Examination of the crime scene.

     Followed by Dr. Constantine I made my way into the compartment of the victim. I was told that the room was left untouched. The first thing I noticed, was the widely opened window. The cold was coming in from the outside and made the room feel very unpleasant. We all agreed that the opened window was just a blind left by the murderer. No one was able to get out that way, plus, there were no fingerprints on the frame. Even if there were any, it would tell us very little. There'd only be  fingerprints of the valet, or Ratchett himself.

     The victim was lying on his back. It wasn't looking very pretty. There were 12 wounds at total. Few of them were just barely scratches, but at least three were capable of doing deadly damage. The greek doctor stared at the body with a confused look on his face. He examined some wounds closely. It seemed that some of them must have been delivered some time after the death of Mr. Ratchett. Very strange, I thought.

In addition, the doctor discovered, that some of the blows were delivered by right hand, and the others-by the left hand. It leaves us with the hypothesis of two murderers. The first would come inside, stab Ratchett to death and leave, switching the light off. The second murderer would come in the dark and not noticing that his, or her enemy was already dead would stab the man a few more times. It seems nonsense to me, but the doctor agrees with my hypothesis. What other explanation could there be?

     The two blows that penetrated the muscle were most likely delivered by a man. Only a young, fit and strong woman could stab a man that deep. But what about the victim? Did he cry out? Call for help?  Did he try to defend himself? What did he do in all of this? I stuck my hand under his pillow, and as I expected, I found a fully loaded pistol he had shown me the other day. On the table beside the bed were all sorts of objects. There was an empty glass, his false teeth swimming in a glass, a bottle of mineral water, a flask and an ash-tray which contained the butt of a cigar, two burnt matches, and some fragments of charred paper, a letter most likely. The doctor examined the glass, and it turned out he had taken a sleeping draught. But why? He was alert, he kept a pistol under his pillow, was ready for anything, for anyone. Why would he take a sleeping drug then? Something doesn't seem right...

     I moved my eyes onto the two burnt matches. They were both of different shape. One was  flatter than the other. I searched the pockets of Ratchett's clothing and found a box of matches. The rounder one certainly belonged to him, but he did not have the other kind of matches, so it must have been lit by someone else. The murderer.

     I looked around the room. There was a woman's handkerchief lying on the floor. In the corner of it, was an embroidered initial "H". Then there is a woman concerned in all of this, my companion said. I dived onto the floor again, and this time picked up a pipe cleaner. It was another clue, as there were no signs that Ratchett was a pipe-smoker. Oh my, how lucky we were! In the breast pocket of his pyjama was a golden watch. It showed the time 1:15. Could that be the exact time of the crime? It's actually pretty strange that we found so many clues in one place. Too many clues I might say. Could this be just another blind, set up by the murderers? Did they try to frame each other? I do not know that, but I'm pretty sure, that I will soon find out.

I do not understand myself. I understand nothing at all, and, as you perceive, it worries me.