id the Doctor, sharply, "so long as
you can prove nothing."

"Well, then, since you do not care," said the detective, nettled, "let
me tell you that I believe you deliberately planned to kill your last
wife. What is more, I do not doubt that a jury would adopt my views."

"In that you are utterly mistaken. Were I considering myself alone, I
would permit you to accuse me, feeling perfectly confident that I
would be in no danger."

"You are a bold man!"

"Not at all! Where there is no danger, there can be no special
bravery. Why, my dear Mr. Barnes, you have no case at all against me.
In your own mind you think that there is ample proof, but much of what
you know could not be offered to a jury. You are aware of the fact
that the diphtheria bacillus was known to me prior to my first wife's
death, and so you trace a connection between the two cases. But my
lawyer would merely show that the discovery was made ten years after
Mabel died, and any further allusion to my first trial would be ruled
out. I know enough about law, to know that previous crimes, or
accusations of crime, cannot be cited unless they form a part of a
system, and as your idea of induced diphtheria could not be
substantiated, all of that part of your evidence would be irrelevant."

"That would be a question for the presiding judge to decide."

"If he decide other than as I have stated, we would get a new trial on
appeal. The law is specific, and the point is covered by endless
precedents. Now then, obliged to confine yourself to positive evidence
in the present case, what could you do? You think you could show a
motive, but a motive may exist and not be followed by a crime, and
your motive is weak besides. Next, you declare that I had the
knowledge and the opportunity. I might have both, and still refrain
from a murder. But you say that the tube containing the bacillus was
missing from my laboratory on that very night, and that my son, Leon,
saw me take it. I think that you have formed a rash conclusion on this
point, because I doubt that Leon has told you any such thing. However,
granting that it is true, and even that the boy would so testify, I am
sure that he would admit under cross-examination that it is a common
habit for me to take such tubes to my room to make slides for the
microscope." The detective recalled that Leon had made this same
explanation, and he realized that the Doctor had made a valuable point
in his own defence. Dr. Medjora c