Therefore the presumptive evidence seemed to determine the time of death accurately enough.
But that was only a minor phase of the mystery.

The real problem was the hidden connection between the clock and the murder.

What had brought the clock down, and why had Robert Turold fallen almost on top of it, his outstretched hands resting on the dial?
The complete elucidation of the mystery lay behind the obscurity in which these two points were shrouded.
To find the answer to them was the surest and quickest way of reconciling all the contradictory facts of the case.

But Barrant racked his brains for the reason in vain.
He examined the room.

There was a leather-topped writing-table with drawers, several cabinets filled with manuscripts and papers, some walnut chairs with carved legs, and a tall deep bookcase filled with dreary-looking books.