d some signs of indecision. "I don't see that it was
remarkable, Mr. Holmes," he answered after a pause. "The candle threw a
very bad light. My first thought was to get a better one. The lamp was
on the table; so I lit it."

"And blew out the candle?"

"Exactly."

Holmes asked no further question, and Barker, with a deliberate look
from one to the other of us, which had, as it seemed to me, something
of defiance in it, turned and left the room.

Inspector MacDonald had sent up a note to the effect that he would wait
upon Mrs. Douglas in her room; but she had replied that she would meet
us in the dining room. She entered now, a tall and beautiful woman of
thirty, reserved and self-possessed to a remarkable degree, very
different from the tragic and distracted figure I had pictured. It is
true that her face was pale and drawn, like that of one who has endured
a great shock; but her manner was composed, and the finely moulded hand
which she rested upon the edge of the table was as steady as my own.
Her sad, appealing eyes travelled from one to the other of us with a
curiously inquisitive expression. That questioning gaze transformed
itself suddenly into abrupt speech.

"Have you found anything out yet?" she asked.

Was it my imagination that there was an undertone of fear rather than
of hope in the question?

"We have taken every possible step, Mrs. Douglas," said the inspector.
"You may rest assured that nothing will be neglected."

"Spare no money," she said in a dead, even tone. "It is my desire that
every possible effort should be made."

"Perhaps you can tell us something which may throw some light upon the
matter."

"I fear not; but all I know is at your service."

"We have heard from Mr. Cecil Barker that you did not actually
see--that you were never in the room where the tragedy occurred?"

"No, he turned me back upon the stairs. He begged me to return to my
room."

"Quite so. You had heard the shot, and you had at once come down."

"I put on my dressing gown and then came down."

"How long was it after hearing the shot that you were stopped on the
stair by Mr. Barker?"

"It may have been a couple of minutes. It is so hard to reckon time at
such a moment. He implored me not to go on. He assured me that I could
do nothing. Then Mrs. Allen, the housekeeper, led me upstairs again. It
was all like some dreadful dream."

"Can you give us any idea how long your husband had been downstairs
before yo