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being treated to a rapid sketch of those events
which have been 
outlined in the previous chapter. MacDonald made an occasional note, while 
Holmes sat absorbed, with the expression of surprised and reverent admiration 
with which the botanist surveys the rare and precious bloom. 
―Remarkable!‖ he said, when the story was unfolded, ―most remarkable! I can 
hardly recall any case where the features have been more peculiar.‖ 
―I thought you would say so, Mr. Holmes,‖ said White Mason in great 
delight. ―We‘re well up with the times in Sussex. I‘ve told you now how matters 
were, up to the time when I took over from Sergeant Wilson between three and 
four this morning. My word! I made the old mare go! But I need not have been in 
such a hurry, as it turned out; for there was nothing immediate that I could do. 
Sergeant Wilson had all the facts. I checked them and considered them and maybe 
added a few of my own.‖ 
―What were they?‖ asked Holmes eagerly. 
―Well, I first had the hammer examined. There was Dr. Wood there to help 
me. We found no signs of violence upon it. I was hoping that if Mr. Douglas 
defended himself with the hammer, he might have left his mark upon the murderer 
before he dropped it on the mat. But there was no stain.‖ 
―That, of course, proves nothing at all,‖ remarked Inspector MacDonald. 
―There has been many a hammer murder and no trace on the hammer.‖ 
―Quite so. It doesn‘t prove it wasn‘t used. But there might have been stains, 
and that would have helped us. As a matter of fact, there were none. Then I 
examined the gun. They were buckshot cartridges, and, as Sergeant Wilson pointed 

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Tijoriy maqsadlarda foydalanish (sotish, ko‗paytirish, tarqatish) taqiqlanadi.
9 
out, the triggers were wired together so that, if you pulled on the hinder one, both 
barrels were discharged. Whoever fixed that up had made up his mind that he was 
going to take no risk of missing his man. The sawed gun was not more than two 
foot long — one could carry it easily under one‘s coat. There was no complete 
maker‘s name; but the printed letters P-E-N were on the fluting between the 
barrels, and the rest of the name had been cut off by the saw.‖ 
―A big P with a flourish above it, E and N smaller?‖ asked Holmes. 
―Exactly.‖ 
―Pennsylvania Small Arms Company — well-known American firm,‖ said 
Holmes. 
White Mason gazed at my friend as the little village practitioner looks at the 
Harley Street specialist who by a word can solve the difficulties that perplex him. 
―That is very helpful, Mr. Holmes. No doubt you are right. Wonderful! 
Wonderful! Do you carry the names of all the gun makers in the world in your 
memory?‖ 
Holmes dismissed the subject with a wave. 
―No doubt it is an American shotgun,‖ White Mason continued. ―I seem to 
have read that a sawed-off shotgun is a weapon used in some parts of America. 
Apart from the name upon the barrel, the idea had occurred to me. There is some 
evidence then, that this man who entered the house and killed its master was an 
American.‖ 
MacDonald shook his head. ―Man, you are surely travelling overfast,‖ said 
he. ―I have heard no evidence yet that any stranger was ever in the house at all.‖ 
―The open window, the blood on the sill, the queer card, the marks of boots in 
the corner, the gun!‖ 
―Nothing there that could not have been arranged. Mr. Douglas was an 
American, or had lived long in America. So had Mr. Barker. You don‘t need to 
import an American from outside in order to account for American doings.‖ 
―Ames, the butler —‖ 
―What about him? Is he reliable?‖ 
―Ten years with Sir Charles Chandos — as solid
as a rock. He has been with Douglas ever since he took the Manor House five 
years ago. He has never seen a gun of this sort in the house.‖ 
―The gun was made to conceal. That‘s why the barrels were sawed. It would 
fit into any box. How could he swear there was no such gun in the house?‖ 
―Well, anyhow, he had never seen one.‖ 
MacDonald shook his obstinate Scotch head. ―I‘m not convinced yet that 
there was ever anyone in the house,‖ said he. ―I‘m asking you to conseedar‖ (his 
accent became more Aberdonian as he lost himself in his argument) ―I‘m asking 
you to conseedar what it involves if you suppose that this gun was ever brought 
into the house, and that all these strange things were done by a person from 
outside. Oh, man, it‘s just inconceivable! It‘s clean against common sense! I put it 
to you, Mr. Holmes, judging it by what we have heard.‖ 
 

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Tijoriy maqsadlarda foydalanish (sotish, ko‗paytirish, tarqatish) taqiqlanadi.
10