Dr Haledjian was shaving in his hotel room on the second floor when he heard a woman screaming, "Help!" Tossing on his robe, he dashed into the hall. In front of room 213 a woman stood crying and screaming.

Introducing himself, Haledjian looked through the open door and saw a man slumped in an easy chair. A swift examination showed he had just been killed by a bullet through the heart.

"Try to get hold of yourself and tell me what happened," said the sleuth.

"I'm Clara Uffner," sobbed the woman. “A few moments ago I heard a knock on the door. A voice said, 'Telegram'. ”

"I opened the door. A masked man stood there, a gun in his gloved hand. He shot my husband, tossed the gun into the room, and ran."

The automatic pistol on the floor, Haledjian saw, was equipped with a silencer. Returning to the hall, he noted the door at one end marked Exit.

Reentering the room, he stepped on something hard. It turned out to be an empty cartridge shell. Farther to the left was another. Both were of the caliber to match the pistol. Embedded in the wall, about two feet above the seated body, Haledjian discovered a second bullet.

"All right, Mrs. Uffner,” he said sternly. "Now tell me the truth!".

Why did Dr. Haledjian doubt Mrs. Uffner?

Obviously the killer was in the room, and obviously the wife is lying about that. This implicates her in the crime.

The killer was packing a silencer, which suggests a professional, but left the murder weapon behind, whish suggests an amateur. One shot went through the heart, which suggests a professional, but the other missed by 2 feet, which suggests an amateur.

We have no idea why the killer would have worn a mask, which suggests commendable caution, but failed to dispose of Clara, a witness to the crime, which suggests unpardonable recklessness.

If Clara herself had the nous to pack a gun with a silencer, it defies belief that she would not have known about the shells. That suggests a different killer. If the killer was a friend, why not clear up the shells - there was no rush, as the shots were silenced - or at least tell a tidier story? If the killer was not a friend, why make up the mask? and why the two shots?

My best guess is that Clara did it herself and is planning to run insanity as her back-up defence.

 

Posted by broll on 2013-04-02 10:11:11