“You may argue—but I have too much respect for your judgment，Watson， to think that you will do so—that the ring may havebeen taken before the man was killed. The fact that the candlehad been lit only a short time shows that there had been nolengthy interview. Was Douglas， from what we hear of his fearlesscharacter， a man who would be likely to give up his wedding ringat such short notice， or could we conceive of his giving it up atall？ No， no， Watson， the assassin was alone with the dead man forsome time with the lamp lit. Of that I have no doubt at all.
“But the gunshot was apparently the cause of death. Thereforethe shot must have been fired some time earlier than we are told.
But there could be no mistake about such a matter as that. Weare in the presence， therefore， of a deliberate conspiracy upon thepart of the two people who heard the gunshot—of the man Barkerand of the woman Douglas. When on the top of this I am ableto show that the blood mark on the windowsill was deliberatelyplaced there by Barker， in order to give a false clue to the police，you will admit that the case grows dark against him.
“Now we have to ask ourselves at what hour the murder actuallydid occur. Up to half-past ten the servants were moving aboutthe house； so it was certainly not before that time. At a quarterto eleven they had all gone to their rooms with the exception ofAmes， who was in the pantry. I have been trying some experimentsafter you left us this afternoon， and I find that no noise whichMacDonald can make in the study can penetrate to me in thepantry when the doors are all shut.
“It is otherwise， however， from the housekeeper’s room. It isnot so far down the corridor， and from it I could vaguely hear avoice when it was very loudly raised. The sound from a shotgun isto some extent muffled when the discharge is at very close range，as it undoubtedly was in this instance. It would not be very loud，and yet in the silence of the night it should have easily penetratedto Mrs. Allen’s room. She is， as she has told us， somewhat deaf；but none the less she mentioned in her evidence that she did hearsomething like a door slamming half an hour before the alarm wasgiven. Half an hour before the alarm was given would be a quarterto eleven. I have no doubt that what she heard was the report ofthe gun， and that this was the real instant of the murder.
“If this is so， we have now to determine what Barker and Mrs.
Douglas， presuming that they are not the actual murderers， couldhave been doing from quarter to eleven， when the sound of theshot brought them down， until quarter past eleven， when theyrang the bell and summoned the servants. What were they doing，and why did they not instantly give the alarm？ That is the questionwhich faces us， and when it has been answered we shall surely havegone some way to solve our problem.”
“I am convinced myself，” said I， “that there is an understandingbetween those two people. She must be a heartless creature to sitlaughing at some jest within a few hours of her husband’s murder.”
“Exactly. She does not shine as a wife even in her own accountof what occurred. I am not a whole-souled admirer of womankind，as you are aware， Watson， but my experience of life has taught methat there are few wives， having any regard for their husbands，who would let any man’s spoken word stand between them andthat husband’s dead body. Should I ever marry， Watson， I shouldhope to inspire my wife with some feeling which would prevent herfrom being walked off by a housekeeper when my corpse was lyingwithin a few yards of her. It was badly stage-managed； for even therawest investigators must be struck by the absence of the usualfeminine ululation. If there had been nothing else， this incidentalone would have suggested a prearranged conspiracy to my mind.”
“You think then， definitely， that Barker and Mrs. Douglas areguilty of the murder？”
“There is an appalling directness about your questions， Watson，”
said Holmes， shaking his pipe at me. “They come at me likebullets. If you put it that Mrs. Douglas and Barker know the truthabout the murder， and are conspiring to conceal it， then I cangive you a whole-souled answer. I am sure they do. But your moredeadly proposition is not so clear. Let us for a moment considerthe difficulties which stand in the way.
“We will suppose that this couple are united by the bonds of aguilty love， and that they have determined to get rid of the manwho stands between them. It is a large supposition； for discreetinquiry among servants and others has failed to corroborate it inany way. On the contrary， there is a good deal of evidence that theDouglases were very attached to each other.”
“That， I am sure， cannot be true，” said I， thinking of the beautifulsmiling face in the garden.
“Well at least they gave that impression. However， we willsuppose that they are an extraordinarily astute couple， who deceiveeveryone upon this point， and conspire to murder the husband. Hehappens to be a man over whose head some danger hangs—”
“We have only their word for that.”
Holmes looked thoughtful. “I see， Watson. You are sketchingout a theory by which everything they say from the beginning isfalse. According to your idea， there was never any hidden menace，or secret society， or Valley of Fear， or Boss MacSomebody， oranything else. Well， that is a good sweeping generalization. Let ussee what that brings us to. They invent this theory to account forthe crime. They then play up to the idea by leaving this bicyclein the park as proof of the existence of some outsider. The stainon the windowsill conveys the same idea. So does the card on thebody， which might have been prepared in the house. That all fitsinto your hypothesis， Watson. But now we come on the nasty，angular， uncompromising bits which won’t slip into their places.
Why a cut-off shotgun of all weapons—and an American one atthat？ How could they be so sure that the sound of it would notbring someone on to them？ It’s a mere chance as it is that Mrs.