stretched insensible upon a couch, while with his feet tilted over
the side of an arm-chair, and his head upon the ground near the corner
of the fender, was lying the unfortunate soldier stone dead in a pool of
his own blood.

"Naturally, the coachman's first thought, on finding that he could do
nothing for his master, was to open the door. But here an unexpected and
singular difficulty presented itself. The key was not in the inner side
of the door, nor could he find it anywhere in the room. He went out
again, therefore, through the window, and having obtained the help of
a policeman and of a medical man, he returned. The lady, against whom
naturally the strongest suspicion rested, was removed to her room, still
in a state of insensibility. The Colonel's body was then placed upon the
sofa, and a careful examination made of the scene of the tragedy.

"The injury from which the unfortunate veteran was suffering was found
to be a jagged cut some two inches long at the back part of his head,
which had evidently been caused by a violent blow from a blunt weapon.
Nor was it difficult to guess what that weapon may have been. Upon the
floor, close to the body, was lying a singular club of hard carved wood
with a bone handle. The Colonel possessed a varied collection of weapons
brought from the different countries in which he had fought, and it
is conjectured by the police that his club was among his trophies. The
servants deny having seen it before, but among the numerous curiosities
in the house it is possible that it may have been overlooked. Nothing
else of importance was discovered in the room by the police, save the
inexplicable fact that neither upon Mrs. Barclay's person nor upon that
of the victim nor in any part of the room was the missing key to
be found. The door had eventually to be opened by a locksmith from
Aldershot.

"That was the state of things, Watson, when upon the Tuesday morning I,
at the request of Major Murphy, went down to Aldershot to supplement
the efforts of the police. I think that you will acknowledge that the
problem was already one of interest, but my observations soon made me
realize that it was in truth much more extraordinary than would at first
sight appear.

"Before examining the room I cross-questioned the servants, but only
succeeded in eliciting the facts which I have already stated. One other
detail of interest was remembered by Jane Stewart, the housemaid. You
will remember that o