found the man who was murdered. They found him under that elder-tree. My wife just heard of it and told me. I suppose everybody round here will know it soon.”
“Was there a man murdered here?” asked Muller, as if surprised by the news.
“Yes, he was shot last night. Only I don’t understand why I didn’t hear the shot. I couldn’t sleep a wink all night for the pain in my bones.”
“You live near here, then?”
“Yes, I live in No.1. Didn’t you see me coming out?”
“I didn’t notice it. I came across the wet meadows and I stooped to turn up my trousers so that they wouldn’t get dusty—it must have been then you came out.”
“Why, then you must have been right near the place I was talking about. Do you see that elder tree there? It’s the only one in the street, and the girl who brings the milk found the man under it. The police have been here already and have taken him away. They discovered him about six o’clock and now it’s just seven.”
“And you hadn’t any suspicion that this dreadful thing was happening so near you?” asked the detective casually.
“I didn’t know a thing, sir, not a thing. There couldn’t have been a fight or I would have heard it. But I don’t know why I didn’t hear the shot.”
“Why, then you must have been asleep after all, in spite of your pain,” said Muller with a smile, as he walked along beside the man back to the place from which he had just come.
The old man shook his head. “No, I tell you I didn’t close an eye all night. I went to bed at half-past nine and I smoked two pipes before I put out the light, and then I heard every hour strike all night long and it wasn’t until nearly five o’clock, when it was almost dawn, that I dozed off a bit.”
“Then it is astonishing that you didn’t hear anything!”
“Sure it’s astonishing! But it’s still more astonishing that my dog Sultan didn’t hear anything. Sultan is a famous watchdog, I’d have you know. He’ll growl if anybody passes through the street after dark, and I don’t see why
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