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+**The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Case of the Golden Bullet**
+The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Joe Muller Detective Story:
+#1 in our series by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner
+
+Being the Account of Some Adventures in the Professional
+Experience of a Member of the Imperial Austrian Police
+
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+The Case of the Golden Bullet
+
+by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner
+
+July, 1999  [Etext #1836]
+
+
+**The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Case of the Golden Bullet**
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+
+INTRODUCTION TO JOE MULLER
+
+Joseph Muller, Secret Service detective of the Imperial Austrian
+police, is one of the great experts in his profession.  In
+personality he differs greatly from other famous detectives.  He
+has neither the impressive authority of Sherlock Holmes, nor the
+keen brilliancy of Monsieur Lecoq.  Muller is a small, slight,
+plain-looking man, of indefinite age, and of much humbleness of
+mien.  A naturally retiring, modest disposition, and two external
+causes are the reasons for Muller's humbleness of manner, which
+is his chief characteristic.  One cause is the fact that in early
+youth a miscarriage of justice gave him several years in prison,
+an experience which cast a stigma on his name and which made it
+impossible for him, for many years after, to obtain honest
+employment.  But the world is richer, and safer, by Muller's
+early misfortune.  For it was this experience which threw him
+back on his own peculiar talents for a livelihood, and drove him
+into the police force.  Had he been able to enter any other
+profession, his genius might have been stunted to a mere pastime,
+instead of being, as now, utilised for the public good.  
+
+Then, the red tape and bureaucratic etiquette which attaches to
+every governmental department, puts the secret service men of the
+Imperial police on a par with the lower ranks of the subordinates.
+Muller's official rank is scarcely much higher than that of a
+policeman, although kings and councillors consult him and the
+Police Department realises to the full what a treasure it has in
+him.  But official red tape, and his early misfortune ... prevent
+the giving of any higher official standing to even such a genius.
+Born and bred to such conditions, Muller understands them, and
+his natural modesty of disposition asks for no outward honours,
+asks for nothing but an income sufficient for his simple needs,
+and for aid and opportunity to occupy himself in the way he most
+enjoys.
+
+Joseph Muller's character is a strange mixture.  The
+kindest-hearted man in the world, he is a human bloodhound when
+once the lure of the trail has caught him.  He scarcely eats or
+sleeps when the chase is on, he does not seem to know human
+weakness nor fatigue, in spite of his frail body.  Once put on
+a case his mind delves and delves until it finds a clue, then
+something awakes within him, a spirit akin to that which holds
+the bloodhound nose to trail, and he will accomplish the apparently
+impossible, he will track down his victim when the entire machinery
+of a great police department seems helpless to discover anything.
+The high chiefs and commissioners grant a condescending permission
+when Muller asks, "May I do this?  ... or may I handle this case
+this way?" both parties knowing all the while that it is a farce,
+and that the department waits helpless until this humble little
+man saves its honour by solving some problem before which its
+intricate machinery has stood dazed and puzzled.
+
+This call of the trail is something that is stronger than anything
+else in Muller's mentality, and now and then it brings him into
+conflict with the department, ... or with his own better nature.
+Sometimes his unerring instinct discovers secrets in high places,
+secrets which the Police Department is bidden to hush up and leave
+untouched.  Muller is then taken off the case, and left idle for
+a while if he persists in his opinion as to the true facts.  And
+at other times, Muller's own warm heart gets him into trouble.  He
+will track down his victim, driven by the power in his soul which
+is stronger than all volition; but when he has this victim in the
+net, he will sometimes discover him to be a much finer, better man
+than the other individual, whose wrong at this particular criminal's
+hand set in motion the machinery of justice.  Several times that
+has happened to Muller, and each time his heart got the better of
+his professional instincts, of his practical common-sense, too,
+perhaps, ... at least as far as his own advancement was concerned,
+and he warned the victim, defeating his own work.  This peculiarity
+of Muller's character caused his undoing at last, his official
+undoing that is, and compelled his retirement from the force.  But
+his advice is often sought unofficially by the Department, and to
+those who know, Muller's hand can be seen in the unravelling of
+many a famous case.
+
+The following stories are but a few of the many interesting cases
+that have come within the experience of this great detective.
+But they give a fair portrayal of Muller's peculiar method of
+working, his looking on himself as merely an humble member of the
+Department, and the comedy of his acting under "official orders"
+when the Department is in reality following out his directions.
+
+
+
+
+THE CASE OF HE GOLDEN BULLET
+
+by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner
+
+
+
+"Please, sir, there is a man outside who asks to see you."
+
+"What does he want?" asked Commissioner Horn, looking up.
+
+"He says he has something to report, sir."
+
+"Send him in, then."
+
+The attendant disappeared, and the commissioner looked up at the
+clock.  It was just striking eleven, but the fellow official who
+was to relieve him at that hour had not yet appeared.  And if this
+should chance to be a new case, he would probably be obliged to
+take it himself.  The commissioner was not in a very good humour
+as he sat back to receive the young man who entered the room in
+the wake of the attendant.  The stranger was a sturdy youth, with
+an unintelligent, good-natured face.  He twisted his soft hat in
+his hands in evident embarrassment, and his eyes wandered helplessly
+about the great bare room.
+
+"Who are you?" demanded the commissioner.
+
+"My name is Dummel, sir, Johann Dummel."
+
+"And your occupation?"
+
+"My occupation?  Oh, yes, I - I am a valet, valet to Professor
+Fellner."
+
+The commissioner sat up and looked interested.  He knew Fellner
+personally and liked him.  "What have you to report to me?" he
+asked eagerly.
+
+"I - I don't know whether I ought to have come here, but at home - "
+
+"Well, is anything the matter?" insisted Horn.
+
+"Why, sir, I don't know; but the Professor - he is so still - he
+doesn't answer."
+
+Horn sprang from his chair.  "Is he ill?" he asked.
+
+"I don't know, sir.  His room is locked - he never locked it before."
+
+"And you are certain he is at home?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  I saw him during the night - and the key is in the lock
+on the inside."
+
+The commissioner had his hat in his hand when the colleague who was
+to relieve him appeared.  "Good and cold out to-day!" was the
+latter's greeting.  Horn answered with an ironical: "Then I suppose
+you'll be glad if I relieve you of this case.  But I assure you I
+wouldn't do it if it wasn't Fellner.  Good-bye.  Oh, and one thing
+more.  Please send a physician at once to Fellner's house, No. 7
+Field Street."
+
+Horn opened the door and passed on into the adjoining room,
+accompanied by Johann.  The commissioner halted a moment as his
+eyes fell upon a little man who sat in the corner reading a
+newspaper.  "Hello, Muller; you there?  Suppose I take you with me?
+You aren't doing anything now, are you?"
+
+"No, sir.
+
+"Well, come with me, then.  If this should turn out to be anything
+serious, we may need you."
+
+The three men entered one of the cabs waiting outside the police
+station.  As they rattled through the streets, Commissioner Horn
+continued his examination of the, valet.  "When did you see your
+master last?"
+
+"About eleven o'clock last evening."
+
+"Did you speak with him then?
+
+"No, I looked through the keyhole."
+
+"Oh, indeed; is that a habit of yours?"
+
+Dummel blushed deeply, but his eyes flashed, and he looked angry.
+
+"No, it is not, sir," he growled.  "I only did it this time because
+I was anxious about the master.  He's been so worked up and nervous
+the last few days.  Last night I went to the theatre, as I always
+do Saturday evenings.  When I returned, about half-past ten it was,
+I knocked at the door of his bedroom.  He didn't answer, and I
+walked away softly, so as not to disturb him in case he'd gone to
+sleep already.  The hall was dark, and as I went through it I saw
+a ray of light coming from the keyhole of the Professor's study.
+That surprised me, because he never worked as late as that before.
+I thought it over a moment, then I crept up and looked through
+the keyhole."
+
+"And what did you see?"
+
+"He sat at his desk, quite quiet.  So I felt easy again, and went
+off to bed."
+
+"Why didn't you go into the room?"
+
+"I didn't dare, sir.  The Professor never wanted to be disturbed
+when he was writing."
+
+"Well, and this morning?"
+
+"I got up at the usual time this morning, set the breakfast table,
+and then knocked at the Professor's bedroom door to waken him.  He
+didn't answer, and I thought he might want to sleep, seeing as it
+was Sunday, and he was up late last night.  So I waited until ten
+o'clock.  Then I knocked again and tried the door, but it was locked.
+That made me uneasy, because he never locked his bedroom door before.
+I banged at the door and called out, but there wasn't a sound.  Then
+I ran to the police station."
+
+Horn was evidently as alarmed as was the young valet.  But Muller's
+cheeks were flushed and a flash of secret joy, of pleasurable
+expectation, brightened his deep-set, grey eyes.  He sat quite
+motionless, but every nerve in his body was alive and tingling.  The
+humble-looking little man had become quite another and a decidedly
+interesting person.  He laid his thin, nervous hand on the carriage
+door.
+
+"We are not there yet," said the commissioner.
+
+"No, but it's the third house from here," replied Muller.
+
+"You know where everybody lives, don't you?" smiled Horn.
+
+"Nearly everybody," answered Muller gently, as the cab stopped
+before an attractive little villa surrounded by its own garden,
+as were most of the houses in this quiet, aristocratic part of
+the town.
+
+The house was two stories high, but the upper windows were closed
+and tightly curtained.  This upper story was the apartment occupied
+by the owner of the house, who was now in Italy with his invalid
+wife.  Otherwise the dainty little villa, built in the fashionable
+Nuremberg style, with heavy wooden doors and lozenged-paned windows,
+had no occupants except Professor Fellner and his servant.  With
+its graceful outlines and well-planned garden, the dwelling had a
+most attractive appearance.  Opposite it was the broad avenue known
+as the Promenade, and beyond this were open fields.  To the right
+and to the left were similar villas in their gardens.
+
+Dummel opened the door and the three men entered the house.  The
+commissioner and the valet went in first, Muller following them more
+slowly.  His sharp eyes glanced quickly over the coloured tiles of
+the flooring, over the white steps and the carpeted hallway beyond.
+Once he bent quickly and picked up something, then he walked on with
+his usual quiet manner, out of which every trace of excitement had
+now vanished.
+
+The dull winter sun seemed only to make the gloom of the dark
+vestibule more visible.  Johann turned up the light, and Horn, who
+had visited the Professor several times and knew the situation of
+the rooms, went at once to the heavy, carved and iron trimmed door
+of the study.  He attempted to open the door, but it resisted all
+pressure.  The heavy key was in the inner side of the big lock with
+its medieval iron ornamentation.  But the key was turned so that
+the lower part of the lock was free, a round opening of unusual size.
+Horn made sure of this by holding a lighted match to the door.
+
+"You are right," he said to the valet, "the door is locked from the
+inside.  We'll have to go through the bedroom.  Johann, bring me a
+chisel or a hatchet.  Muller, you stay here and open the door when
+the doctor comes."
+
+Muller nodded.  Johann disappeared, returning in a few moments with
+a small hatchet, and followed the commissioner through the
+dining-room.  It was an attractive apartment with its high wooden
+paneling and its dainty breakfast table.  But a slight shiver ran
+through the commissioner's frame as he realised that some misfortune,
+some crime even might be waiting for them on the other side of the
+closed door.  The bedroom door also was locked on the inside, and
+after some moments of knocking and calling, Horn set the hatchet to
+the framework just as the bell of the house-door pealed out.
+
+With a cracking and tearing of wood the bedroom door fell open, and
+in the same moment Muller and the physician passed through the
+dining-room.  Johann hurried into the bedroom to open the
+window-shutters, and the others gathered in the doorway.  A single
+look showed each of the men that the bed was untouched, and they
+passed on through the room.  The door from the bedroom to the study
+stood open.  In the latter room the shutters were tightly closed,
+and the lamp had long since gone out.  But sufficient light fell
+through the open bedroom door for the men to see the figure of the
+Professor seated at his desk, and when Johann had opened the
+shutters, it was plain to all that the silent figure before them
+was that of a corpse.
+
+"Heart disease, probably," murmured the physician, as he touched
+the icy forehead.  Then he felt the pulse of the stiffened hand
+from which the pen had fallen in the moment of death, raised the
+drooping head and lifted up the half-closed eyelids.  The eyes
+were glazed.
+
+The others looked on in silence.  Horn was very pale, and his
+usually calm face showed great emotion.  Johann seemed quite beside
+himself, the tears rolled down his cheeks unhindered.  Muller stood
+without a sign of life, his sallow face seemed made of bronze; he
+was watching and listening.  He seemed to hear and see what no one
+else could see or hear.  He smiled slightly when the doctor spoke
+of "heart disease," and his eyes fell on the revolver that lay near
+the dead man's hand on the desk.  Then he shook his head, and then
+he started suddenly.  Horn noticed the movement; it was in the moment
+when the physician raised up the sunken figure that had fallen half
+over the desk.
+
+"He was killed by a bullet," said Muller.
+
+"Yes, that was it," replied the doctor.  With the raising of the
+body the dead man's waistcoat fell back into its usual position,
+and they could see a little round hole in his shirt.  The doctor
+opened the shirt bosom and pointed to a little wound in the
+Professor's left breast.  There were scarcely three or four drops
+of blood visible.  The hemorrhage had been internal.
+
+"He must have died at once, without suffering," said the physician.
+
+"He killed himself - he killed himself," murmured Johann, as if
+bewildered.
+
+"It's strange that he should have found time to lay down the
+revolver before he died," remarked Horn.  Johann put out his hand
+and raised the weapon before Horn could prevent him.  "Leave that
+pistol where it was," commanded the commissioner.  "We have to look
+into this matter more closely."
+
+The doctor turned quickly.  "You think it was a murder?" he
+exclaimed.  "The doors were both locked on the inside - where could
+the murderer be?"
+
+"I don't pretend to see him myself yet.  But our rule is to leave
+things as they are discovered, until the official examination.
+Muller, did you shut the outer door?"
+
+"Yes, sir; here is the key."
+
+"Johann, are there any more keys for the outer door?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  One more, that is, for the third was lost some months
+ago.  The Professor's own key ought to be in the drawer of the
+little table beside the bed."
+
+"Will you please look for it, Muller?"
+
+Muller went into the bedroom and soon returned with the key, which
+he handed to the commissioner.  The detective had found something
+else in the little table drawer - a tortoise-shell hairpin, which
+he had carefully hidden in his own pocket before rejoining the
+others.
+
+Horn turned to the servant again.  "How many times have you been
+out of the apartment since last night?"
+
+"Once only, sir, to go to the police station to fetch you."
+
+"And you locked the door behind you?"
+
+"Why, yes, sir.  You saw that I had to turn the key twice to let
+you in."
+
+Horn and Muller both looked the young man over very carefully.  He
+seemed perfectly innocent, and their suspicion that he might have
+turned the key in pretense only, soon vanished.  It would have been
+a foolish suspicion anyway.  If he were in league with the murderer,
+he could have let the latter escape with much more safety during the
+night.  Horn let his eyes wander about the rooms again, and said
+slowly: "Then the murderer is still here - or else - "
+
+"Or else?" asked the doctor.
+
+"Or else we have a strange riddle to solve."
+
+Johann had laid the pistol down again.  Muller stretched forth his
+hand and took it up.  He looked at it a moment, then handed it to
+the commissioner.  "We have to do with a murder here.  There was
+not a shot fired from this revolver, for every chamber is still
+loaded.  And there is no other weapon in sight," said the detective
+quietly.
+
+"Yes, he was murdered.  This revolver is fully loaded.  Let us
+begin the search at once."  Horn was more excited than he cared to
+show.
+
+Johann looked about in alarm, but when he saw the others beginning
+to peer into every corner and every cupboard, he himself joined in
+the man-hunt.  A quarter of an hour later, the four men relinquished
+their fruitless efforts and gathered beside the corpse again.
+
+"Doctor, will you have the kindness to report to the head
+Commissioner of Police, and to order the taking away of the body?
+We will look about for some motive for this murder in the meantime,"
+said Horn, as he held out his hand to the physician.
+
+Muller walked out to the door of the house with the doctor.
+
+"Do you think this valet did it?" asked the physician softly.
+
+"He?  Oh, dear, no," replied the detective scornfully.
+
+"You think he's too stupid?  But this stupidity might be feigned."
+
+"It's real enough, doctor."
+
+"But what do you think about it - you, who have the gift of seeing
+more than other people see, even if it does bring you into disfavour
+with the Powers that Be?"
+
+"Then you don't believe me yet?"
+
+"You mean about the beautiful Mrs. Kniepp?
+
+"And yet I tell you I am right.  It was an intentional suicide."
+
+"Muller, Muller, you must keep better watch over your imagination
+and your tongue! It is a dangerous thing to spread rumours about
+persons high in favor with the Arch-duke.  But you had better tell
+me what you think about this affair," continued the doctor,
+pointing back towards the room they had just left.
+
+"There's a woman in the case."
+
+"Aha! you are romancing again.  Well, they won't be so sensitive
+about this matter, but take care that you don't make a mistake again,
+my dear Muller.  It would be likely to cost you your position, don't
+forget that."
+
+The doctor left the house.  Muller smiled bitterly as he closed the
+door behind him, and murmured to himself: "Indeed, I do not forget
+it, and that is why I shall take this matter into my own hands.  But
+the Kniepp case is not closed yet, by any means."
+
+When he returned to the study he saw Johann sitting quietly in a
+corner, shaking his head, as if trying to understand it all.  Horn
+was bending over a sheet of writing paper which lay before the dead
+man.  Fellner must have been busy at his desk when the bullet
+penetrated his heart.  His hand in dying had let fall the pen,
+which had drawn a long black mark across the bottom of the sheet.
+One page of the paper was covered with a small, delicate handwriting.
+
+Horn called up the detective, and together they read the following words:
+
+"Dear Friend: -
+
+"He challenged me - pistols - it means life or death.  My enemy is
+very bitter.  But I am not ready to die yet.  And as I know that I
+would be the one to fall, I have refused the duel.  That will help
+me little, for his revenge will know how to find me.  I dare not be
+a moment without a weapon now - his threats on my refusal let me
+fear the worst.  I have an uncanny presentiment of evil.  I shall
+leave here to-morrow.  With the excuse of having some pressing
+family affair to attend to, I have secured several days' leave.
+Of course I do not intend to return.  I am hoping that you will
+come here and break up my establishment in my stead.  I will tell
+you everything else when I see you.  I am in a hurry now, for there
+is a good deal of packing to do.  If anything should happen to me,
+you will know who it is who is responsible for my death.  His
+name is - "
+
+Here the letter came to an abrupt close.
+
+Muller and Horn looked at each other in silence, then they turned
+their eyes again toward the dead man.
+
+"He was a coward," said the detective coldly, and turned away.
+Horn repeated mechanically, "A coward!" and his eyes also looked
+down with a changed expression upon the handsome, soft-featured
+face, framed in curly blond hair, that lay so silent against the
+chair-back.  Many women had loved this dead man, and many men had
+been fond of him, for they had believed him capable and manly.
+
+The commissioner and Muller continued their researches in silence
+and with less interest than before.  They found a heap of loose
+ashes in the bedroom stove.  Letters and other trifles had been
+burned there.  Muller raked out the heap very carefully, but the
+writing on the few pieces of paper still left whole was quite
+illegible.  There were several envelopes in the waste-basket, but
+all of them were dated several months back.  There was nothing that
+could give the slightest clue.
+
+The letter written by the murdered man was sufficient proof that
+his death had been an act of vengeance.  But who was it who had
+carried out this secret, terrible deed?  The victim had not been
+allowed the time to write down the name of his murderer.
+
+Horn took the letter into his keeping.  Then he left the room,
+followed by Muller and the valet, to look about the rest of the
+house as far as possible.  This was not very far, for the second
+story was closed off by a tall iron grating.
+
+"Is the house door locked during the daytime?" asked Horn of the
+servant.
+
+"The front door is, but the side door into the garden is usually
+open."
+
+"Has it ever happened that any one got into the house from this
+side door without your knowing it?"
+
+"No, sir.  The garden has a high wall around it.  And there is extra
+protection on the side toward the Promenade."
+
+"But there's a little gate there?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Is that usually closed?"
+
+"We never use the key for that, sir.  It has a trick lock that you
+can't open unless you know how."
+
+"You said you went to the theatre yesterday evening.  Did your
+master give you permission to go?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  It's about a year now that he gave me money for a
+theatre ticket every Saturday evening.  He was very kind."
+
+"Did you come into the house last night by the front door, or
+through the garden?"
+
+"Through the garden, sir.  I walked down the Promenade from the
+theatre."
+
+"And you didn't notice anything - you saw no traces of footsteps?"
+
+"No, sir.  I didn't notice anything unusual.  We shut the side
+door, the garden door, every evening, also.  It was closed
+yesterday and I found the key - we've only got one key to the
+garden door - in the same place where I was told to hide it when
+I went out in the evening."
+
+"What place was that?"
+
+"In one of the pails by the well."
+
+"You say you were told to hide it there?"
+
+"Yes, sir; the Professor told me.  He'd go out in the evening
+sometimes, too, I suppose, and he wanted to be able to come in that
+way if necessary."
+
+"And no one else knew where the key was hidden?"
+
+"No one else, sir.  It's nearly a year now that we've been alone in
+the house.  Who else should know of it?"
+
+"When you looked through the keyhole last night, are you sure that
+the Professor was still alive?"
+
+"Why, yes, sir; of course I couldn't say so surely.  I thought he
+was reading or writing, but oh, dear Lord! there he was this morning,
+nearly twelve hours later, in just the same position."  Johann
+shivered at the thought that he might have seen his master sitting
+at his desk, already a corpse.
+
+"He must have been dead when you came home.  Don't you think the
+sound of that shot would have wakened you?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I think likely, sir," murmured Johann.  "But if the
+murderer could get into the house, how could he get into the
+apartment?"
+
+"There must have been a third key of which you knew nothing,"
+answered Horn, turning to Muller again.  "It's stranger still how
+Fellner could have been shot, for the window-shutters were fastened
+and quite uninjured, and both doors were locked on the inside."
+
+As he said these words, Horn looked sharply at his subordinate; but
+Muller's calm face did not give the slightest clue to his thoughts.
+The experienced police commissioner was pleased and yet slightly
+angered at this behaviour on the part of the detective.  He knew
+that it was quite possible that Muller had already formed a clear
+opinion about the case, and that he was merely keeping it to himself.
+And yet he was glad to see that the little detective had apparently
+learned a lesson from his recent mistake concerning the death of
+Mrs. Kniepp - that he had somewhat lost confidence in his hitherto
+unerring instinct, and did not care to express any opinion until he
+had studied the matter a little closer.  The commissioner was just
+a little bit vain, and just a little bit jealous of this humble
+detective's fame.
+
+Muller shrugged his shoulders at the remark of his superior, and
+the two men stood silent, thinking over the case, as the Chief of
+Police appeared, accompanied by the doctor, a clerk, and two hospital
+attendants.  The chief commissioner received the report of what had
+been discovered, while the corpse was laid on a bier to be taken to
+the hospital.
+
+Muller handed the commissioner his hat and cane and helped him into
+his overcoat.  Horn noticed that the detective himself was making
+no preparations to go out.  "Aren't you coming with us?" he asked,
+astonished.
+
+"I hope the gentlemen will allow me to remain here for a little
+while," answered Muller modestly.
+
+"But you know that we will have to close the apartment officially,"
+said Horn, his voice sharpening in his surprise and displeasure.
+
+"I do not need to be in these rooms any longer."
+
+"Don't let them disturb you, my dear Muller; we will allow your
+keenness all possible leeway here."  The Head of Police spoke with
+calm politeness, but Muller started and shivered.  The emphasis on
+the "here" showed him that even the head of the department had been
+incensed at his suggestion that the beautiful Mrs. Kniepp had died
+of her own free will.  It had been his assertion of this which,
+coming to the ears of the bereaved husband, had enraged and
+embittered him, and had turned the power of his influence with the
+high authorities against the detective.  Muller knew how greatly he
+had fallen from favour in the Police Department, and the words of
+his respected superior showed him that he was still in disgrace.
+
+But the strange, quiet smile was still on his lips as, with his
+usual humble deference, he accompanied the others to the sidewalk.
+Before the commissioners left the house, the Chief commanded Johann
+to answer carefully any questions Muller might put to him.
+
+"He'll find something, you may be sure," said Horn, as they drove
+off in the cab.
+
+"Let him that's his business.  He is officially bound to see more
+than the rest of us," smiled the older official good-naturedly.
+"But in spite of it, he'll never get any further than the vestibule;
+he'll be making bows to us to the end of his days."
+
+"You think so?  I've wondered at the man.  I know his fame in the
+capital, indeed, in police circles all over Austria and Germany.
+It seems hard on him to be transferred to this small town, now that
+he is growing old.  I've wondered why he hasn't done more for
+himself, with his gifts."
+
+"He never will," replied the Chief.  "He may win more fame - he may
+still go on winning triumphs, but he will go on in a circle; he'll
+never forge ahead as his capabilities deserve.  Muller's peculiarity
+is that his genius - for the man has undeniable genius - will always
+make concessions to his heart just at the moment when he is about
+to do something great - and his triumph is lost."
+
+Horn looked up at his superior, whom, in spite of his good nature,
+he knew to be a sharp, keen, capable police official.  "I forgot
+you have known Muller longer than the rest of us," he said.  "What
+was that you said about his heart?"
+
+"I said that it is one of those inconvenient hearts that will always
+make itself noticeable at the wrong time.  Muller's heart has played
+several tricks on the police department, which has, at other times,
+profited so well by his genius.  He is a strange mixture.  While he
+is on the trail of the criminal he is like the bloodhound.  He does
+not seem to know fatigue nor hunger; his whole being is absorbed by
+the excitement of the chase.  He has done many a brilliant service
+to the cause of justice, he has discovered the guilt, or the
+innocence, of many in cases where the official department was as
+blind as Justice is proverbially supposed to be.  Joseph Muller has
+become the idol of all who are engaged in this weary business of
+hunting down wrong and punishing crime.  He is without a peer in his
+profession.  But he has also become the idol of some of the criminals.
+For if he discovers (as sometimes happens) that the criminal is a
+good sort after all, he is just as likely to warn his prey, once he
+has all proofs of the guilt and a conviction is certain.  Possibly
+this is his way of taking the sting from his irresistible impulse to
+ferret out hidden mysteries.  But it is rather inconvenient, and he
+has hurt himself by it - hurt himself badly.  They were tired of his
+peculiarities at the capital, and wanted to make his years an excuse
+to discharge him.  I happened to get wind of it, and it was my
+weakness for him that saved him."
+
+"Yes, you brought him here when they transferred you to this town,
+I remember now."
+
+"I'm afraid it wasn't such a good thing for him, after all.  Nothing
+ever happens here, and a gift like Muller's needs occupation to keep
+it fresh.  I'm afraid his talents will dull and wither here.  The
+man has grown perceptibly older in this inaction.  His mind is like
+a high-bred horse that needs exercise to keep it in good condition."
+
+"He hasn't grown rich at his work, either," said Horn.
+
+"No, there's not much chance for a police detective to get rich.
+I've often wondered why Muller never had the energy to set up in
+business for himself.  He might have won fame and fortune as a
+private detective.  But he's gone on plodding along as a police
+subordinate, and letting the department get all the credit for his
+most brilliant achievements.  It's a sort of incorrigible humbleness
+of nature - and then, you know, he had the misfortune to be unjustly
+sentenced to a term in prison in his early youth."
+
+"No, I did not know that."
+
+"The stigma stuck to his name, and finally drove him to take up
+this work.  I don't think Muller realised, when he began, just
+how greatly he is gifted.  I don't know that he really knows now.
+He seems to do it because he likes it - he's a queer sort of man."
+
+While the commissioners drove through the streets to the police
+station the man of whom they were speaking sat in Johann's little
+room in close consultation with the valet.
+
+"How long is it since the Professor began to give you money to go
+to the theatre on Saturday evenings?"
+
+The first time it happened was on my name day.  "What's the rest
+of your name?  There are so many Johanns on the calendar."
+
+"I am Johann Nepomuk."
+
+Muller took a little calendar from his pocket and turned its pages.
+"It was May sixteenth," volunteered the valet.
+
+"Quite right.  May sixteenth was a Saturday.  And since then you
+have gone to the theatre every Saturday evening?"
+
+"Yes, sir.
+
+"When did the owner of the house go away?"
+
+"Last April.  His wife was ill and he had to take her away.  They
+went to Italy."
+
+"And you two have been alone in the house since April?"
+
+"Yes, sir, we two."
+
+"Was there no janitor?"
+
+"No, sir.  The garden was taken care of by a man who came in for
+the day."
+
+"And you had no dog?  I haven't seen any around the place."
+
+"No, sir; the Professor did not like animals.  But he must have
+been thinking about buying a dog, because I found a new dog-whip
+in his room one day."
+
+"Somebody might have left it there.  One usually buys the dog
+first and then the whip."
+
+"Yes, sir.  But there wasn't anybody here to forget it.  The
+Professor did not receive any visits at that time."
+
+"Why are you so sure of that?"
+
+"Because it was the middle of summer, and everybody was away."
+
+Oh, then, we won't bother about the whip.  Can you tell me of any
+ladies with whom the Professor was acquainted?"
+
+"Ladies?  I don't know of any.  Of course, the Professor was
+invited out a good deal, and most of the other gentlemen from the
+college were married."
+
+"Did he ever receive letters from ladies?" continued Muller.
+
+Johann thought the matter over, then confessed that he knew very
+little about writing and couldn't read handwriting very well anyway.
+But he remembered to have seen a letter now and then, a little
+letter with a fine and delicate handwriting.
+
+"Have you any of these envelopes?" asked Muller.  But Johann told
+him that in spite of his usual carelessness in such matters,
+Professor Fellner never allowed these letters to lie about his room.
+
+Finally the detective came out with the question to which he had
+been leading up.  "Did your master ever receive visits from ladies?
+
+Johann looked extremely stupid at this moment.  His lack of
+intelligence and a certain crude sensitiveness in his nature made
+him take umbrage at what appeared to him a very unnecessary question.
+He answered it with a shake of the head only.  Muller smiled at the
+young man's ill-concealed indignation and paid no attention to it.
+
+"Your master has been here for about a year. Where was he before
+that?"
+
+"In the capital."
+
+"You were in his service then?"
+
+"I have been with him for three years."
+
+"Did he know any ladies in his former home?"
+
+"There was one - I think he was engaged to her."
+
+"Why didn't he marry her?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"What was her name?"
+
+"Marie.  That's all I know about it."
+
+"Was she beautiful?"
+
+"I never saw her.  The only way I knew about her was when the
+Professor's friends spoke of her."
+
+"Did he have many friends?"
+
+"There were ever so many gentlemen whom he called his friends."
+
+"Take me into the garden now."
+
+"Yes, sir."  Muller took his hat and coat and followed the valet
+into the garden.  It was of considerable size, carefully and
+attractively planned, and pleasing even now when the bare twigs
+bent under their load of snow.
+
+"Now think carefully, Johann.  We had a full moon last night.  Don't
+you remember seeing any footsteps in the garden, leading away from
+the house?" asked Muller, as they stood on the snow-covered paths.
+
+Johann thought it over carefully, then said decidedly, "No.  At
+least I don't remember anything of the kind.  There was a strong
+wind yesterday anyway, and the snow drifts easily out here.  No
+tracks could remain clear for long."
+
+The men walked down the straight path which led to the little gate
+in the high wall.  This gate had a secret lock, which, however, was
+neither hard to find nor hard to open.  Muller managed it with ease,
+and looked out through the gate on the street beyond.  The broad
+promenade, deserted now in its winter snowiness, led away in one
+direction to the heart of the city.  In the other it ended in the
+main county high-road.  This was a broad, well-made turnpike, with
+footpath and rows of trees.  A half-hour's walk along it would bring
+one to the little village clustering about the Archduke's favourite
+hunting castle.  There was a little railway station near the castle,
+but it was used only by suburban trains or for the royal private car.
+
+Muller did not intend to burden his brain with unnecessary facts,
+so with his usual thoroughness he left the further investigation of
+what lay beyond the gate, until he had searched the garden thoroughly.
+But even for his sharp eyes there was no trace to be found that
+would tell of the night visit of the murderer.
+
+"In which of the pails did you put the key to the side door?" he
+asked.
+
+"In the first pail on the right hand side.  But be careful, sir;
+there's a nail sticking out of the post there.  The wind tore off
+a piece of wood yesterday."
+
+The warning came too late.  Muller's sleeve tore apart with a sharp
+sound just as Johann spoke, for the detective had already plunged
+his hand into the pail.  The bottom of the bucket was easy to reach,
+as this one hung much lower than the others.  Looking regretfully
+at the rent in his coat, Muller asked for needle and thread that
+he might repair it sufficiently to get home.
+
+"Oh, don't bother about sewing it; I'll lend you one of mine,"
+exclaimed Johann.  "I'll carry this one home for you, for I'm not
+going to stay here alone - I'd be afraid.  I'm going to a friend's
+house.  You can find me there any time you need me.  You'd better
+take the key of the apartment and give it to the police."
+
+The detective had no particular fondness for the task of sewing,
+and he was glad to accept the valet's friendly offering.  He was
+rather astonished at the evident costliness of the garment the
+young man handed him, and when he spoke of it, the valet could
+not say enough in praise of the kindness of his late master.  He
+pulled out several other articles of clothing, which, like the
+overcoat, had been given to him by Fellner.  Then he packed up
+a few necessities and announced himself as ready to start.  He
+insisted on carrying the torn coat, and Muller permitted it after
+some protest.  They carefully closed the apartment and the house,
+and walked toward the centre of the city to the police station,
+where Muller lived.
+
+As they crossed the square, it suddenly occurred to Johann that he
+had no tobacco.  He was a great smoker, and as he had many days of
+enforced idleness ahead of him, he ran into a tobacco shop to
+purchase a sufficiency of this necessity of life.
+
+Muller waited outside, and his attention was attracted by a large
+grey Ulmer hound which was evidently waiting for some one within
+the shop.  The dog came up to him in a most friendly manner, allowed
+him to pat its head, rubbed up against him with every sign of
+pleasure, and would not leave him even when he turned to go after
+Johann came out of the shop.  Still accompanied by the dog, the two
+men walked on quite a distance, when a sharp whistle was heard
+behind them, and the dog became uneasy.  He would not leave them,
+however, until a powerful voice called "Tristan!" several times.
+Muller turned and saw that Tristan's master was a tall, stately man
+wearing a handsome fur overcoat.
+
+It was impossible to recognise his face at this distance, for the
+snowflakes were whirling thickly in the air.  But Muller was not
+particularly anxious to recognise the stranger, as he had his head
+full of more important thoughts.
+
+When Johann had given his new address and remarked that he would
+call for his coat soon, the men parted, and Muller returned to
+the police station.
+
+The next day the principal newspaper of the town printed the
+following notice:
+
+                      THE GOLDEN BULLET
+
+  It is but a few days since we announced to our readers the sad
+  news of the death of a beautiful woman, whose leap from her
+  window, while suffering from the agonies of fever, destroyed
+  the happiness of an unusually harmonious marriage.  And now we
+  are compelled to print the news of another equally sad as well
+  as mysterious occurrence.  This time, Fate has demanded the
+  sacrifice of the life of a capable and promising young man.
+  Professor Paul Fellner, a member of the faculty of our college,
+  was found dead at his desk yesterday morning.  It was thought at
+  first that it was a case of suicide, for doors and windows were
+  carefully closed from within and those who discovered the corpse
+  were obliged to break open one of the doors to get to it.  And
+  a revolver was found lying close at hand, upon the desk.  But
+  this revolver was loaded in every chamber and there was no other
+  weapon to be seen in the room.  There was a bullet wound in the
+  left breast of the corpse, and the bullet had penetrated the
+  heart.  Death must have been instantaneous.
+
+  The most mysterious thing about this strange affair was
+  discovered during the autopsy.  It is incredible, but it is
+  absolutely true, as it is vouched for under oath by the
+  authorities who were present, that the bullet which was found
+  in the heart of the dead man was made of solid gold.  And yet,
+  strange as is this circumstance, it is still more a riddle how
+  the murderer could have escaped from the room where he had shot
+  down his victim, for the keys in both doors were in the locks
+  from the inside.  We have evidently to do here with a criminal
+  of very unusual cleverness and it is therefore not surprising
+  that there has been no clue discovered thus far.  The only
+  thing that is known is that this murder was an act of revenge.
+
+The entire city was in excitement over the mystery, even the police
+station was shaken out of its usual business-like indifference.
+There was no other topic of conversation in any of the rooms but
+the mystery of the golden bullet and the doors closed from the
+inside.  The attendants and the policeman gathered whispering in
+the corners, and strangers who came in on their own business forgot
+it in their excitement over this new and fascinating mystery.
+
+That afternoon Muller passed through Horn's office with a bundle
+of papers, on his way to the inner office occupied by his patron,
+Chief of Police Bauer.  Horn, who had avoided Muller since yesterday
+although he was conscious of a freshened interest in the man, raised
+his head and watched the little detective as he walked across the
+room with his usual quiet tread.  The commissioner saw nothing but
+the usual humble business-like manner to which he was accustomed
+- then suddenly something happened that came to him like a distinct
+shock.  Muller stopped in his walk so suddenly that one foot was
+poised in the air.  His bowed head was thrown back, his face
+flushed to his forehead, and the papers trembled in his hands.  He
+ran the fingers of his unoccupied hand through his hair and murmured
+audibly, "That dog! that dog!"  It was evident that some thought
+had struck him with such insistence as to render him oblivious of
+his surroundings.  Then he finally realised where he was, and walked
+on quickly to Bauer's room, his face still flushed, his hands
+trembling.  When he came out from the office again, he was his usual
+quiet, humble self.
+
+But the commissioner, with his now greater knowledge of the little
+man's gifts and past, could not forget the incident.  During the
+afternoon he found himself repeating mechanically, "That dog - that
+dog."  But the words meant nothing to him, hard as he might try to
+find the connection.
+
+When the commissioner left for his home late that afternoon, Muller
+re-entered the office to lay some papers on the desk.  His duties
+over, he was about to turn out the gas, when his eye fell on the
+blotter on Horn's desk.  He looked at it more closely, then burst
+into a loud laugh.  The same two words were scribbled again and
+again over the white surface, but it was not the name of any fair
+maiden, or even the title of a love poem; it was only the words,
+"That dog - "
+
+Several days had passed since the discovery of the murder.  Fellner
+had been buried and his possessions taken into custody by the
+authorities until his heirs should appear.  The dead man's papers
+and affairs were in excellent condition and the arranging of the
+inheritance had been quickly done.  Until the heirs should take
+possession, the apartment was sealed by the police.  There was
+nothing else to do in the matter, and the commission appointed to
+make researches had discovered nothing of value.  The murderer
+might easily feel that he was absolutely safe by this time.
+
+The day after the publication of the article we have quoted, Muller
+appeared in Bauer's office and asked for a few days' leave.
+
+"In the Fellner case?" asked the Chief with his usual calm, and
+Muller replied in the affirmative.
+
+Two days later he returned, bringing with him nothing but a single
+little notice.
+
+"Marie Dorn, now Mrs. Kniepp," was one line in his notebook, and
+beside it some dates.  The latter showed that Marie Dorn had for
+two years past been the wife of the Archducal Forest-Councillor,
+Leo Kniepp.
+
+And for one year now Professor Paul Fellner had been in the town,
+after having applied for his transference from the university in
+the capital to this place, which was scarce half an hour's walk
+distant from the home of the beautiful young woman who had been
+the love of his youth.
+
+And Fellner had made his home in the quietest quarter of the city,
+in that quarter which was nearest the Archducal hunting castle.  
+He had lived very quietly, had not cultivated the acquaintance of
+the ladies of the town, but was a great walker and bicycle rider;
+and every Saturday evening since he had been alone in the house,
+he had sent his servant to the theatre.  And it was on Saturday
+evenings that Forest-Councillor Kniepp went to his Bowling Club
+at the other end of the city, and did not return until the last
+train at midnight.
+
+And during these evening hours Fellner's apartment was a convenient
+place for pleasant meetings; and nothing prevented the Professor
+from accompanying his beautiful friend home through the quiet
+Promenade, along the turnpike to the hunting castle.  And Johann
+had once found a dog-whip in his master's room-and Councillor Leo
+Kniepp, head of the Forestry Department, was the possessor of a
+beautiful Ulmer hound which took an active interest in people who
+wore clothes belonging to Fellner.
+
+Furthermore, in the little drawer of the bedside table in the
+murdered man's room, there had been found a tortoise-shell hairpin;
+and in the corner of the vestibule of his house, a little
+mother-of-pearl glove button, of the kind much in fashion that
+winter, because of a desire on the part of the ladies of the town
+to help the home industry of the neighbourhood.  Mrs. Marie Kniepp
+was one of the fashionable women of the town, and several days
+before the Professor was murdered, this woman had thrown herself
+from the second-story window of her home, and her husband, whose
+passionate eccentric nature was well known, had been a changed
+man from that hour.
+
+It was his deep grief at the loss of his beloved wife that had
+turned his hair grey and had drawn lines of terrible sorrow in his
+face - said gossip.  But Muller, who did not know Kniepp personally
+although he had been taking a great interest in his affairs for the
+last few days, had his own ideas on the subject, and he decided to
+make the acquaintance of the Forest Councillor as soon as possible
+- that is, after he had found out all there was to be found out
+about his affairs and his habits.
+
+Just a week after the murder, on Saturday evening therefore, the
+snow was whirling merrily about the gables and cupolas of the
+Archducal hunting castle.  The weather-vanes groaned and the old
+trees in the park bent their tall tops under the mad wind which
+swept across the earth and tore the protecting snow covering from
+their branches.  It was a stormy evening, not one to be out in if
+a man had a warm corner in which to hide.
+
+An old peddler was trying to find shelter from the rapidly
+increasing storm under the lea of the castle wall.  He crouched so
+close to the stones that he could scarcely be seen at all, in
+spite of the light from the snow.  Finally he disappeared altogether
+behind one of the heavy columns which sprang out at intervals from
+the magnificent wall.  Only his head peeped out occasionally as if
+looking for something.  His dark, thoughtful eyes glanced over the
+little village spread out on one side of the castle, and over the
+railway station, its most imposing building.  Then they would turn
+back again to the entrance gate in the wall near where he stood.
+It was a heavy iron-barred gate, its handsome ornamentation outlined
+in snow, and behind it the body of a large dog could be occasionally
+seen.  This dog was an enormous grey Ulmer hound.
+
+The peddler stood for a long time motionless behind the pillar, then
+he looked at his watch.  "It's nearly time," he murmured, and looked
+over towards the station again, where lights and figures were
+gathering.
+
+At the same time the noise of an opening door was heard, and steps
+creaked over the snow.  A man, evidently a servant, opened the
+little door beside the great gate and held it for another man to
+pass out.  "You'll come back by the night train as usual, sir?"
+he asked respectfully.
+
+"Yes," replied the other, pushing back the dog, which fawned upon
+him.
+
+"Come back here, Tristan," called the servant, pulling the dog in
+by his collar, as lie closed the door and re-entered the house.
+
+The Councillor took the path to the station.  He walked slowly,
+with bowed head and uneven step.  He did not look like a man who
+was in the mood to join a merry crowd, and yet he was evidently
+going to his Club.  "He wants to show himself; he doesn't want to
+let people think that he has anything to be afraid of," murmured
+the peddler, looking after him sharply.  Then his eyes suddenly
+dimmed and a light sigh was heard, with another murmur, "Poor man."
+The Councillor reached the station and disappeared within its door.
+The train arrived and departed a few moments later.  Kniepp must
+have really gone to the city, for although the man behind the
+pillar waited for some little time, the Councillor did not return
+- a contingency that the peddler had not deemed improbable.
+
+About half an hour after the departure of the train the watcher came
+out of his hiding place and walked noisily past the gate.  What he
+expected, happened.  The dog rushed up to the bars, barking loudly,
+but when the peddler had taken a silk muffler from the pack on his
+back and held it out to the animal, the noise ceased and the dog's
+anger turned to friendliness.  Tristan was quite gentle, put his
+huge head up to the bars to let the stranger pat it, and seemed not
+at all alarmed when the latter rang the bell.
+
+The young man who had opened the door for the Councillor came out
+from a wing of the castle.  The peddler looked so frozen and yet so
+venerable that the youth had not the heart to turn him away.
+Possibly he was glad of a little diversion for his own sake.
+
+"Who do you want to see?" he asked.
+
+"I want to speak to the maid, the one who attended your dead
+mistress."
+
+"Oh, then you know -?"
+
+"I know of the misfortune that has happened here."
+
+"And you think that Nanette might have something to sell to you?"
+
+"Yes, that's it; that's why I came.  For I don't suppose there's
+much chance for any business with my cigar holders and other
+trifles here so near the city."
+
+"Cigar holders?  Why, I don't know; perhaps we can make a trade.
+Come in with me.  Why, just see how gentle the dog is with you!"
+
+"Isn't he that way with everybody?  I supposed he was no watchdog."
+
+"Oh, indeed he is.  He usually won't allow anybody to touch him,
+except those whom he knows well.  I'm astonished that he lets you
+come to the house at all."
+
+They had reached the door by this time.  The peddler laid his hand
+on the servant's arm and halted a moment.  "Where was it that she
+threw herself out?"
+
+"From the last window upstairs there."
+
+"And did it kill her at once?"
+
+"Yes.  Anyway she was unconscious when we came down."
+
+"Was the master at home?"
+
+"Why, yes, it happened in the middle of the night."
+
+"She had a fever, didn't she?  Had she been ill long?"
+
+"No.  She was in bed that day, but we thought it was nothing of
+importance."
+
+"These fevers come on quickly sometimes," remarked the old man
+wisely, and added: "This case interests the entire neighbourhood
+and I will show you that I can be grateful for anything you may
+tell me - of course, only what a faithful servant could tell.  It
+will interest my customers very much."
+
+"You know all there is to know," said the valet, evidently
+disappointed that he had nothing to tell which could win the
+peddler's gratitude.  "There are no secrets about it.  Everybody
+knows that they were a very happy couple, and even if there was a
+little talk between them on that day, why it was pure accident and
+had nothing to do with the mistress' excitement."
+
+"Then there was a quarrel between them?"
+
+"Are people talking about it?"
+
+"I've heard some things said.  They even say that this quarrel
+was the reason for - her death."
+
+"It's stupid nonsense!" exclaimed the servant.  The old peddler
+seemed to like the young man's honest indignation.
+
+While they were talking, they had passed through a long corridor
+and the young man laid his hand on one of the doors as the peddler
+asked, "Can I see Miss Nanette alone?"
+
+"Alone?  Oho, she's engaged to me!"
+
+"I know that," said the stranger, who seemed to be initiated into
+all the doings of this household.  "And I am an old man - all I
+meant was that I would rather not have any of the other servants
+about."
+
+"I'll keep the cook out of the way if you want me to."
+
+"That would be a good idea.  It isn't easy to talk, business before
+others," remarked the old man as they entered the room.  It was a
+comfortably furnished and cozily warm apartment.  Only two people
+were there, an old woman and a pretty young girl, who both looked
+up in astonishment as the men came in.
+
+"Who's this you're bringing in, George?" asked Nanette.
+
+"He's a peddler and he's got some trifles here you might like to
+look at."
+
+"Why, yes, you wanted a thimble, didn't you, Lena?" asked Nanette,
+and the cook beckoned to the peddler.  "Let's see what you've got
+there," she said in a friendly tone.  The old man pulled out his
+wares from his pack; thimbles and scissors, coloured ribbons, silks,
+brushes and combs, and many other trifles.  When the women had made
+their several selections they noticed that the old man was shivering
+with the cold, as he leaned against the stove.  Their sympathies
+were aroused in a moment.  "Why don't you sit down?" asked Nanette,
+pushing a chair towards him, and Lena rose to get him something
+warm from the kitchen.
+
+The peddler threw a look at George, who nodded in answer.  "He
+said he'd like to see the things they gave you after Mrs. Kniepp's
+death," the young man remarked
+
+"Do you buy things like that?" Nanette turned to the peddler.
+
+"I'd just like to look at them first, if you'll let me."
+
+"I'd be glad to get rid of them.  But I won't go upstairs, I'm
+afraid there."
+
+"Well, I'll get the things for you if you want me to," offered
+George and turned to leave the room.  The door had scarcely closed
+behind him when a change came over the peddler.  His old head rose
+from its drooping position, his bowed figure started up with
+youthful elasticity.
+
+"Are you really fond of him?" he asked of the astonished Nanette,
+who stepped back a pace, stammering in answer: "Yes.  Why do you
+ask?  and who are you?"
+
+"Never mind that, my dear child, but just answer the questions I
+have to ask, and answer truthfully, or it might occur to me to let
+your George know that he is not the first man you have loved."
+
+"What do you know?" she breathed in alarm.
+
+The peddler laughed.  "Oho, then he's jealous!  All the better for
+me - the Councillor was jealous too, wasn't he?"  Nanette looked at
+him in horror.
+
+"The truth, therefore, you must tell me the truth, and get the
+others away, so I can speak to you alone.  You must do this - or
+else I'll tell George about the handsome carpenter in Church street,
+or about Franz Schmid, or - "
+
+"For God's sake, stop - stop - I'll do anything you say."
+
+The girl sank back on her chair pale and trembling, while the
+peddler resumed his pose of a tired old man leaning against the
+stove.  When George returned with a large basket, Nanette had
+calmed herself sufficiently to go about the unpacking of the
+articles in the hamper.
+
+"George, won't you please keep Lena out in the kitchen.  Ask her
+to make some tea for us," asked Nanette with well feigned assurance.
+George smiled a meaning smile and disappeared.
+
+"I am particularly interested in the dead lady's gloves," said the
+peddler when they were alone again.
+
+Nanette looked at him in surprise but was still too frightened to
+offer any remarks.  She opened several boxes and packages and laid
+a number of pairs of gloves on the table.  The old man looked
+through them, turning them over carefully.  Then he shook his head:
+"There must be some more somewhere," he said.  Nanette was no longer
+astonished at anything he might say or do, so she obediently went
+through the basket again and found a little box in which were
+several pair of grey suede gloves, fastened by bluish mother-of-pearl
+buttons.  One of the pairs had been worn, and a button was missing.
+
+"These are the ones I was looking for," said the peddler, putting
+the gloves in his pocket.  Then he continued: "Your mistress was
+rather fond of taking long walks by herself, wasn't she?"
+
+The girl's pale face flushed hotly and she stammered: "You know
+- about it?"
+
+"You know about it also, I see.  And did you know everything?"
+
+"Yes, everything," murmured Nanette.
+
+"Then it was you and Tristan who accompanied the lady on her walks?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I supposed she must have taken some one into her confidence.  Well,
+and what do you think about the murder?"
+
+"The Professor?" replied Nanette hastily.  "Why, what should I know
+about it?"
+
+"The Councillor was greatly excited and very unhappy when he
+discovered this affair, I suppose?"
+
+"He is still."
+
+"And how did he act after the - let us call it the accident?"
+
+"He was like a crazy man."
+
+"They tell me that he went about his duties just the same - that he
+went away on business."
+
+"It wasn't business this time, at least not professional business.
+But before that he did have to go away frequently for weeks at a
+time."
+
+"And it was then that your mistress was most interested in her
+lonely walks, eh?"
+
+"Yes." Nanette's voice was so low as to be scarcely heard.
+
+"Well, and this time?" continued the peddler.  "Why did he go
+away this time?"
+
+"He went to the capital on private business of his own."
+
+"Are you sure of that?"
+
+"Quite sure.  He went two different times.  I thought it was because
+he couldn't stand it here and wanted to see something different.
+He went to his club this evening, too."
+
+"And when did he go away?"
+
+"The first time was the day after his wife was buried."
+
+"And the second time?"
+
+Two or three days after his return."
+
+"How long did he stay away the first time?"
+
+"Only one day."
+
+"Good!  Pull yourself together now.  I'll send your George in to
+you and tell him you haven't been feeling well.  Don't tell any
+one about our conversation.  Where is the kitchen?"
+
+"The last door to the right down the hall."
+
+The peddler left the room and Nanette sank down dazed and trembling
+on the nearest chair.  George found her still pale, but he seemed
+to think it quite natural that she should have been overcome by the
+recollection of the terrible death of her mistress.  He gave the
+old man a most cordial invitation to return during the next few days.
+The cook brought the peddler a cup of steaming tea, and purchased
+several trifles from him, before he left the house.
+
+When the old man had reached a lonely spot on the road, about half
+way between the hunting castle and the city, he halted, set down
+his pack, divested himself of his beard and his wig and washed the
+wrinkles from his face with a handful of snow from the wayside.  A
+quarter of an hour later, Detective Muller entered the railway
+station of the city, burdened with a large grip.  He took a seat
+in the night express which rolled out from the station a few moments
+later.
+ 
+As he was alone in his compartment, Muller gave way to his
+excitement, sometimes even murmuring half-aloud the thoughts that
+rushed through his brain.  "Yes, I am convinced of it, but can I
+find the proofs?" the words came again and again, and in spite of
+the comfortable warmth in the compartment, in spite of his tired
+and half-frozen condition, he could not sleep.
+
+He reached the capital at midnight and took a room in a small hotel
+in a quiet street.  When he went out next morning, the servants
+looked after him with suspicion, as in their opinion a man who
+spent most of the night pacing up and down his room must surely
+have a guilty conscience.
+
+Muller went to police headquarters and looked through the arrivals
+at the hotels on the 21st of November.  The burial of Mrs. Kniepp
+had taken place on the 20th.  Muller soon found the name he was
+looking for, "Forest Councillor Leo Kniepp," in the list of guests
+at the Hotel Imperial.  The detective went at once to the Hotel
+Imperial, where he was already well known.  It cost him little time
+and trouble to discover what he wished to know, the reason for the
+Councillor's visit to the capital.
+
+Kniepp had asked for the address of a goldsmith, and had been
+directed to one of the shops which had the best reputation in the
+city.  He had been in the capital altogether for about twenty-four
+hours.  He had the manner and appearance of a man suffering under
+some terrible blow.
+
+Muller himself was deep in thought as he entered the train to
+return to his home, after a visit to the goldsmith in question.
+He had a short interview with Chief of Police Bauer, who finally
+gave him the golden bullet and the keys to the apartment of the
+murdered man.  Then the two went out together.
+
+An hour later, the chief of police and Muller stood in the garden
+of the house in which the murder had occurred.  Bauer had entered
+from the Promenade after Muller had shown him how to work the lock
+of the little gate.  Together they went up into the apartment,
+which was icy cold and uncanny in its loneliness.  But the two men
+did not appear to notice this, so greatly were they interested in
+the task that had brought them there.  First of all, they made a
+most minute examination of the two doors which had been locked.  The
+keys were still in both locks on the inside.  They were big heavy
+keys, suitable for the tall massive heavily-paneled and
+iron-ornamented doors.  The entire villa was built in this heavy
+old German style, the favourite fashion of the last few years.
+
+When they had looked the locks over carefully, Muller lit the lamp
+that hung over the desk in the study and closed the window shutters
+tight.  Bauer had smiled at first as he watched his, protege's
+actions, but his smile changed to a look of keen interest as he
+suddenly understood.  Muller took his place in the chair before the
+desk and looked over at the door of the vestibule, which was
+directly opposite him.  "Yes, that's all right," he said with a
+deep breath.
+
+Bauer had sat down on the sofa to watch the proceedings, now he
+sprang up with an exclamation: "Through the keyhole?"
+
+"Through the keyhole," answered Muller.
+
+"It is scarcely possible."
+
+"Shall we try it?"
+
+"Yes, yes, you do it."  Even the usually indifferent old chief of
+police was breathing more hastily now.  Muller took a roll of paper
+and a small pistol out of his pocket.  He unrolled the paper, which
+represented the figure of a French soldier with a marked target on
+the breast.  The detective pinned the paper on the back of the chair
+in which Professor Fellner had been seated when he met his death.
+
+"But the key was in the hole," objected Bauer suddenly.
+
+"Yes, but it was turned so that the lower part of the hole was free.
+Johann saw the light streaming through and could look into the room.
+If the murderer put the barrel of his pistol to this open part of
+the keyhole, the bullet would have to strike exactly where the dead
+man sat.  There would be no need to take any particular aim."
+Muller gazed into space like a seer before whose mental eye a vision
+has arisen, and continued in level tones: "Fellner had refused the
+duel and the murderer was crazed by his desire for revenge.  He came
+here to the house, he must have known just how to enter the place,
+how to reach the rooms, and he must have known also, that the
+Professor, coward as he was - "
+
+"Coward?  Is a man a coward when he refuses to stand up to a maniac?"
+interrupted Bauer.
+
+Muller came back to the present with a start and said calmly,
+"Fellner was a coward."
+
+"Then you know more than you are telling me now?"
+
+Muller nodded.  "Yes, I do," he answered with a smile.  "But I will
+tell you more only when I have all the proofs in my own hand."
+
+"And the criminal will escape us in the meantime."
+
+"He has no idea that he is suspected."
+
+"But - you'll promise to be sensible this time, Muller?"
+
+"Yes.  But you will pardon me my present reticence, even towards
+you?  I - I don't want to be thought a dreamer again."
+
+"As in the Kniepp case?"
+
+"As in the Kniepp case," repeated the little man with a strange
+smile.  "So please allow me to go about it in my own way.  I will
+tell you all you want to know to-morrow."
+
+"To-morrow, then."
+
+"May I now continue to unfold my theories?"  Bauer nodded and
+Muller continued: "The criminal wanted Fellner's blood, no matter
+how."
+
+"Even if it meant murder," said Bauer.
+
+Muller nodded calmly.  "It would have been nobler, perhaps, to
+have warned his victim of his approach, but it might have all come
+to nothing then.  The other could have called for help, could have
+barricaded himself in his room, one crime might have been prevented,
+and another, more shameful one, would have gone unavenged."
+
+"Another crime?  Fellner a criminal?"
+
+"To-morrow you shall know everything, my kind friend.  And now, let
+us make the trial.  Please lock the door behind me as it was locked
+then."
+
+Muller left the room, taking the pistol with him.  Bauer locked the
+door.  "Is this right?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, I can see a wide curve of the room, taking in the entire desk.
+Please stand to one side now."
+
+There was deep silence for a moment, then a slight sound as of metal
+on metal, then a report, and Muller re-entered the study through the
+bedroom.  He found Bauer stooping over the picture of the French
+soldier.  There was a hole in the left breast, where the bullet,
+passing through, had buried itself in the back of the chair.
+
+"Yes, it was all just as you said," began the chief of police,
+holding out his hand to Muller.  "But - why the golden bullet?"
+
+"To-morrow, to-morrow," replied the detective, looking up at his
+superior with a glance of pleading.
+
+They left the house together and in less than an hour's time Muller
+was again in the train rolling towards the capital.
+
+He went to the goldsmith's shop as soon as he arrived.  The
+proprietor received him with eager interest and Muller handed him
+the golden bullet.  "Here is the golden object of which I spoke,"
+said the detective, paying no heed to the other's astonishment. 
+The goldsmith opened a small locked drawer, took a ring from it and
+set about an examination of the two little objects.  When he turned
+to his visitor again, he was evidently satisfied with what he had
+discovered.  "These two objects are made of exactly the same sort
+of gold, of a peculiar old French composition, which can no longer
+be produced in the same richness.  The weight of the gold in the
+bullet is exactly the same as in the ring."
+
+"Would you be willing to take an oath on that if you were called
+in as an expert?"
+
+"I am willing to stand up for my judgment."
+
+"Good.  And now will you read this over please, it contains the
+substance of what you told me yesterday.  Should I have made any
+mistakes, please correct them, for I will ask you to set your
+signature to it."
+
+Muller handed several sheets of close writing to the goldsmith and
+the latter read aloud as follows:  "On the 22nd of November, a
+gentleman came into my shop and handed me a wedding ring with the
+request that I should make another one exactly like it.  He was
+particularly anxious that the work should be done in two days at
+the very latest, and also that the new ring, in form, colour, and
+in the engraving on the inside, should be a perfect counterpart of
+the first.  He explained his order by saying that his wife was ill,
+and that she was grieving over the loss of her wedding ring which
+had somehow disappeared.  The new ring could be found somewhere as
+if by chance and the sick woman's anxiety would be over.  Two days
+later, as arranged, the same gentleman appeared again and I handed
+him the two rings.  
+
+"He left the shop, greatly satisfied with my work and apparently
+much relieved in his mind.  But he left me uneasy in spirit because
+I had deceived him.  It had not been possible for me to reproduce
+exactly the composition of the original ring, and as I believed that
+the work was to be done in order to comfort an invalid, and I was
+getting no profit, but on the contrary a little extra work out of
+it, I made two new rings, lettered them according to the original
+and gave them to my customer.  The original ring I am now, on this
+seventh day of December, giving to Mr. Joseph Mullet, who has shown
+me his legitimation as a member of the Secret Police.  I am willing
+to put myself at the service of the authorities if I am called for."
+
+"You are willing to do this, aren't you?" asked Muller when the
+goldsmith had arrived at the end of the notice.
+
+"Of course."
+
+"Have you anything to add to this?"
+
+"No, it is quite complete.  I will sign it at once."
+
+Several hours later, Muller re-entered the police station in his
+home town and saw the windows of the chief's apartment brilliantly
+lighted.  "What's going on," he asked of Baner's servant who was
+just hurrying up the stairs.
+
+"The mistress' birthday, we've got company."
+
+Muller grumbled something and went on up to his own room.  He knew
+it would not be pleasant for his patron to be disturbed in the midst
+of entertaining his guests, but the matter was important and could
+not wait.
+
+The detective laid off his outer garments, made a few changes in
+his toilet and putting the goldsmith's declaration, with the ring
+and the bullet in his pocketbook, he went down to the first floor
+of the building, in one wing of which was the apartment occupied by
+the Chief.  He sent in his name and was told to wait in the little
+study.  He sat down quietly in a corner of the comfortable little
+room beyond which, in a handsomely furnished smoking room, a number
+of guests sat playing cards.  From the drawing rooms beyond, there
+was the sound of music and many voices.
+
+It was all very attractive and comfortable, and the solitary man
+sat there enjoying once more the pleasant sensation of triumph, of
+joy at the victory that was his alone and that would win him back
+all his old friends and prestige.  He was looking forward in
+agreeable anticipation to the explanations he had to give, when he
+suddenly started and grew pale.  His eyes dimmed a moment, then he
+pulled himself together and murmured: "No, no, not this time.  I
+will not be weak this time."
+
+Just then the Chief entered the room, accompanied by Councillor
+Kniepp.
+
+"Won't you sit down here a little?" asked the friendly host.  "You
+will find it much quieter in this room."  He pulled up a little
+table laden with cigars and wine, close to a comfortable armchair.
+Then, noticing Muller, he continued with a friendly nod: "I'm glad
+they told you to wait in here.  You must be frozen after your long
+ride.  If you will wait just a moment more, I will return at once
+and we can go into my office.  And if you will make yourself
+comfortable here, my dear Kniepp, I will send our friend Horn in
+to talk with you.  He is bright and jovial and will keep you amused."
+
+The chief chattered on, making a strenuous endeavour to appear quite
+harmless.  But Kniepp, more apt than ever just now to notice the
+actions of others, saw plainly that his genial host was concealing
+some excitement.  When the latter had gone out the Councillor looked
+after him, shaking his head.  Then his glance fell by chance on the
+quiet-looking man who had risen at his entrance and had not sat
+down again.
+
+"Please sit down," he said in a friendly tone, but the other did not
+move.  His grey eyes gazed intently at the man whose fate he was to
+change so horribly.
+
+Kniepp grew uneasy under the stare.  "What is there that interests
+you so about me?" he asked in a tone that was an attempt at a joke.
+
+"The ring, the ring on your watch chain," murmured Muller.
+
+"It belonged to my dead wife.  I have worn it since she left me,"
+answered the unhappy man with the same iron calm with which he had,
+all these past days, been emphasizing his love for the woman he
+had lost.  Yet the question touched him unpleasantly and he looked
+more sharply at the strange man over in the corner.  He saw the
+latter's face turn pale and a shiver run through his form.  A
+feeling of sympathy came over Kniepp and he asked warmly: "Won't
+you take a glass of this wine?  If you have been out in the cold
+it will be good for you."  His tone was gentle, almost cordial,
+but the man to whom he offered the refreshment turned from him with
+a gesture that was almost one of terror.
+
+The Councillor rose suddenly from his chair.  "Who are you?  What
+news is it you bring?" he asked with a voice that began to tremble.
+
+Muller raised his head sharply as if his decision had been made,
+and his kind intelligent eyes grew soft as they rested on the pale
+face of the stately man before him.  "I belong to the Secret Police
+and I am compelled to find out the secrets of others - not because
+of my profession - no, because my own nature compels me - I must do
+it.  I have just come from Vienna and I bring the last of the proofs
+necessary to turn you over to the courts.  And yet you are a
+thousand times better than the coward who stole the honour of your
+wife and who hid behind the shelter of the law - and therefore,
+therefore, therefore - "  Muller's voice grew hoarse, then died
+away altogether.
+
+Kniepp listened with pallid cheeks but without a quiver.  Now he
+spoke, completing the other's words: "And therefore you wish to
+save me from the prison or from the gallows?  I thank you.  What
+is your name?"  The unhappy man spoke as calmly as if the matter
+scarcely concerned him at all.
+
+The detective told him his name.
+
+"Muller, Muller," repeated the Councillor, as if he were
+particularly anxious to remember the name.  He held out his hand
+to the detective.  "I thank you, ab, indeed, it thank you," he
+said with the first sign of emotion he had shown, and then added
+low: "Do not fear that you will have trouble on my account.  They
+can find me in my home."  With these words he turned away and sat
+down in his chair again.  When Bauer entered the room a few moments
+later, Kniepp was smoking calmly.
+
+"Now, Muller, I'm ready.  Horn will be in in a moment, friend
+Kniepp; I know you will enjoy his chatter."  The chief led the way
+out of the room through another door.  He could not see the ghastly
+pale face of the guest he left behind him, for it was almost hidden
+in a cloud of thick smoke, but Muller turned back once more at the
+threshold and caught a last grateful glance from eyes shadowed by
+deep sadness, as the Councillor raised his hand in a friendly
+gesture.
+
+"Dear Muller, you take so long to get at the point of the story!
+Don't you see you are torturing me?"  This outburst came from the
+Chief about an hour later.  But the detective would not permit
+himself to be interrupted in spinning out his story in his own
+way, and it was nearly another hour before Bauer knew that the man
+for whose name he had been waiting so long was Leo Kniepp.
+
+The knowledge came as a terrible surprise to him.  He was dazed
+almost.  "And I, - I've got to arrest him in my own house?" he
+exclaimed as if horrified.  And Muller answered calmly: "I doubt
+if you will have the opportunity, sir."
+
+"Muller! Did you, again - "
+
+"Yes, I did! I have again warned an unfortunate.  It's my nature,
+I can't seem to help it.  But you will find the Councillor in his
+house.  He promised me that."
+
+"And you believe it?"
+
+"That man will keep his promise," said Muller quietly.
+
+Councillor Kniepp did keep his promise.  When the police arrived at
+the hunting castle shortly after midnight, they found the terrified
+servants standing by the body of their master.
+
+"Well, Muller, you had better luck than you deserved this time,"
+Bauer said a few days later.  "This last trick has made you quite
+impossible for the service.  But you needn't worry about that,
+because the legacy Kniepp left you will put you out of reach of
+want."
+
+The detective was as much surprised as anybody.  He was as if dazed
+by his unexpected good fortune.  The day before he was a poor man
+bowed under the weight of sordid cares, and now he was the possessor
+of twenty thousand gulden.  And it was not his clever brain but his
+warm heart that had won this fortune for him.  His breast swelled
+with gratitude as he thought of the unhappy man whose life had been
+ruined by the careless cruelty of others and his own passions.
+Again and again he read the letter which had been found on Kniepp's
+desk, addressed to him and which had been handed out to him after
+the inquest.
+
+  My friend:-
+
+  You have saved me from the shame of an open trial.  I thank you
+  for this from the very depth of my heart.  I have left you a
+  part of my own private fortune, that you may be a free man, free
+  as a poor man never can be.  You can accept this present for it
+  comes from the hand of an honest man in spite of all.  Yes, I
+  compelled my wife to go to her death after I had compelled her
+  to confess her shame to me, and I entered her lover's house with
+  the knowledge I had forced from her.  When I looked through the
+  keyhole and saw his false face before me, I murdered him in cold
+  blood.  Then, that the truth might not be suspected, I continued
+  to play the sorrowing husband.  I wore on my watch chain the ring
+  I had had made in imitation of the one my wife had worn.  This
+  original ring of hers, her wedding ring which she had defiled,
+  I sent in the form of a bullet straight to her lover's heart.
+  Yes, I have committed a crime, but I feel that I am less criminal
+  than those two whom I judged and condemned, and whose sentence I
+  carried out as I now shall carry out my own sentence with a hand
+  which will not tremble.  That I can do this myself, I have you to
+  thank for, you who can look into the souls of men and recognise
+  the most hidden motives, you who have not only a wonderful brain
+  but a heart that can feel.  You, I hope, will sometimes think
+  kindly of your grateful
+                                                      LEO KNIEPP.
+
+Muller kept this letter as one of his most sacred treasures.
+
+The "Kniepp Case" was really, as Bauer had predicted, the last in
+Muller's public career.  Even the friendliness of the kind old
+chief could not keep him in his position after this new display
+of the unreliability of his heart.  But his quiet tastes allowed
+him to live in humble comfort from the income of his little fortune.
+
+Every now and then letters or telegrams will come for him and he
+will disappear for several days.  His few friends believe that the
+police authorities, who refused to employ him publicly owing to his
+strange weakness, cannot resist a private appeal to his talent
+whenever a particularly difficult case arises.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Case of the Golden Bullet**
+
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