"I heard nothing to make me suspect that any one was in the room except Mr. Abbott and me," she stated. "You recollect that I was absent several times; once when I went downstairs to admit Miss Betty Carter and her companion," she hesitated. "And when I went to the head of the staircase at their departure." Again she hesitated. "I also left the room on an errand while they were here." Trenholm eyed her oddly. "What was the errand and who sent you on it?" "The lamp went out and the clergyman asked me to get one from downstairs," she explained, tersely. He considered her statements for several moments, then nodded his head thoughtfully. "The man probably selected one of the times when Paul was left alone--preferably the last occasion, for then there was less danger of detection. You were chloroformed immediately upon your return?" "Y-yes. I lost consciousness--I--" Her hesitation caught his attention. "It is all very confused; I cannot think clearly." "Brace up!" His tone, though kindly, was firm, and Miriam checked her inclination to cry--she was utterly weary and her head ached with memories which would not down. "Now," he added as she bit her lip and winked back the tears. "Are you positive you heard no one talking to Mr. Abbott?" "Except Miss Carter." "Well, aside from her," with patient persistence. Miriam shook her head. "I can swear that I heard no one converse with Mr. Abbott except Doctor Roberts and Miss Carter." "There was no murmur of voices as you lost consciousness?" "I heard none." "Strange!" mused Trenholm. "Why did not Paul Abbott cry out when you were chloroformed? He was conscious last night--?" "Oh, yes, although occasionally irrational." She glanced up at the sheriff and then toward the bed. "Possibly he was killed before I returned." "That may be." Trenholm tugged at his mustache. "Was Mr. Abbott in a condition to get up?" "He might have, with assistance," cautiously. He regarded her in silence, then nodded his head. "That is what Doctor Roberts told me." Again he stroked his mustache. "Have you examined the bed since the body was removed?" "No." "Then look here." He walked with her to the four-post bedstead and drew aside the curtains. The blankets and top sheet were neatly pulled back, leaving exposed the under sheet, while the pillows lay as Miriam had last seen them. "Do you notice that there are no marks of blood, except this small stain," motioning toward a spot near the head of the bed. Miriam bent over the bedclothes and then looked up at the sheriff. "I found Mr. Abbott lying partly on his left side--" "He wasn't stabbed in that position," declared Trenholm vehemently. "It would have been a physical impossibility--" "Unless the murderer stood facing him as he lay in bed and, reaching over Mr. Abbott's shoulder, stabbed him in the back," suggested Miriam.