"I may take it, Sir Robert, that you agree with Dr. Williams as to the time Hardiman had been dead when you saw the body?" "Certainly." "And in your opinion the wound could not, under any circumstances, have been caused by a bullet?" "Certainly not," and he smiled at the futility of the question. "The bullet might have been a peculiar one," I suggested, "different from any with which we are familiar. The servant, who does not deny his guilt, says it was a bullet." "And I say it was not," Sir Robert answered. "No kind of bullet could make such a wound. A knife with a point to it was used. The action would be a stab and a pull sideways. I am of the opinion that the blow was struck while the victim was in a deep sleep. I think Dr. Williams agrees with me." Williams nodded. "You would otherwise have expected to find some signs of a struggle?" I said. "I should. It is quite possible, I think, that at times Mr. Hardiman had recourse to a draught or a tablet to induce sleep." "I understand that you had some conversation with Mr. Hardiman during the voyage, Sir Robert. Were you struck by any peculiarity in him?" "He was an eccentric man, but a man of parts undoubtedly. He told me very little about himself, but I gathered that he had traveled extensively, and out of the beaten track. I put down his difficulty in sustaining a conversation to this fact. He seemed in good health--one of those wiry men who can stand almost anything." "Sir Robert, could it possibly have been a case of suicide?" Quarles asked, suddenly leaning forward. "Have you examined the wound carefully?" asked the doctor. "I have." "If you will try to stab yourself like that you will see how impossible it is. Besides, you forget that no knife has been found, and in a case of suicide it would have been. I may add that the knife used was not in the least like the one I see on the table there." "It must have had a point, you think?" said Quarles. "I do not think--I am certain." "Did Mr. Hardiman ever say anything about these bits of rock to you?" "Never," answered the doctor. "I think I suggested to the captain that they might be valuable. I have no knowledge on the point, but I cannot conceive a man like Hardiman carrying them about unless they were of value." "I take it he is a geologist," Quarles said carelessly. Sir Robert would like to have been present throughout our inquiry, but the professor firmly but courteously objected. He said it would not be fair to those chiefly concerned, and he appealed to me to endorse his opinion. The doctor had raised a spirit of antagonism in him. They were both too dogmatic to agree easily. The sailor of the watch was next interviewed, a good, honest seaman who evidently had a wholesome dread of the law in any form. He thought it was Mr. Majendie he had seen on the deck that night, but he would, not swear to it. "Are you sure it wasn't Bennett?" I asked. "Ay, sir, I'm pretty sure of that."