pistol naturally
with the elbow bent, might very easily fire a ball into the brain at the
angle observed.

Upon being questioned in regard to the bodily health of Mr. Leavenworth,
he replied that the deceased appeared to have been in good condition at
the time of his death, but that, not being his attendant physician,
he could not speak conclusively upon the subject without further
examination; and, to the remark of a juryman, observed that he had not
seen pistol or weapon lying upon the floor, or, indeed, anywhere else in
either of the above-mentioned rooms.

I might as well add here what he afterwards stated, that from the
position of the table, the chair, and the door behind it, the murderer,
in order to satisfy all the conditions imposed by the situation, must
have stood upon, or just within, the threshold of the passageway leading
into the room beyond. Also, that as the ball was small, and from a
rifled barrel, and thus especially liable to deflections while passing
through bones and integuments, it seemed to him evident that the victim
had made no effort to raise or turn his head when advanced upon by
his destroyer; the fearful conclusion being that the footstep was an
accustomed one, and the presence of its possessor in the room either
known or expected.

The physician's testimony being ended, the coroner picked up the bullet
which had been laid on the table before him, and for a moment rolled
it contemplatively between his fingers; then, drawing a pencil from his
pocket, hastily scrawled a line or two on a piece of paper and, calling
an officer to his side, delivered some command in a low tone. The
officer, taking up the slip, looked at it for an instant knowingly, then
catching up his hat left the room. Another moment, and the front door
closed on him, and a wild halloo from the crowd of urchins without told
of his appearance in the street. Sitting where I did, I had a full view
of the corner. Looking out, I saw the officer stop there, hail a cab,
hastily enter it, and disappear in the direction of Broadway.

III. FACTS AND DEDUCTIONS

"Confusion now hath made his master-piece;
Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope
The Lord's anointed temple, and stolen thence
The life of the building."
--Macbeth.

TURNING my attention back into the room where I was, I found the
coroner consulting a memorandum through a very impressive pair of gold
eye-glasses.

"Is the butler here?" h