by strange coincidence a thunderstorm had been brewing when mahon doing his grisly work at the bungalow was dealing with the most grisly job of allthe head the woman s head he had severed it from the trunk built a huge fire in the sitting room placed her head upon it theni owe a debt here to edgar wallace who edited the transcript of the mahon trialthen the storm broke with a violent flash of lightning and an appalling crash of thunder as the head of emily kaye lay upon the coals the dead eyes opened and mahon fled out to the deserted shore when he nerved himself to return the fire had done its work 