We now partially disrobed the corpse, and I was stupified to find that
the deceased had indeed been assassinated, and by an instrument no
larger than a knitting-needle. In the meantime, the detective had been
carefully inspecting the clothing. There were no marks on anything
except those with which laundries insist on disfiguring our linen. In
the waistcoat pocket he found six dollars in bills and seventy-five
cents in change; also a knife; but no watch, card, or letter.
Mr. Merritt now whipped out a magnifying glass and searched everything
anew; but if he discovered any clue he kept the knowledge of it
discreetly to himself. After going over every inch of the floor and
examining the window he peered out.
"So you live there, Doctor," he remarked, with a glance opposite.
"No," I replied, "my house is further north; my office faces the other
set of apartments."
Being curious to see if we were anywhere near either of the apartments
I had watched during the night, I, too, leaned out and looked hastily
in the direction of my roof. We were exactly on a level with it, and
consequently the adjoining suite must be the one in which I had noticed
the dark-haired woman and the man whose ill-timed hunt had puzzled me so
much. Their behavior had certainly been very peculiar. Had they anything
to do with this murder, I wondered. I was startled by a soft voice at my
elbow, remarking quietly: "You seem struck by something." As I was not
anxious, at least not yet, to tell him of my experiences of the night
before, I tried to say in the most natural tone in the world: "Oh, I
was only noticing that we are exactly on a level with my roof." "I had
already observed that," he said. After a slight pause, he continued: "We
must now find out who saw the deceased enter the building, for in a
place so guarded by bell-boys, elevator-boys and night-watchmen as this
is, it seems hardly possible that he could have come in unperceived."
On entering the next room we found the Coroner deep in conversation with
the foreman. He turned abruptly to me:
"This man tells me that you uttered an exclamation of surprise on seeing
the corpse. What made you do so?"
That unlucky ejaculation! I hesitated a moment, rather at a loss to know
what to reply. Every one turned towards me, and I felt myself actually
blushing. "I was at first struck by a fancied resemblance," I at last
managed to stammer, "but on looking closer I saw I had been completely
mistaken."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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