t over to the bed, looked at it carefully, and asked:

"Has the bed been touched?"

"Not to my knowledge," said Miss Trelawny, "but I shall ask Mrs.
Grant--the housekeeper," she added as she rang the bell. Mrs. Grant
answered it in person. "Come in," said Miss Trelawny. "These gentlemen
want to know, Mrs. Grant, if the bed has been touched."

"Not by me, ma'am."

"Then," said Miss Trelawny, turning to Sergeant Daw, "it cannot have
been touched by any one. Either Mrs. Grant or I myself was here all
the time, and I do not think any of the servants who came when I gave
the alarm were near the bed at all. You see, Father lay here just
under the great safe, and every one crowded round him. We sent them
all away in a very short time." Daw, with a motion of his hand, asked
us all to stay at the other side of the room whilst with a
magnifying-glass he examined the bed, taking care as he moved each fold
of the bed-clothes to replace it in exact position. Then he examined
with his magnifying-glass the floor beside it, taking especial pains
where the blood had trickled over the side of the bed, which was of
heavy red wood handsomely carved. Inch by inch, down on his knees,
carefully avoiding any touch with the stains on the floor, he followed
the blood-marks over to the spot, close under the great safe, where the
body had lain. All around and about this spot he went for a radius of
some yards; but seemingly did not meet with anything to arrest special
attention. Then he examined the front of the safe; round the lock, and
along the bottom and top of the double doors, more especially at the
places of their touching in front.

Next he went to the windows, which were fastened down with the hasps.

"Were the shutters closed?" he asked Miss Trelawny in a casual way as
though he expected the negative answer, which came.

All this time Doctor Winchester was attending to his patient; now
dressing the wounds in the wrist or making minute examination all over
the head and throat, and over the heart. More than once he put his
nose to the mouth of the senseless man and sniffed. Each time he did
so he finished up by unconsciously looking round the room, as though in
search of something.

Then we heard the deep strong voice of the Detective:

"So far as I can see, the object was to bring that key to the lock of
the safe. There seems to be some secret in the mechanism that I am
unable to guess at, though I served a year in C