ry."

This remark further aroused the curiosity of the hitherto apathetic jury,
who sat and listened intently to the medical evidence which followed.

The result of the doctor's examination was quickly told, and not of great
interest. He had been called by the police and found the young woman
dying from a deep wound under the breast, which had penetrated to the
heart, the result of a savage blow with some long, thin, and very sharp
instrument. The girl was not dead when he first saw her, but she expired
about ten minutes afterwards.

"I should think that the weapon used was a knife with a very sharp,
triangular blade judging from the wound," the spruce-looking doctor
explained. "The police, however, have failed to discover it."

The words of the witness held me dumbfounded.

"Have you ever met with knives with triangular blades, doctor?" inquired
the coroner.

"Oh, yes!" was the reply. "One sees them in collections of mediaeval arms.
In ancient days they were carried almost universally in Southern
Europe--the blade about nine inches long, and sometimes perforated. Along
the blade, grease impregnated with mineral poison was placed, so that, on
striking, some of the grease would remain in the wound. This form of
knife was most deadly, and in Italy it was known as a misericordia."

I sat there listening with open mouth. Why? Because I knew where one of
those curious knives had been--one with a carved handle of cracked,
yellow ivory. I had often taken it up and looked at the coat of arms
carved upon the ivory--the shield with the six balls of the princely
house of the Medici.

"And in your opinion, doctor, the deceased came by her death from a blow
from such a weapon as you describe?" the coroner was asking.

"That is my firm opinion. The wound penetrated to the heart, and death
was probably almost instantaneous."

"Would she utter a cry?"

"I think she would."

"And yet no one seems to have heard any noise!" remarked the coroner. "Is
that so?" he asked, turning to the police inspector.

"We have no evidence of any cry being heard," replied the officer. "I
purposely asked the other tenants of the flats above and below. But they
heard no unusual sound."

One of the detective-sergeants was then called; Inspector Edwards, though
present, being purposely omitted. In reply to the coroner, he described
the finding of the body, its examination, and the investigation which
ensued.

"I need not ask you if you have