Page:The Valley of Fear.pdf/78

Rh have placed it on the table before he was attacked; otherwise, of course, it would have fallen when he fell. This shows that he was not attacked the instant that he entered the room. When Mr. Barker arrived the candle was lit and the lamp was out.”

“That’s all clear enough.”

“Well, now, we can reconstruct things on those lines. Mr. Douglas enters the room. He puts down the candle. A man appears from behind the curtain. He is armed with this gun. He demands the wedding ring—Heaven only knows why, but so it must have been. Mr. Douglas gave it up. Then either in cold blood or in the course of a struggle—Douglas may have gripped the hammer that was found upon the mat—he shot Douglas in this horrible way. He dropped his gun and also it would seem this queer card,—V. V. 341, whatever that may mean,—and he made his escape through the window and across the moat at the very moment when Cecil Barker was discovering the crime. How’s that, Mr. Holmes?”

“Very interesting, but just a little inconvincing.” [76]