tter. But
Inspector Perkins shooed her out of the room.

Then Wilkins came to say that Dr. Thornhill had finished his examination
and would like to see them.

He came in with a somewhat dissatisfied air, sat down heavily in the
chair the inspector pushed forward for him, and said in a
dissatisfied tone:

"The blade pierced the left ventricle, about the middle, a good inch and
a half. Death was practically instantaneous, of course."

"I took it that it must have been. The collapse had been so complete. I
suppose the blade stopped the heart dead," said Mr. Flexen.

"Absolutely dead," said the doctor. "But the thing is that I can't swear
to it that the wound was not self-inflicted. Knowing Lord Loudwater, I
could swear to it morally. There isn't the ghost of a chance that he
took his own life. But physically, his right hand might have driven that
blade into his heart."

"I thought so myself, though of course I'm no expert," said Mr. Flexen.
"And I agree with you when you say that you are morally certain that the
wound was not self-inflicted. Those bad-tempered brutes may murder other
people, but themselves never."

"Well, I've not your experience in crime, but I should say that you were
right," said the doctor.

"All the same, the fact that you cannot swear that the wound was not
self-inflicted will be of great help to the murderer, unless we get an
absolute case against him," said Mr. Flexen.

"Well, I'm sure I hope you will. Lord Loudwater had a bad temper--an
infernal temper, in fact. But that's no excuse for murdering him," said
Dr. Thornhill.

"None whatever," said Mr. Flexen. "What about the inquest? I suppose we'd
better have it as soon as possible."

"Yes. Tomorrow morning, if you can," said the doctor, rising.

"Very good. Send word to the coroner at once, Perkins. Don't go yourself.
I shall want you here," said Mr. Flexen.

He shook hands with the doctor and bade him good-day. As Inspector
Perkins went out of the room to send word to the coroner, he bade him
send Elizabeth Twitcher to him.

She was not long coming, for, in obedience to Olivia's injunction, she
was engaged in learning what the other servants knew, or thought they
knew, about the murder.

When she came into the dining-room, Mr. Flexen's keen eyes examined her
with greater care than he had given to the other servants. On Jane
Pittaway's showing, she should prove an important witness. Now Elizabeth
Twitcher was an uncommonly prett