r dead body upstairs, close to where he
was hiding?

"I had intended to kill Violet with a small revolver which I had bought
in a second-hand place at London last winter, but Nepcote's carelessness
in leaving his own revolver in the gun-room gave the last finishing
touch to my plan. I could scarcely believe my luck when I found it. It
seemed as though he himself were playing into my hands. I hid it away,
expecting that there would be inquiries, but there were none. He had
forgotten all about it. It was strange, too, that Violet herself helped
by telling my aunt before dinner on the night of her pretended illness
that she did not wish to be disturbed by anybody. That removed a defect
in my arrangements which had caused me much anxious thought. I had
feared that somebody, probably a servant, might enter the room in the
period between the first and second reports. It was a chance I could not
afford to overlook, and I could see no way of guarding against it except
by locking the door, which I did not want to do. I wanted to leave the
door partly open so as to make sure of the second report penetrating to
the dining-room downstairs.

"When my aunt gave me Violet's message in the library shortly before
dinner I knew that the moment had arrived. The altered arrangements for
an earlier dinner cost me a moment's perplexity, but no more. One cannot
hurry one's own guests, and I knew it would be impossible to get dinner
over as quickly as my aunt anticipated. If it were ending too quickly
for my purpose it would be an easy matter to introduce a subject which
would set somebody talking. That, as you know, is what actually
happened.

"After my aunt left me I waited until the last possible moment before
slipping upstairs. The revolver and the pistol were locked away in my
own bedroom in readiness. I got them out. The pistol was completely
prepared except for the cap. I had bound a twelve inch tinder-wick to
the stock in order to allow for a delay of nearly fifty minutes between
the lighting and the report. I knew that Nepcote expected to arrive at
the moat-house by half-past seven at the latest, but I gave him a margin
of a few minutes for unexpected delays. I put the pistol in my pocket,
and wrapping the revolver in a silk muffler to deaden the report, went
swiftly to my wife's room. I closed the door behind me as I entered.

"She was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, and did not hear me
approach. That helped me. Can you un