you the information you want will be to recite the circumstances
surrounding the death of Jeffrey Blackmore. Will that suit you?"

"Perfectly," replied Thorndyke; and thereupon Marchmont began:

"The death of Jeffrey Blackmore was discovered at about eleven o'clock
in the morning of the fifteenth of March. It seems that a builder's man
was ascending a ladder to examine a gutter on number 31, New Inn, when,
on passing a second-floor window that was open at the top, he looked in
and perceived a gentleman lying on a bed. The gentleman was fully
clothed and had apparently lain down on the bed to rest; at least so the
builder thought at the time, for he was merely passing the window on
his way up, and, very properly, did not make a minute examination. But
when, some ten minutes later, he came down and saw that the gentleman
was still in the same position, he looked at him more attentively; and
this is what he noticed--but perhaps we had better have it in his own
words as he told the story at the inquest.

"'When I came to look at the gentleman a bit more closely, it struck me
that he looked rather queer. His face looked very white, or rather pale
yellow, like parchment, and his mouth was open. He did not seem to be
breathing. On the bed by his side was a brass object of some kind--I
could not make out what it was--and he seemed to be holding some small
metal object in his hand. I thought it rather a queer affair, so, when I
came down I went across to the lodge and told the porter about it. The
porter came out across the square with me and I showed him the window.
Then he told me to go up the stairs to Mr. Blackmore's chambers on the
second pair and knock and keep on knocking until I got an answer. I went
up and knocked and kept on knocking as loud as I could, but, though I
fetched everybody out of all the other chambers in the house, I couldn't