Yet the porter distinctly stated that the deceased, after paying the rent, walked back towards his chambers across the square; the mud of which should, therefore, have been conspicuous on his shoes.
"Thus, in a moment, a wildly speculative hypothesis had assumed a high degree of probability.
"When Mr.Stephen was gone, Jervis and I looked over the chambers thoroughly; and then another curious fact came to light.

On the wall were a number of fine Japanese colour-prints, all of which showed recent damp-spots.

Now, apart from the consideration that Jeffrey, who had been at the trouble and expense of collecting these valuable prints, would hardly have allowed them to rot on his walls, there arose the question: How came they to be damp?
There was a gas stove in the room, and a gas stove has at least the virtue of preserving a dry atmosphere.

It was winter weather, when the stove would naturally be pretty constantly alight.

How came the walls to be so damp?
The answer seemed to be that the stove had not been constantly alight, but had been lighted only occasionally.