Look here; do you see these three
marks, near each other, on the floor? When the assassin threw the
hatchet, it first fell on the edge--hence this sharp cut; then it
fell over on one side; and the flat, or hammer end left this mark
here, under my finger. Therefore, it was thrown with such violence
that it turned over itself and that its edge a second time cut in
the floor, where you see it now."
"True," answered M. Plantat. The detective's conjectures doubtless
refuted his own theory, for he added, with a perplexed air:
"I don't understand anything about it."
M. Lecoq went on:
"Were the windows open this morning as they are now?"
"Yes."
"Ah! The wretches heard some noise or other in the garden, and
they went and looked out. What did they see? I can't tell. But
I do know that what they saw terrified them, that they threw down
the hatchet furiously, and made off. Look at the position of these
cuts--they are slanting of course--and you will see that the
hatchet was thrown by a man who was standing, not by the cupboard,
but close by the open window."
Plantat in his turn knelt down, and looked long and carefully.
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