The gruesome property was passed on to the two doctors, who examined it with the greatest care. Going to the window, they looked at it with magnifying glasses, and finally reported that the slight marks might be fingermarks, or might be the abrasion of the nap of the rug on which the dagger had fallen.

“Then,” said Coroner Benson, “we have, so far, no evidence which refutes the theory that Miss Van Norman’s written message was the expression of her deliberate intent, and that that intention was fulfilled by her.”

Once more Mr. Benson scanned intently the faces of his audience.

“Can no one, then,” he said again, “assert or suggest anything that may have any bearing on this written message?”

“I can,” said Robert Fessenden.