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Post, Melville Davisson, 1871?-1930

"The Sleuth of St. James's Square"

. . . Here you
will see," and she put her finger on the card, "the narrow passage
leading from the butler's pantry into the dining-room used for a
library. You will notice, monsieur, that the writing-table stood
with one end against the wall, the left wall of the room, as one
enters from the butler's pantry. It is a queer table. One side
of it has a row of drawers coming to the floor and the other side
is open so one may sit with one's knees under it. On the night
of the tragedy this table was sitting at right angles to the left
wall, that is to say, monsieur, with this end open for the
writer's knees close up against the left wall of the room. That
meant, monsieur, that on this night Mr. Marsh was sitting at the
table with his back to the passage from the butler's pantry,
close up against the left wall of the room.
"Therefore, monsieur," the girl went on, "the man who
assassinated Mr. Marsh entered from the butler's pantry. He
slipped into the room along the left wall close up behind his
victim . . . . Did it not occur so."
This was the evidence of the police officials and the experts.
It was clear from the position of the desk in the room and from
the details of the evidence.


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