an usual, but he said distinctly,
though in a low voice, "No, sir."

An involuntary gasp as of amazement was heard, and though I looked
quickly at Miss Lloyd, it was not she who had made the sound. It was one
of the maidservants, a pretty German girl, who sat behind Miss Lloyd. No
one else seemed to notice it, and I realized it was not surprising that
the strain of the occasion should thus disturb the girl.

"You heard Louis come in, Lambert?" asked Mr. Monroe, who was conducting
the whole inquiry in a conversational way, rather than as a formal
inquest.

"Yes, sir; he came in about eleven, and went directly to his room."

The butler stood with folded hands, a sad expression in his eyes, but
with an air of importance that seemed to be inseparable from him, in any
circumstances.

Doctor Fairchild was called as the next witness.

He testified that he had been summoned that morning at about quarter
before eight o'clock. He had gone immediately to Mr. Crawford's house,
was admitted by the butler, and taken at once to the office. He found
Mr. Crawford dead in his chair, shot through the left temple with a
thirty-two calibre revolver.

"Excuse me," said Mr. Lemuel Porter, who, with the other jurors, was
listening attentively to all the testimony. "If the weapon was not
found, how do you know its calibre?"

"I extracted the bullet from the wound," returned Doctor Fairchild, "and
those who know have pronounced it to be a ball fired from a small pistol
of thirty-two calibre."

"But if Mr. Crawford had committed suicide, the pistol would have been
there," said Mr. Porter; who seemed to be a more acute thinker than the
other jurymen.

"Exactly," agreed the coroner. "That's why we must conclude that Mr.
Crawford did not take his own life."

"Nor would he have done so," declared Doctor Fairchild. "I have known
the deceased for many years. He had no reason for wishing to end his
life, and, I am sure, no inclination to do so. He was shot by an alien
hand, and the deed was probably committed at or near midnight."

"Thus we assume," the coroner went on, as the doctor finished his simple
statement and resumed his seat, "that Mr. Crawford remained in his
office, occupied with his business matters, until midnight or later,
when some person or persons came into his room, murdered him, and went
away again, without making sufficient noise or disturbance to arouse the
sleeping household."

"Perhaps Mr. Crawford himself had fal