The Gully of Bluemansdyke, and Other storiesDoyle, Arthur Conan
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The Gully of Bluemansdyke, and Other stories
Doyle, Arthur Conan
Detective and mystery stories, English; Fiction; Short stories
"At eleven o'clock, about an hour and a half after Von Hopstein's
departure, a soldier of the 14th regiment of Jäger, passing the front of
the University on his way to barracks, came upon the lifeless body of
the Professor lying a little way from the side of the road. He had
fallen upon his face, with both hands stretched out. His head was
literally split in two halves by a tremendous blow, which, it is
conjectured, must have been struck from behind, there remaining a
peaceful smile upon the old man's face, as if he had been still dwelling
upon his new archæological acquisition when death had overtaken him.
There is no other mark of violence upon the body, except a bruise over
the left patella, caused probably by the fall. The most mysterious part
of the affair is that the Professor's purse, containing forty-three
gulden, and his valuable watch have been untouched. Robbery cannot,
therefore, have been the incentive to the deed, unless the assassins
were disturbed before they could complete their work.
"This idea is negatived by the fact that the body must have lain at
least an hour before any one discovered it. The whole affair is wrapped
in mystery. Dr. Langemann, the eminent medico-jurist, has pronounced
that the wound is such as might have been inflicted by a heavy
sword-bayonet wielded by a powerful arm. The police are extremely
reticent upon the subject, and it is suspected that they are in
possession of a clue which may lead to important results."
Thus far the _Pesther Abendblatt_. The researches of the police failed,
however, to throw the least glimmer of light upon the matter. There was
absolutely no trace of the murderer, nor could any amount of ingenuity
invent any reason which could have induced any one to commit the
dreadful deed. The deceased Professor was a man so wrapped in his own
studies and pursuits that he lived apart from the world, and had
certainly never raised the slightest animosity in any human breast. It
must have been some fiend, some savage, who loved blood for its own
sake, who struck that merciless blow.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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