moment, sir," he murmured, and vanished
briskly.

The room looked out on a courtyard at the back, and through the window
Ned could see against the opposite buildings the rain driving in clouds.
In the court the wind was eddying, and beneath some door he could hear
it drone insistently. Though the toughest of men, he shivered a little
and drew up a wicker chair close in front of the fire.

"It's incredible!" he murmured, and as he stared at the flames this
thought seemed to haunt him all the time.

Bisset laid the table and another hour passed. Ned ate a little lunch
and then smoked and stared at the fire while the wind droned and
blustered without ceasing, and occasionally a cross gust sent the rain
drops softly pattering on the panes.

"I'm damned if I see a thing!" he suddenly exclaimed half aloud, and
jumped to his feet.

Before he had time to start for the door, Bisset's mysterious efficiency
was made manifest again. Precisely as he was wanted, he appeared, and
this time it was clear that his own efforts had not been altogether
fruitless. He had in fact an air of even greater complacency than usual.

"I have arrived at certain conclusions, sir," he announced.

XIII

THE DEDUCTIVE PROCESS

Bisset laid on the table a sheet of note paper.

"Here," said he, "is a kin' of bit sketch plan of the library. Observing
this plan attentively, you will notice two crosses, marked A and B. A is
where yon wee table was standing--no the place against the wall where it
was standing this morning, but where it was standing before it was
knocked over last night. B is where the corp was found. You follow that,
sir?"

Ned nodded.

"I follow," said he.

"Now, the principle in a' these cases of crime and detection," resumed
the philosopher, assuming his lecturer's air, "is noticing such sma'
points of detail as escape the eye of the ordinar' observer, taking full
and accurate measurements, making a plan with the principal sites
carefully markit, and drawing, as it were, logical conclusions. Applying
this method now to the present instance, Mr. Cromarty, the first point
to observe is that the room is twenty-six feet long, measured from the
windie, which is a bit recessed or set back, as it were, to the other
end of the apartment. Half of 26 is 13, and if you take the half way
line and draw approximate perpendiculars to about where the table was
standing and to as near as one can remember where the middle of the corp