y along the dusty street. He was no longer alone in the
lane. An old man, accompanied by a large dog, came out from one of the
new houses and walked towards the detective, he was very evidently going
in the direction of the elder-tree, which had already been such a
centre of interest that morning. When he met Muller, the old man halted,
touched his cap and asked in a confidential tone: "I suppose you've been
to see the place already?"

"Which place?" was Muller's reserved answer.

"Why, I mean the place where they found the man who was murdered. They
found him under that elder-tree. My wife just heard of it and told me. I
suppose everybody round here will know it soon."

"Was there a man murdered here?" asked Muller, as if surprised by the
news.

"Yes, he was shot last night. Only I don't understand why I didn't hear
the shot. I couldn't sleep a wink all night for the pain in my bones."

"You live near here, then?"

"Yes, I live in No.1. Didn't you see me coming out?"

"I didn't notice it. I came across the wet meadows and I stooped to turn
up my trousers so that they wouldn't get dusty--it must have been then
you came out."

"Why, then you must have been right near the place I was talking about.
Do you see that elder tree there? It's the only one in the street, and
the girl who brings the milk found the man under it. The police have
been here already and have taken him away. They discovered him about six
o'clock and now it's just seven."

"And you hadn't any suspicion that this dreadful thing was happening so
near you?" asked the detective casually.

"I didn't know a thing, sir, not a thing. There couldn't have been a
fight or I would have heard it. But I don't know why I didn't hear the
shot."

"Why, then you must have been asleep after all, in spite of your pain,"
said Muller with a smile, as he walked along beside the man back to the
place from which he had just come.

The old man shook his head. "No, I tell you I didn't close an eye all
night. I went to bed at half-past nine and I smoked two pipes before I
put out the light, and then I heard every hour strike all night long
and it wasn't until nearly five o'clock, when it was almost dawn, that I
dozed off a bit."

"Then it is astonishing that you didn't hear anything!"

"Sure it's astonishing! But it's still more astonishing that my dog
Sultan didn't hear anything. Sultan is a famous watchdog, I'd have you
know. He'll growl if anybody passes throu