"The next step," he said, "was to find out whether any articles
of clothing in the house showed marks that might be suspected of
being blood-spots. And here I must beg the pardon of all in the
room for intruding in their private wardrobes. But in this crisis
it was absolutely necessary, and under such circumstances I never
let ceremony stand before justice.
"In these five glasses on the table I have the washings of spots
from the clothing worn by Tom, Mr. James Langley, Junior,
Harrington Brown, and Doctor Putnam. I am not going to tell you
which is which--indeed I merely have them marked, and I do not
know them myself. But Mr. Jameson has the marks with the names
opposite on a piece of paper in his pocket. I am simply going to
proceed with the tests to see if any of the stains on the coats
were of blood."
Just then Doctor Putnam interposed. "One question, Professor
Kennedy. It is a comparatively easy thing to recognise a
blood-stain, but it is difficult, usually impossible, to tell
whether the blood is that of a man or of an animal. I recall that
we were all in our hunting-jackets that day, had been all day.
Now, in the morning there had been an operation on one of the
horses at the stable, and I assisted the veterinary from town. I
may have got a spot or two of blood on my coat from that
operation.
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