I decided that Mr. Ellicott had been struck with
something else beside the oaken staff which, covered with blood, was
found near his chair. In fact, I found in the wound certain foreign
substances which could not have formed part of an oaken staff.
"That was a clue, but I told it only to my father and Mr. Sawyer. It
led us to look for something else. I must confess that a week passed
without our discovering anything to bolster up my opinion. Finally,
it occurred to me that perhaps the foreign substances I had found in
the wound might have been on that part of the cane that comes in
contact with the ground. But we will drop that for the present.
"Back of the mill is a piece of sunken ground. During the night,
after Mr. Ellicott was murdered, there was a heavy fall of rain, and
this piece of sunken ground was covered with water to the depth of
several inches, in some places, at least six. I do not mean that the
rainfall was so great, but the water ran down from higher elevations
until it made, what appeared to be, quite an extensive pond.
"Mr. Sawyer and I made several circuits of this temporary pond; why,
I could not exactly tell you. A detective, I have been told, can
seldom tell why he examines certain objects so closely, but something
seemed to draw me towards that improvised lake.
"While looking at the water, I saw something which projected several
inches above its surface, and I had a curiosity to know what it was.
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