Thirdly, it did not seem to him as being natural that Timon could forget that his fellow servants were bound and in need of assistance. In his opinion the natural course under the circumstances would have been for Timon to have unbound them before seeking Mr. Barnes. A fact in connection with Timon’s failure to do this stood out before the detective’s mental vision very prominently--and this fact was that, in his interim when, according to his story, he was unconscious, the body of Mr. Field disappeared. And he asked himself this question: “If it was necessary to offset some testimony that could be advanced by the other servants, would not some such story as this be concocted to cover the time necessary for the taking away of the body?” And he quickly gave himself the answer: “The story is admirably suited to just such a series of circumstances, and if the stories told by the others show a necessity for this tale, I shall at once set Joe Timon down as an accessory, no matter how great the trust Mr. Field may have had in him.” He now had in his possession practically all that could be told of the main features of the case, and he wanted now to use his eyes a little more before questioning the other servants. Speaking to Barnes, he said: “It must have been here that the body lay.” “It was. That is the spot that Timon pointed out to me.” From here there was a depression of the nap of the carpet, in two long, straight lines, toward the door. They were such marks as would be left by the heels of a person being dragged along by the shoulders. The detective now stepped toward the door to which these marks led, Barnes following him closely and saying: “I was wondering if you were going to take notice of those marks and follow them.” Nick Carter dryly said: “I saw them some time ago, in fact the very instant I stepped into this room. I did not care at the moment to trace them, as I had something else in my mind.” “I suppose that in your business, as in most others, each man has his own way of working.” “Certainly.” The door was by this time reached. It was closed. The detective opened it and saw that the marks were continued across the sill and upon the carpet of the hall. The hall being dark, he said to Barnes: “Will you be kind enough to open that window at the end?” “Assuredly.” Barnes proceeded to open it, letting in a flood of light. It was now very bright in the hall, and everything was shown up as clearly as daylight could do it. One thing was revealed that was very unpleasant to the eyes of Mr. Barnes. This was a pool of blood. Shuddering, he said to the detective: “That is a terrible sight. This pool is larger than that in his own room. They must have stopped here a minute or so when they were dragging him out.” As Nick made no rejoinder to this, Barnes said: “Don’t you think that is the case?” Remarkably brief was the reply: “No!” “What do you think, then?”