“But are you sure that this is the same pistol as the one which Jay has been in the habit of seeing?” “Jay is absolutely sure. He says that Parrish only had the one automatic which he always kept in the same drawer in his dressing-room ...” Robin was silent for a moment. Very deliberately he filled his pipe, lit it, and drew until it burned comfortably. Then he said slowly: “This means that Hartley Parrish was murdered, Bruce, old man. All through I have been puzzling my mind to reconcile the unquestionable circumstance that two bullets were fired—I told you of the bullet mark I found on the upright in the rosery—with the undoubted fact that only one report was heard. We can therefore presume, either that Hartley Parrish first fired one shot from his pistol with the silencer fitted and then removed the silencer and fired another shot without it, thereby killing himself, or that the second shot was fired by the person whose interest it was to get rid of the silencer. There is no possible or plausible reason why Parrish should have fired first one shot with the silencer and then one without. Therefore, I find myself irresistibly compelled to the conclusion that the shot heard by Mary Trevert was fired by the person who killed Parrish. Do I make myself clear?” “Perfectly,” answered Bruce. “Now, then,” the barrister proceeded, thoughtfully puffing at his pipe, “one weak point about my deductions is that they all hang on the question as to whether, at the time of the tragedy, Parrish actually had the silencer on his pistol or not. That is really the acid test of Manderton’s suicide theory. You said, I think, that a rifle fired with the silencer attachment makes no more noise than the sound of a loud sneeze!” “That’s right,” agreed Bruce; “a sort of harsh, spluttering noise. Not so loud either, Robin. Ph ... t-t-t! Like that!” “Loud enough to be heard through a door, would you say?” “Oh, I think so!” Robin thought intently for a moment. “Then Mary is the only one who can put us right on that point. Assuming that two shots were fired—and that bullet mark in the rosery is, I think, conclusive on that head—and knowing that she heard the loud report of the one, presumably, if Parrish had the silencer on his automatic, Mary must have heard the _muffled_ report of the other. What it comes to is this, Mary heard the shot fired that killed Parrish. Did she hear the shot he fired at his murderer?” “By Gad!” exclaimed Bruce Wright impressively, “I believe you’ve got it, Robin! Parrish fired at somebody at the window—a silent shot—and the other fellow fired back the shot that Mary Trevert heard, the shot that killed Parrish. Isn’t that the way you figure it out?” “Not so fast, young man,” remarked Robin. “Let’s first find out whether Mary actually heard the muffled shot and, if so, _when ... before_ or _after_ the loud report.” He glanced across at the window and then at Bruce,