Greig, as if seeking confirmation of the detective's statement. But he
found only amazement written in their features.

Coroner Hart was the first to recover from the surprise occasioned by
Britz's revelation. He became aware of a growing skepticism that refused
to accept so obvious an explanation of the puzzling circumstances
surrounding the merchant's death. Surely the same solution would have
suggested itself to him ere this were it possible for twenty hours to
have elapsed between the time of the shooting and the discovery that
Whitmore was dead!

"If Whitmore was shot the night before, then he must have deliberately
chosen his office in which to die!" the coroner said in disparagement of
Britz's contention. "Why, it's impossible! I should have detected it the
moment I saw the wound."

Britz now produced the enlarged photograph of the wound as well as the
needle that he had found on the floor of Whitmore's office.

"It is all very simple--so simple that I eliminated the theory that
Whitmore was killed in his office at the very outset of the
investigation. The very preparations that were made to delude us
contained the evidence of their own clumsy manufacture. Look at the
photograph of this wound!" Britz held the photograph edgewise on his
desk. "Do you observe the perforations about the edge of the wound? They
tell the whole story. That wound had been sewed up and was opened again
with this needle." He held up the slim, steel darning needle to the
light.

"But why--why should he do this?" broke in the coroner. "It must have
been torture!"

"It was," Britz agreed.

"But the loaded pistol on his desk--how do you explain that?"

"I repeat, Whitmore was shot the night before," replied Britz. "It was a
mortal wound. The spleen had been penetrated and he was beyond the aid
of medical science.

"The doctor that was summoned undoubtedly told him he was doomed. There
was no way to stop the internal bleeding, but the patient might live
anywhere from twenty-four to seventy-two hours. We are all familiar with
the uncertainties of gunshot wounds--the medical records overflow with
cases of wonderful endurance shown by persons suffering from pistol
wounds.

"Now what did Whitmore do? Why, he decided to conceal the evidence of
his own murder. He instigated the conspiracy to shield his murderer.
Moreover he determined to make it appear that he had committed suicide.
So he went to his office in the morning armed with t