not with him when
he returned to the house that evening, or the Doctor would not have been
without his portmanteau till the next day. Something--I have never known
what--caused them to separate, and that is why I have no answer to give
the Doctor when he accuses himself of committing a deed on that night
which is wholly out of keeping with every other act of his life."

"And have you never questioned Harry why they separated and why he
allowed his master to come home alone after the shock he had received at
the station?"

"I did not know there was any reason for doing so till long after he
left us."

"And when did he leave?"

"That I do not remember. A few weeks or possibly a few days after that
dreadful night."

"And where is he now?"

"Ah, that I have not the least means of knowing. But," she suddenly
cried, "what do you want of Harry? If he did not follow Dr. Zabriskie to
his own door, he could tell us nothing that would convince my husband
that he is laboring under an illusion."

"But he might tell us something which would convince us that Dr.
Zabriskie was not himself after the accident, that he----"

"Hush!" came from her lips in imperious tones. "I will not believe that
he shot Mr. Hasbrouck even if you prove him to have been insane at the
time. How could he? My husband is blind. It would take a man of very
keen sight to force himself into a house that was closed for the night,
and kill a man in the dark at one shot."

"Rather," cried a voice from the doorway, "it is only a blind man who
could do this. Those who trust to eyesight must be able to catch some
glimpse of the mark they aim at, and this room, as I have been told, was
without a glimmer of light. But the blind trust to sound, and as Mr.
Hasbrouck spoke----"

"Oh!" burst from the horrified wife, "is there no one to stop him when
he speaks like that?"

II.

When I related to my superiors the details of the foregoing interview,
two of them coincided with the wife in thinking that Dr. Zabriskie was
in an irresponsible condition of mind which made any statement of his
questionable. But the third seemed disposed to argue the matter, and,
casting me an inquiring look, seemed to ask what my opinion was on the
subject. Answering him as if he had spoken, I gave my conclusion as
follows: That whether insane or not, Dr. Zabriskie had fired the shot
which terminated Mr. Hasbrouck's life.

It was the Inspector's own idea, but it was not share