ted this death-thrust.

After order had been restored, which I will say was very soon, the
Coroner, with an added gravity of tone, went on with his questions:

"Did you recognize this bit of steel as belonging to any instrument in
the medical profession?"

"No; it was of too untempered steel to have been manufactured for any
thrusting or cutting purposes. It was of the commonest kind, and had
broken short off in the wound. It was the end only that I found."

"Have you this end with you,--the point, I mean, which you found
imbedded at the base of the dead woman's brain?"

"I have, sir"; and he handed it over to the jury. As they passed it
along, the Coroner remarked:

"Later we will show you the remaining portion of this instrument of
death," which did not tend to allay the general excitement. Seeing this,
the Coroner humored the growing interest by pushing on his inquiries.

"Doctor," he asked, "are you prepared to say how long a time elapsed
between the infliction of this fatal wound and those which disfigured
her?"

"No, sir, not exactly; but some little time."

Some little time, when the murderer was in the house only ten minutes!
All looked their surprise, and, as if the Coroner had divined this
feeling of general curiosity, he leaned forward and emphatically
repeated:

"More than ten minutes?"

The doctor, who had every appearance of realizing the importance of his
reply, did not hesitate. Evidently his mind was quite made up.

"_Yes; more than ten minutes_."

This was the shock _I_ received from his testimony.

I remembered what the clock had revealed to me, but I did not move a
muscle of my face. I was learning self-control under these repeated
surprises.

"This is an unexpected statement," remarked the Coroner. "What reasons
have you to urge in explanation of it?"

"Very simple and very well known ones; at least, among the profession.
There was too little blood seen, for the wounds to have been inflicted
before death or within a few minutes after it. Had the woman been living
when they were made, or even had she been but a short time dead, the
floor would have been deluged with the blood gushing from so many and
such serious injuries. But the effusion was slight, so slight that I
noticed it at once, and came to the conclusions mentioned before I found
the mark of the stab that occasioned death."

"I see, I see! And was that the reason you called in two neighboring
physicians to view the bod