But all such possibilities were conclusively
negatived by the certain fact that no plunder had been attempted,
that plunder could not have been the object of the murderer.
Alarmed before they could carry their object into execution by the
approach of footsteps? Was this a plausible or a possible theory?
No; for the poor Diva had valuable ornaments visible on her person,
an enamelled gold watch at her girdle, a diamond pin or brooch at
the fastening of her dress on her chest, to possess themselves of
which would have needed less time than was required for the
perpetration of the murder. It was wholly impossible to suppose, on
any hypothesis, that the murder could have been committed for the
sake of plunder, and that these ornaments could have been left
untouched.
It had been observed, and was noted--not in the report drawn up by
the officials at the gate, but in the more exact and detailed report
furnished by the police on their taking of the body into their
charge--that the brooch, which has been mentioned, was unfastened,
so as to be left hanging in the dress by its pin. But this
circumstance did not seem to be of much moment, as it might well
have been that Bianca herself had unfastened it before falling
asleep.
No; it was but too clear, as the lawyer said to himself, that murder
and not robbery had been the object of the perpetrator of the crime.
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