candidate: Diplomatic correspondent , historian and author C. L. Sulzberger relates the account given to him by a friend of his who had participated in the assassination under Captain Apis : The assassination squad " burst into the little palace , found the King and Queen cowering in a closet ( both in silken nightgowns ) , stabbed them and chucked them out the window onto garden manure heaps , hacking off Alexander 's fingers when he clung desperately to the sill " .