totally irrelevant episode was so great that I did not
leave the neighbourhood till I had learned something of this remarkable
couple.

The story told me was very simple. Dr. Zabriskie had not been born
blind, but had become so after a grievous illness which had stricken
him down soon after he received his diploma. Instead of succumbing to an
affliction which would have daunted most men, he expressed his intention
of practising his profession, and soon became so successful in it that
he found no difficulty in establishing himself in one of the best paying
quarters of the city. Indeed, his intuition seemed to have developed in
a remarkable degree after the loss of his sight, and he seldom, if ever,
made a mistake in diagnosis. Considering this fact, and the personal
attractions which gave him distinction, it was no wonder that he soon
became a popular physician whose presence was a benefaction and whose
word law.

He had been engaged to be married at the time of his illness, and when
he learned what was likely to be its result, had offered to release the
young lady from all obligation to him. But she would not be released,
and they were married. This had taken place some five years previous
to Mr. Hasbrouck's death, three of which had been spent by them in
Lafayette Place.

So much for the beautiful woman next door.

There being absolutely no clue to the assailant of Mr. Hasbrouck, I
naturally looked forward to the inquest for some evidence upon which to
work. But there seemed to be no underlying facts to this tragedy. The
most careful study into the habits and conduct of the deceased brought
nothing to light save his general beneficence and rectitude, nor was
there in his history or in that of his wife, any secret or hidden
obligation calculated to provoke any such act of revenge as murder. Mrs.
Hasbrouck's surmise that the intruder was simply a burglar, and that she
had rather imagined than heard the words which pointed to the shooting
as a deed of vengeance, soon gained general credence.

But though the police worked long and arduously in this new direction
their efforts were without fruit and the case bids fair to remain an
unsolvable mystery.

That was all. As Violet dropped the last page from her hand, she
recalled a certain phrase in her employer's letter. "If at the end you
come upon a perfectly blank wall--" Well, she had come upon this wall.
Did he expect her to make an opening in it? Or had he already d