第59章 "Spontaneous Combustion"(7)

As he added the serum from the inoculated rabbit, a cloudy milky ring formed almost immediately in the hitherto colourless, very dilute blood-solution.

"That," concluded Craig, triumphantly holding the tube aloft, "that conclusively proves that the little round spot on the hardwood floor was not paint, was not anything in this wide world but blood."No one in the room said a word, but I knew there must have been someone there who thought volumes in the few minutes that elapsed.

"Having found one blood-spot, I began to look about for more, but was able to find only two or three traces where spots seemed to have been.The fact is that the blood spots had been apparently carefully wiped up.That is an easy matter.Hot water and salt, or hot water alone, or even cold water, will make quite short work of fresh blood-spots--at least to all outward appearances.

But nothing but a most thorough cleaning can conceal them from the Uhlenhuth test, even when they are apparently wiped out.It is a case of Lady Macbeth over again, crying in the face of modern science, ' Out, out, damned spot.'

"I was able with sufficient definiteness to trace roughly a course of blood-spots from the fireplace to a point near the door of the living-room.But beyond the door, in the hall, nothing.""Still," interrupted Harrington, "to get back to the facts in the case.They are perfectly in accord either with my theory of the cigar or the Record's of spontaneous combustion.How do you account for the facts?""I suppose you refer to the charred bead, the burned neck, the upper chest cavity, while the arms and legs were untouched?""Yes, and then the body was found in the midst of combustible furniture that was not touched.It seems to me that even the spontaneous-combustion theory has considerable support in spite of this very interesting circumstantial evidence about blood-spots.Next to my own theory, the combustion theory seems most in harmony with the facts.""If you will go over in your mind all the points proved to have been discovered--not the added points in the Record story--Ithink you will agree with me that mine is a more logical interpretation than spontaneous combustion," reasoned Craig.

"Hear me out and you will see that the facts are more in harmony with my less fanciful explanation.No, someone struck Lewis Langley down either in passion or in cold blood, and then, seeing what he had done, made a desperate effort to destroy the evidence of violence.Consider my next discovery."Kennedy placed the five glasses which I had carefully sealed and labelled on the table before us.

"The next step," he said, "was to find out whether any articles of clothing in the house showed marks that might be suspected of being blood-spots.And here I must beg the pardon of all in the room for intruding in their private wardrobes.But in this crisis it was absolutely necessary, and under such circumstances I never let ceremony stand before justice.

"In these five glasses on the table I have the washings of spots from the clothing worn by Tom, Mr.James Langley, Junior, Harrington Brown, and Doctor Putnam.I am not going to tell you which is which--indeed I merely have them marked, and I do not know them myself.But Mr.Jameson has the marks with the names opposite on a piece of paper in his pocket.I am simply going to proceed with the tests to see if any of the stains on the coats were of blood."Just then Doctor Putnam interposed."One question, Professor Kennedy.It is a comparatively easy thing to recognise a blood-stain, but it is difficult, usually impossible, to tell whether the blood is that of a man or of an animal.I recall that we were all in our hunting-jackets that day, had been all day.