"
"It is singular, certainly," said Dr. Egerton, "though I don't know that
it helps us much. Shall we withdraw the dagger before moving the body?"
"Certainly," replied Thorndyke, "or the movement may produce fresh
injuries. But wait." He took a piece of string from his pocket, and,
having drawn the dagger out a couple of inches, stretched the string in
a line parallel to the flat of the blade. Then, giving me the ends to
hold, he drew the weapon out completely. As the blade emerged, the twist
in the clothing disappeared. "Observe," said he, "that the string gives
the direction of the wound, and that the cut in the clothing no longer
coincides with it. There is quite a considerable angle, which is the
measure of the rotation of the blade."
"Yes, it is odd," said Dr. Egerton, "though, as I said, I doubt that it
helps us."
"At present," Thorndyke rejoined dryly, "we are noting the facts."
"Quite so," agreed the other, reddening slightly; "and perhaps we had
better move the body to the bedroom, and make a preliminary inspection
of the wound."
We carried the corpse into the bedroom, and, having examined the wound
without eliciting anything new, covered the remains with a sheet, and
returned to the sitting-room.
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