, and the gardener told me--" "Never mind what Peck told you," interrupted the attorney. "We will let him tell it. Is that all you can tell us about the death itself?" But the widow was weeping now, so violently that the court ordered her excused. * * * * * The gardener was called and took the stand displaying a big, black eye, which offered comedy relief to a pathetic situation. "On the main road to the east," he began after preliminary questioning, "was a small car which had been parked there all morning. I noticed it because it had no license plates. It was visible from the inside of the grounds, but was hidden from the road by a hedge. It made me wonder because it was just inside our grounds. "I had some very special red flags which I planted as a border back of pink geraniums. They were doing fine. I got them from the Fabrish seed house. There are no plants like Fabrish's--I wouldn't give a snap of my finger for all the other--" "Just a minute," interrupted the attorney. He told the gardener to never mind the geraniums and flags, but to tell just what happened. "Well, I was bending over the border bed when I heard sounds like someone running along the gravel path towards me. I heard a humming like a bumble bee and I jumped to my feet. Just then something hit me in the eye and knocked me down. Yes sir, knocked me plumb down, and--" "Then what happened? Never mind the asides, the extras--tell us just the simple facts," instructed the attorney. "Well, you won't believe it, but I heard the footsteps leave the road. The geraniums were badly trampled. I looked at the parked automobile and could hear the hum coming from there. "The machine started and turned into the road--" "Did you notice anyone at the wheel?" "That's what you're not going to believe. There wasn't anybody in that auto at all. I didn't see anyone at any time. The auto started itself, and what is more, that auto only went about a hundred yards when it disappeared altogether--like that--like a flash."