heir identity, as the other victim had done?

The first subject examined by the physicians was over fifty years of
age. His hair was very thin and quite gray and his face was closely
shaven, excepting a thick tuft of hair on his rather prominent chin.
He was very poorly clad, wearing a soiled woolen blouse and a pair of
dilapidated trousers hanging in rags over his boots, which were very
much trodden down at the heels. The old doctor declared that this man
must have been instantly killed by a bullet. The size of the circular
wound, the absence of blood around its edge, and the blackened and
burnt state of the flesh demonstrated this fact with almost mathematical
precision.

The great difference that exists in wounds made by firearms, according
to the distance from which the death-dealing missile comes, was seen
when the physicians began to examine the last of the murdered men. The
ball that had caused the latter's death had scarcely crossed a yard of
space before reaching him, and his wound was not nearly so hideous in
aspect as the other's. This individual, who was at least fifteen years
younger than his companion, was short and remarkably ugly; his face,
which was quite beardless, being pitted all over by the smallpox. His
garb was such as is worn by the worst frequenters of the barriere. His
trousers were of a gray checked material, and his blouse, turned back at
the throat, was blue. It was noticed that his boots had been blackened
quite recently. The smart glazed cap that lay on the floor beside him
was in harmony with his carefully curled hair and gaudy necktie.

These were the only facts that the physicians' report set forth in
technical terms, this was the only information obtained by the most
careful investigation. The two men's pockets were explored and turned
inside out; but they contained nothing that gave the slightest clue to
their identity, either as regards name, social position, or profession.
There was not even the slightest indication on any of these points, not
a letter, nor an address, not a fragment of paper, nothing--not even
such common articles of personal use, as a tobacco pouch, a knife, or a
pipe which might be recognized, and thus establish the owner's identity.
A little tobacco in a paper bag, a couple of pocket handkerchiefs that
were unmarked, a packet of cigarettes--these were the only articles
discovered beyond the money which the victims carried loose in their
pockets. On this point,