st have been carefully collected upon some object, this
handkerchief, for instance, and subsequently thrown away, leaving the
minute particles that you see still clinging to its surface?"

"Yes," I replied, dazed. "But who?"

"That, Mr. Morgan, is just what we are trying to find out. It hardly
seems likely that Mr. Ashton would have gone to all this trouble,
although it is possible, since he had reason, after his quarrel with
Major Temple, to fear an attempt to gain possession of the jewel. If he
did, how does it happen that he used Miss Temple's handkerchief for the
purpose? He may of course have found it upon the floor and so utilized
it, but it seems unlikely."

"What, then, seems more likely?" I asked, hotly. "Would the murderer
have gone to all that trouble to get the stone, and then have left it
behind?"

"Possibly, Mr. Morgan, to have been recovered at leisure--as you,
indeed, happened to recover it. Such a jewel would not be a good thing
to have in one's possession, immediately after the murder."

"But the operation of hiding the stone in the soap would have taken
fifteen or twenty minutes at least," I objected, "and we burst in the
door within less than ten minutes from the time Mr. Ashton's cry was
heard."

"The alarm was given by you, Mr. Morgan. You alone heard Mr. Ashton's
cry. Whether you heard it at six o'clock, or five, or four, rests upon
your word alone. We do not accuse you, remember, we are trying to arrive
at the truth. We do not imply that you hid the jewel any more than we
imply that Miss Temple did so herself, and left her handkerchief behind
as a mute witness of the fact. We do know that somebody did so, and the
facts we have just stated, coupled with Miss Temple's refusal to explain
her early expedition from the house that morning, all point to something
we do not yet understand. With Miss Temple and yourself working
together, much seems explainable that before seemed dark and
mysterious. Even the closing of the window from within the green room
may be explained, upon this hypothesis, for you had ample time to close
it while Major Temple was examining Mr. Ashton's belongings in his
frenzied search for the lost emerald. We are convinced of one thing:
that the Chinaman did not commit the murder, for, had he done so, he
would have taken the stone along with him, since that was the sole
purpose he had in view."

"I do not agree with you there," I said. "Mr. Ashton may have hidden the
jewel