n as the first of the two spelled out the words so as to know what
letters to write and what to leave blank. Look at the differences in the
letter 'U.' One of the writers makes it a firm downward and upward
stroke; the other makes the letter fainter and adds another downward
stroke, the letter being more like a small 'u' written larger than a
capital letter. The differences in the two hands are so pronounced
throughout the note that I am inclined to think that one of the writers
was a woman."

"Exactly what I thought," said Inspector Chippenfield, looking hard at
Crewe so that the latter should not question his good faith.

"Then there are sometimes slight differences in the alternate letters
written by the same hand. Look at the 'T' in 'last' and the 'T' in
'night'--the marked variation in the length and angle of the cross
stroke. It is evident that the writers were labouring under serious
excitement when they wrote this."

Rolfe was so interested in Crewe's revelations that he stood beside the
deductive expert and studied the paper afresh.

"And now, about finger-prints?" asked Crews.

"None," was the reply of the inspector, "We had it under the microscope
at Scotland Yard."

"None?" exclaimed Crewe, in surprise. "Why adopt such precautions as
wearing gloves to write a note giving away this startling secret?"

"Easy enough," replied Inspector Chippenfield. "The people who wrote the
note either had little or nothing to do with the murder, but were afraid
suspicion might be directed to them, or else they are the murderers and
want to direct suspicion from themselves."

"And now for the bullets," said Crewe, "I understand two shots
were fired."

"From two revolvers," said the inspector. "Here are both bullets. This
one I picked out of the wall over there. You can see where I've broken
away the plaster. This one--much the bigger one of the two--was the one
that killed Sir Horace. The doctor handed it to me after the
post-mortem."

"Did Sir Horace keep a revolver?"

"The butler says yes. But if he did it's gone."

Crewe stood up and examined the hole in the wall where Inspector
Chippenfield had dug out the smaller bullet.

"Sir Horace made a bid for his life but missed. Of course, he had no time
to take aim while there was a man on the other side of the room covering
him, but in any case those fancy firearms cannot be depended upon to
shoot straight."

"You think Sir Horace fired at his murderer--fired fi