Venetian casket," he said. "I waited for you
to volunteer an explanation of your presence there, but you never made
any."

"I went down to get our marriage certificate." Margaret forgot the
presence of others and spoke only to him, the love-light in her
eyes pleading against the censure she dreaded, as she made her brief
confession. "Mr. Clymer sent me a note, inclosing a canceled check,
stating the bank officials had decided my signature was a forgery. The
check was drawn to Barbara, and on examining it I noticed the peculiar
formation of the letter 'B'; it is characteristic of your handwriting
and Helen's." She paused, and added:

"I was at a loss what to think. I knew you and Helen wrote alike;
Helen's extraordinary behavior to me led me to believe that perhaps she
had been short of funds, and forged my name to a check in desperation.
Then I remembered seeing you, Charles, open the box containing my
aconitine pills, the box's disappearance, and Jimmie's death from that
poison"--she raised her hands in an expressive gesture. "Although my
reason told me that you might be guilty, my loyalty and love refuted the
accusation."

"Margaret!" McIntyre's voice shook with emotion; then controlling
himself he turned to Sylvester. "I presume this check was some more of
your deviltry?"

Helen answered for the clerk. Removing a soiled paper from her bag she
laid it on Kent's desk. "This note was handed to me by Grimes," she
explained. "It reads: 'Helen, please cash this check and give money to
Mrs. Brewster's dressmaker. Father.' I followed the instructions."

"And gave the money to my sister," Sylvester chuckled at their surprise.
"My sister was taught in a French convent, and she is an excellent
seamstress, when she isn't drunk, as Mrs. McIntyre knows."

"See here, Sylvester," Clymer broke his long silence. "You were in the
police court on a charge of assault and battery brought by your wife
on Tuesday morning, and you were in the prisoner's cage at the moment
Turnbull died. How then was it possible for you to be at the McIntyre's
at midnight on Monday?"

"I was out on bail and appeared in the courtroom just in time for my
trial," Sylvester explained. "I did not have to sit in the cage, but
recognizing Turnbull I went there to be with him."

Kent placed the forged check bearing Margaret Brewster's signature on
the desk. "I take it this check is your work, Sylvester," he said. "You
reaped the benefit by having the money