on all fours or creeping. Marked depression of prints suggests indentations made by pressure of knees. Prints well preserved in two places where snow very compressed: features indicate prints made by bare skin.
“5. Paw prints of cat, corresponding in size and shape to paws of dead cat. Found about 30 yards from mortuary in direction of stream in deep snow among bushes; prints disappear near mortuary as if cat climbed up on bush.
“6. Human footprints found on soft bottom of stream (deepest part, near mortuary, about 16 inches), at distances of 139, 133, and 123 feet respectively from mortuary. Prints probably formed by boots but washed out, not very clear, providing insufficient basis for identification; time of formation impossible to determine; according to lab, possibly two to six days ago.
“Observation (a). Wood shavings found in indentations mentioned in item 4 and under window were identical to shavings in coffin.
“Observation (b). Indentations mentioned in item 4 led to place where body was found but not as far as door (distance measured in feet).
“Observation (c). Distance from path where Constable Williams’s footprints were found to bank of stream, measured in straight line at shortest point, was 42 feet; area concerned is covered by dense thicket consisting mainly of hazel bushes. Measuring from behind mortuary, where slope is fairly gradual, to stream bank (which is some 19 inches higher than bottom of stream), vertical differential is about 5 feet. All along bottom of stream and throughout thicket, even at densest point, we found stone fragments, ranging in size from smaller than a potato to larger than a human head; these were apparently left in area at various times by mason who makes grave markers for cemetery.
“Condition of corpse: In addition to what is already noted in detailed report of postmortem examination (attached), N.B. Observation of extremities revealed no signs of rigor mortis although its presence was ascertained by undertaker the day before yesterday. Since reversal could not have been effected normally in such a short time (ordinarily rigor mortis does not set in until 15-16 hours after death), someone must have impeded its development.”
Sheppard looked up at Gregory.
“Do you know anything about rigor mortis, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, of course, sir. I made a special point of checking all this with the experts. Rigor mortis can be interrupted by the application of force, after which it either does not return or returns in a much weaker form.”
Sheppard put the report down.
“Have you arrived at any conclusions?” he asked.
“You mean about how the crime was committed?”
“What else?”
“The perpetrator must have sneaked into the mortuary even before Atkins went on duty,” said Gregory. “He hid there, either in a corner, behind the coffin, or in among the boards and ropes piled along the wall in the back. Around five o’clock he took the body out of the coffin, moved it to the window, and pushed out the windowpane. Williams heard the noise of the breaking glass, came over to take a look, and drew his pistol when he saw the broken glass and the open window. Meanwhile, the perpetrator had started pushing the corpse through the window. To Williams it looked as if the corpse was moving by itself. He panicked and started running. After Williams disappeared, the perpetrator climbed through the window and started dragging the corpse toward the door; apparently he then heard or saw something which frightened him, so he dropped the body and ran.”
“Which way?”
“It was around five-thirty, give or take a few minutes, just a little before daybreak. He followed the footpath to the edge of the thicket, made his way through the thicket without leaving footprints by stepping from stone to stone and along the Heavier branches, then lowered himself into the stream from an overhanging branch and, keeping to the water and stepping on stones wherever possible, headed in the direction of the railroad station.”
“Is that the whole thing?” Sheppard asked.
“No,” said Gregory. “There’s a variant. The perpetrator arrived on the scene by way of the stream at around four or a little after. Watching from the stream he waited until Williams was on the other side of the mortuary, then climbed up the slope through the thicket. Since the storm didn’t stop for another hour and a half, any footprints were soon covered by fresh snow. The perpetrator followed Williams along the footpath at a safe distance, then unhooked the door of the mortuary, went inside, and closed the door again. From then on he proceeded as in the first variant: took the body out of the coffin, pushed out the pane, attracted Williams’s attention, shoved the corpse through the window, and, when Williams ran away, dragged the corpse to the door, refastened the latch, and returned to the stream. But instead of going to the station, he followed the stream to the point where it passes under the expressway. His car was waiting there and he drove away.”
“Did you find anything on the expressway?”
“A few tire tracks, but nothing definite. Don’t forget that everything I’ve told you is still only conjectural — we can’t be sure of anything until we talk to Williams. If he remembers the door being closed, but without the lath in the latch, we’ll accept the second variant.”
“How is Williams doing?”
“Still unconscious. The doctors say his case will be settled in two or three more days, one way or the other.”
“Yes…” said Sheppard. “You’ll have to come up with a better reconstruction, otherwise we have only one alternative: ‘… and for fear of Him the keepers did shake…’ “
Gregory’s eyes wandered from the Chief Inspector’s face to his hands, which were resting motionlessly on the desk.
“Do you really think so?” he asked slowly.
“Gregory, I really wish you would think of me as your ally rather than your adversary. Try to put yourself in my place for a moment. Is my request really so funny?” Sheppard asked quietly, noticing that the lieutenant had begun to smile.
“No. I just remembered something. I also… anyway, it doesn’t really matter. If I were you, I’d still think the same way I do now. You can’t go through the wall if there’s no door.”
“Good. Let’s go over the first variant. The perpetrator, you said, sneaked into the mortuary sometime before the first constable went on duty at eleven o’clock. Here’s a floor plan of the mortuary. Show me where he could have hidden.”
“Here in the corner behind the big coffin, or in the opposite corner behind the boards.”
“Did you try any of these places yourself?”
“Well, more or less… You can get behind the big coffin, but it wouldn’t be much good as a hiding place if anyone shined a light in from the side. That’s why I say it must have been the boards. None of the guards made a systematic search of the mortuary; at best they only looked in through the door.”
“Good. Now, the corpse was stiff, so to get it through the window the perpetrator had to change its position, right?”
“Yes. And in the dark too. Then he had to break the window and drop the body out.”
“How did he manage to get the corpse’s footprint into the snow next to the wall?”
“I don’t think that would have been too hard for him.”
“You’re wrong, Gregory, it would have been extremely difficult. He had to do it without attracting Williams’s attention, but Williams had already been drawn to the scene by the sound of the breaking glass. From the perpetrator’s point of view, this must have been a damned critical moment. We can be certain that Williams wouldn’t have run away if he’d seen the perpetrator. Someone moving a corpse around wouldn’t have frightened him — after all, he knew very well that he’d been assigned to the mortuary to watch out for just that kind of thing. Maybe he would have used his pistol, maybe he would have tried to apprehend him without weapons, but he certainly wouldn’t have just run away. Do you see what I mean?”
Gregory was looking the Chief Inspector straight in the eye. Finally, with a brief gesture, he nodded his assent.
Sheppard continued.
“Now, if the corpse had fallen into the snow and the perpetrator was nowhere near the body — let’s say he
