The Lamp That Went Out | Page 6

belonged, a house that must have been built in the time of

Maria Theresa, ... but he was sure of one thing, and that was that he
would soon find out to whom it belonged. At present it was the garden
which interested him, and he was anxious to see where it ended. A few
moments' further inspection showed him what he wanted to know. The
garden extended to the beginning of the park-like grounds which
surrounded the old house with the mansard roof. A tall iron railing
separated the garden from the park, but this railing did not extend down
as far as the quiet lane. Where it ended there was a light, well-built
wooden fence. Along the street side of the fence there was a high thick
hedge. Muller walked along this hedge until he came to a little gate.
Then crossing the street, he saw that the house whose windows
glistened in the sunlight was a house which he knew well from its other
side, its front facade.
Now he went back to the elder tree and then walked slowly away from
this to the spot where he found the broken willow twig. He examined
every foot of the ground, but there was nothing to be seen that was of
any interest to him-not a footprint, or anything to prove that some one
else had passed that way a short time before. And yet it would have
been impossible to pass that way without leaving some trace, for the
ground was cut up in all directions by mole hills.
Next the detective scrutinised as much of the surroundings as would
come into immediate connection with the spot where the corpse had
been found. There was nothing to be seen there either, and Muller was
obliged to acknowledge that he had discovered nothing that would lead
to an understanding of the crime, unless, indeed, the broken willow
twig should prove to be a clue. He sprang back across the ditch, turned
up the edges of his trousers where they had been moistened by the dew
and walked slowly along the dusty street. He was no longer alone in the
lane. An old man, accompanied by a large dog, came out from one of
the new houses and walked towards the detective, he was very
evidently going in the direction of the elder-tree, which had already
been such a centre of interest that morning. When he met Muller, the
old man halted, touched his cap and asked in a confidential tone: "I
suppose you've been to see the place already?"

"Which place?" was Muller's reserved answer.
Why, I mean the place where they found the man who was murdered.
They found him under that elder-tree. My wife just heard of it and told
me. I suppose everybody round here will know it soon."
"Was there a man murdered here?" asked Muller, as if surprised by the
news.
"Yes, he was shot last night. Only I don't understand why I didn't hear
the shot. I couldn't sleep a wink all night for the pain in my bones."
"You live near here, then?"
"Yes, I live in No.1. Didn't you see me coming out?"
"I didn't notice it. I came across the wet meadows and I stooped to turn
up my trousers so that they wouldn't get dusty - it must have been then
you came out."
"Why, then you must have been right near the place I was talking about.
Do you see that elder tree there? It's the only one in the street, and the
girl who brings the milk found the man under it. The police have been
here already and have taken him away. They discovered him about six
o'clock and now it's just seven."
"And you hadn't any suspicion that this dreadful thing was happening
so near you?" asked the detective casually.
"I didn't know a thing, sir, not a thing. There couldn't have been a fight
or I would have heard it. But I don't know why I didn't hear the shot."
"Why, then you must have been asleep after all, in spite of your pain,"
said Muller with a smile, as he walked along beside the man back to the
place from which he had just come.
The old man shook his head. "No, I tell you I didn't close an eye all
night. I went to bed at half-past nine and I smoked two pipes before I
put out the light, and then I heard every hour strike all night long and it

wasn't until nearly five o'clock, when it was almost dawn, that I dozed
off a bit."
"Then it is astonishing that you didn't hear anything!"
"Sure it's astonishing! But it's still more astonishing that my dog Sultan
didn't hear anything. Sultan is a