ing the outward and
obvious one," was my inward conclusion, as I followed them into the
presence of the gentlemen awaiting them.

* * * * *

Dr. Zabriskie's appearance was a shock to those who knew him; so was his
manner, which was calm, straightforward, and quietly determined.

"I shot Mr. Hasbrouck," was his steady affirmation, given without any
show of frenzy or desperation. "If you ask me why I did it, I cannot
answer; if you ask me how, I am ready to state all that I know
concerning the matter."

"But, Dr. Zabriskie," interposed his friend, "the why is the most
important thing for us to consider just now. If you really desire to
convince us that you committed the dreadful crime of killing a totally
inoffensive man, you should give us some reason for an act so opposed to
all your instincts and general conduct."

But the Doctor continued unmoved:

"I had no reason for murdering Mr. Hasbrouck. A hundred questions can
elicit no other reply; you had better keep to the how."

A deep-drawn breath from the wife answered the looks of the three
gentlemen to whom this suggestion was offered. "You see," that breath
seemed to protest, "that he is not in his right mind."

I began to waver in my own opinion, and yet the intuition which has
served me in cases as seemingly impenetrable as this, bade me beware of
following the general judgment.

"Ask him to inform you how he got into the house," I whispered to
Inspector D----, who sat nearest me.

Immediately the Inspector put the question I had suggested:

"By what means did you enter Mr. Hasbrouck's house at so late an hour as
this murder occurred?"

The blind doctor's head fell forward on his breast, and he hesitated for
the first and only time.

"You will not believe me," said he; "but the door was ajar when I came
to it. Such things make crime easy; it is the only excuse I have to
offer for this dreadful deed."

The front door of a respectable citizen's house ajar at half-past eleven
at night. It was a statement that fixed in all minds the conviction of
the speaker's irresponsibility. Mrs. Zabriskie's brow cleared, and her
beauty became for a moment dazzling as she held out her hands in
irrepressible relief towards those who were interrogating her husband. I
alone kept my impassibility. A possible explanation of this crime had
flashed like lightning across my mind; an explanation from which I
inwardly recoiled, even while I was f