is left-handed, and you remember that the
murder was committed by a left-handed person."

"Anything else?"

"Yes. I have seen those Italians, and the whole thing was a put-up job.
A woman, in a widow's dress and veil, paid them to go and play the fool
outside the building, and she gave them the letter that was left with
the porter. They haven't identified her yet, but she seems to agree in
size with Miss Curtis."

"And how did she get out of the chambers, with the door bolted on the
inside?"

"Ah, there you are! That's a mystery at present--unless you can give us
an explanation." The inspector made this qualification with a faint
grin, and added: "As there was no one in the place when we broke into
it, the murderer must have got out somehow. You can't deny that."

"I do deny it, nevertheless," said Thorndyke. "You look surprised," he
continued (which was undoubtedly true), "but yet the whole thing is
exceedingly obvious. The explanation struck me directly I looked at the
body. There was evidently no practicable exit from the flat, and there
was certainly no one in it when you entered. Clearly, then, _the
murderer had never been in the place at all_."

"I don't follow you in the least," said the inspector.

"Well," said Thorndyke, "as I have finished with the case, and am
handing it over to you, I will put the evidence before you _seriatim_.
Now, I think we are agreed that, at the moment when the blow was struck,
the deceased was standing before the fireplace, winding the clock. The
dagger entered obliquely from the left, and, if you recall its position,
you will remember that its hilt pointed directly towards an open
window."

"Which was forty feet from the ground."

"Yes. And now we will consider the very peculiar character of the weapon
with which the crime was committed."

He had placed his hand upon the knob of a drawer, when we were
interrupted by a knock at the door. I sprang up, and, opening it,
admitted no less a person than the porter of Brackenhurst Chambers. The
man looked somewhat surprised on recognizing our visitors, but advanced
to Thorndyke, drawing a folded paper from his pocket.

"I've found the article you were looking for, sir," said he, "and a rare
hunt I had for it. It had stuck in the leaves of one of them shrubs."

Thorndyke opened the packet, and, having glanced inside, laid it on the
table.

"Thank you," said he, pushing a sovereign across to the gratified
official. "The inspec