g been used.
As soon as we entered the room, we found the four dead men. Hussein, the
servant, was nearest the door and was lying in a crumpled-up position.
He had been stabbed twice through the back and once through the spinal
column at the base of the neck. His Excellency and the two assistants
were seated in chairs, but had been stabbed through the heart. The
instrument used must have been a long thin dagger or stiletto. There was
no sign of it anywhere in the room, and most certainly none of the men
who came out the previous night had such a weapon concealed upon him.

"Doctors were at once sent for, and the first medical gentlemen to
arrive said that each of the four had been dead for many hours, but they
also imagined that the coffee, the remains of which we found in some
cups on the table, had been drugged. So, before disturbing the room and
its contents in any way, the Commissioner sent for Dr. Tennyson Coke.
After careful investigation Dr. Coke came to the same conclusion as the
other gentlemen. He believes that his Excellency and his two assistants
were first stupefied by the drug and then murdered as they sat in their
chairs, whilst the appearance of Hussein and the nature of his wounds
seemed to indicate that he had been unexpectedly attacked and killed
before he could struggle effectually or even call for assistance.

"Of course, the diamonds had vanished, whilst in the safes or on the
tables we found the keys which had evidently been taken from his
Excellency's pockets. We were all puzzled to account for the
disappearance of the diamonds and the dagger, but you have clearly shown
the means whereby they were conveyed off the premises. Dr. Coke took
away the coffee for analysis. The four bodies were carried to the
mortuary in Chapel Place, and the fourteen workmen were conveyed to
Scotland Yard, not because we have any charge against them, but the
Commissioner thought it best to keep them under surveillance until the
Turkish Embassy had settled what was to be done with them, in the matter
of paying such wages as were due and sending them back to Amsterdam. The
men themselves, I may add, were quite satisfied with our action in the
matter. That is really all I have to tell you."

"It is quite clear, then," said Brett, "that two men succeeded in
murdering four and in getting away with their plunder and arms without
creating the slightest noise or exciting any suspicion in your mind."

"That is so," admitted