Caderousse’s Flight
Once the noises cease, the narrator hears footsteps pacing the room above, then Caderousse descends, lights a candle, and is pale with a bloodstained shirt. He hurries upstairs again, then returns with the small shagreen diamond case, confirms it contains the diamond, tucks it into his red handkerchief tied around his head, grabs the banknotes and gold from the cupboard, ties up a small bundle of linen, and flees into the night.
The Bloody Discovery
Realizing a violent crime has occurred, the narrator reproaches himself for not intervening, and forces his way through the poorly fastened boards separating his hidden spot from the main house. He grabs a lit candle and hurries toward the staircase, where he encounters the first of the night’s gruesome scenes.
Finding La Carconte
La Carconte’s body lies across the midway staircase, killed by a pistol shot that lacerated her throat, leaving two gaping wounds from which blood pours freely; she is already dead.
The Murdered Jeweller
The narrator ascends to the jeweller’s sleeping chamber, which is in wild disarray from a struggle, with overturned furniture and sheets dragged across the floor. The jeweller lies on the floor leaning against the wall, with a pool of blood pouring from three large wounds in his breast, and a fourth gash with a table knife plunged up to its handle. The narrator finds a second, unused pistol nearby (likely rendered inoperable by damp powder), and approaches the jeweller, who is still barely alive. The jeweller opens his eyes, looks at the narrator anxiously, tries to speak, then dies.
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