A contest ensued, which ended in Scatcherd keeping his word--at any rate, as regarded the worst offender.

How the fatal blow on the temple was struck was never exactly determined: one medical man said it might have been done in a fight with a heavy-headed stick; another thought that a stone had been used; a third suggested a stone-mason's hammer.

It seemed, however, to be proved subsequently that no hammer was taken out, and Scatcherd himself persisted in declaring that he had taken in his hand no weapon but the stick.

Scatcherd, however, was drunk; and even though he intended to tell the truth, may have been mistaken.

There were, however, the facts that Thorne was dead; that Scatcherd had sworn to kill him about an hour previously; and that he had without delay accomplished his threat.