Rolfe's official alertness of mind in the face of a mysterious crime soon
reasserted itself, however, and he shook off the feeling of sentiment and
proceeded to make a closer examination of the dead body. As he turned
down the sheet to examine the wound which had ended the judge's life, it
slipped from his hand and fell on the floor, revealing that the judge had
been laid on the couch just as he had been killed, fully clothed. He had
been shot through the body near the heart, and a large patch of blood had
welled from the wound and congealed in his shirt. One trouser leg was
ruffled up, and had caught in the top of the boot.
The corpse presented a repellent spectacle, but Rolfe, who had seen
unpleasant sights of various kinds in his career, bent over the body
with keen interest, noting these details, with all his professional
instincts aroused. For though Rolfe had not yet risen very high in the
police force, he had many of the qualities which make the good
detective--observation, sagacity, and some imagination. The
extraordinary crime which he had been called upon to help unravel
presented a baffling mystery which was likely to test the value of these
qualities to the utmost.
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