the coroner announced:

"Before taking the medical evidence, gentlemen, I propose to hear that
of the police-officers, and first we will call Detective-sergeant Alfred
Bates."

The sergeant stepped forward briskly, and proceeded to give his evidence
with official readiness and precision.

"I was called by Constable Simmonds at eleven-forty-nine, and reached
the house at two minutes to twelve in company with Inspector Harris and
Divisional Surgeon Davidson. When I arrived Dr. Hart, Dr. Thorndyke, and
Dr. Jervis were already in the room. I found the deceased woman, Minna
Adler, lying in bed with her throat cut. She was dead and cold. There
were no signs of a struggle, and the bed did not appear to have been
disturbed. There was a table by the bedside on which was a book and an
empty candlestick. The candle had apparently burnt out, for there was
only a piece of charred wick at the bottom of the socket. A box had been
placed on the floor at the head of the bed and a hassock stood on it.
Apparently the murderer had stood on the hassock and leaned over the
head of the bed to commit the murder. This was rendered necessary by the
position of the table, which could not have been moved without making
some noise and perhaps disturbing the deceased. I infer from the
presence of the box and hassock that the murderer is a short person."

"Was there anything else that seemed to fix the identity of the
murderer?"

"Yes. A tress of a woman's red hair was grasped in the left hand of the
deceased."

As the detective uttered this statement, a simultaneous shriek of horror
burst from the accused woman and her mother. Mrs. Goldstein sank
half-fainting on to a bench, while Miriam, pale as death, stood as one
petrified, fixing the detective with a stare of terror, as he drew from
his pocket two small paper packets, which he opened and handed to the
coroner.

"The hair in the packet marked _A_," said he, "is that which was found
in the hand of the deceased; that in the packet marked _B_ is the hair
of Miriam Goldstein."

Here the accused woman's solicitor rose. "Where did you obtain the hair
in the packet marked _B_?" he demanded.

"I took it from a bag of combings that hung on the wall of Miriam
Goldstein's bedroom," answered the detective.

"I object to this," said the solicitor. "There is no evidence that the
hair from that bag was the hair of Miriam Goldstein at all."

Thorndyke chuckled softly. "The lawyer is as dense as the