But they all seemed to have some bearing on the quest to which Robert Turold had sacrificed the years of his manhood.
He had died as he lived, engrossed in the labour of his life.

A copy of Burke's "Vicissitudes of Families" was lying open on the table, and beside it were two sheets of foolscap, covered with notes in thin irregular handwriting.

The first of these depicted the arms of the Turrald family, as originally selected at the first institution of heraldry, and the quarterings of the heiresses who had married into the family at a later date.
The second sheet was headed "Devonian and Cornwall branch of the Turolds," and contained notes of Robert Turold's ancestral discoveries in that spot.
The notes were not finished, but ended abruptly in the middle of a sentence: "It is necessary to make it clea--" Those were the last words the dead man had written.

He had dropped the pen, which lay beside the paper, without finishing the word "clear." The sight of this unfinished sheet kindled Barrant's imagination, and he stood thoughtful, considering the meaning of it.

Was it the attitude of a man who had committed suicide?
Was it conceivable that Robert Turold would break off in the middle of a sentence, in the middle of a word, and shoot himself?
It seemed a strange thing to do, but Barrant's experience told him that there were no safe deductions where suicides were concerned.