letter easily distinguishable by the
violet-colored seal on the back, and she filliped with it in a most
aggravating way as she crossed the floor, pretending to lay it down on
Howard's desk as she went by and then taking it up again with an arch
look at Franklin, pretty enough to see but hateful in its effect on him.
As he went back to his own room his face was full of anger, and such was
the effect of this visit on him that he declined to see any one else
that day. She had probably shown such determination to reveal his past
perfidy to her husband, that his fears were fully aroused at last, and
he saw he was not only likely to lose his good name but the esteem with
which he was accustomed to be regarded by this younger and evidently
much-loved brother.

"And now, considering his intense pride, as well as his affection for
Howard, do you not see the motive which this seemingly good man had for
putting his troublesome sister-in-law out of existence? He wanted that
letter back, and to obtain it had to resort to crime. Or such is my
present theory of this murder, Miss Butterworth. Does it correspond with
yours?"

XXXI.

SOME FINE WORK.

"O perfectly!" I assented, with just the shade of irony necessary to rob
the assertion of its mendacity. "But go on, go on. You have not begun to
satisfy me yet. You did not stop with finding a motive for the crime I
am sure."

"Madam, you are a female Shylock; you will have the whole of the bond or
none."

"We are not here to draw comparisons," I retorted. "Keep to the subject,
Mr. Gryce; keep to the subject."

He laughed; laid down the little basket he held, took it up again, and
finally resumed:

"Madam, you are right; we did not stop at finding a motive. Our next
step was to collect evidence directly connecting him with the crime."

"And you succeeded in this?"

My tone was unnecessarily eager, this was all so unaccountable to me;
but he did not appear to notice it.

"We did. Indeed the evidence against him is stronger than that against
his brother. For if we ignore the latter part of Howard's testimony,
which was evidently a tissue of lies, what remains against him? Three
things: his dogged persistency in not recognizing his wife in the
murdered woman; the receiving of the house keys from his brother; and
the fact that he was seen on the stoop of his father's house at an
unusual hour in the morning following this murder. Now what have we
against Franklin? Many