rrible crime that had been committed here, nothing but the great,
hideous, brown-red spot in the middle of the room.

"Have you made a thorough search for the body?" asked the doctor.

The magistrate shook his head. "No, I have done nothing to speak of yet.
We have been waiting for you. There is a gendarme at the gate; no one
can go in or out without being seen."

"Very well, then, let us begin our search now."

The magistrate and his companion turned towards the door of the room but
the doctor motioned them to come back. "I see you do not know the house
as well as I do," he said, and led the way towards a niche in the side
of the wall, which was partially filled by a high bookcase.

"Ah--that is the entrance of the passage to the church?" asked the
magistrate in surprise.

"Yes, this is it. The door is not locked."

"You mean you believe--"

"That the murderers came in from the church? Why not? It is quite
possible."

"To think of such a thing!" exclaimed the notary with a shake of his
head.

The doctor laughed bitterly. "To those who are planning a murder, a
church is no more than any other place. There is a bolt here as you see.
I will close this bolt now. Then we can leave the room knowing that no
one can enter it without being seen."

The simple furniture of the study, a desk, a sofa, a couple of chairs
and several bookcases, gave no chance of any hiding place either for the
body of the victim or for the murderers. When the men left the room
the magistrate locked the door and put the key in his own pocket. The
gendarme in the neighbouring apartment was sent down to stand in the
courtyard at the entrance to the house. The sexton, a little hunchback,
was ordered to remain in the vestry at the other end of the passage from
the church to the house.

Then the thorough search of the house began. Every room in both stories,
every corner of the attic and the cellar, was looked over thoroughly.
The stable, the barns, the garden and even the well underwent a close
examination. There was no trace of a body anywhere, not even a trail
of blood, nothing which would give the slightest clue as to how the
murderers had entered, how they had fled, or what they had done with
their victim.

The great gate of the courtyard was closed. The men, reinforced by the
farm hands, entered the church, while Liska and the dairy-maids huddled
in the servants' dining-room in a trembling group around the old
housekeeper. The search