swer to that, I have a curious thing to show you." And
lifting into view a bundle of goodly size, wrapped in heavy brown paper,
he opened it up and disclosed a gentleman's coat. Spreading this out
between them lining side out, and pointing out two marks an inch or so
apart showing the remains of stitches for which there seemed to have been
no practical use, he took from his own vest-pocket what looked like a bit
of narrow black tape. This he laid down on the upturned lining in the
space bounded by the two lines of marks I have mentioned, and drawing the
Chief's attention to it, observed in quiet explanation:

"The one fits the other--stitch for stitch. Look closely at them both, I
beg, and tell me if in your judgment it is not evident that this strap or
loop, or whatever we may call it, has been cut away from this coat to
which it had been previously sewed--and by no woman either."

Anyone could see that this had been so. There could be but one reply:

"This coat I bought from an old man to whom it had been given by Mr.
Roberts' housekeeper on their arrival at his new home on Long Island. The
strip was picked up at the museum in the room where Mrs. Taylor spent an
hour or so immediately upon leaving the scene of crime. With her at the
time was the young lady who had kindly offered to look after her and two
or three men directly associated with the museum, of whom Mr. Roberts was
one. These and these only. Now, this strap or let us say loop, since we
are beginning to see for what purpose it was used, was not on the floor
previous to the entrance of these few persons into this room--or, indeed,
for some little time afterward. Otherwise this young lady, who was the
one to open my eyes to this clue, surely would have seen it in the
half-hour she stood at Mrs. Taylor's side with no one to talk to and
quite free to look about her. But it _was_ there after that lady had
revived from her fainting-fit--dropped, as you see--cut from its owner's
coat and dropped! Chief, let me ask why this should have been done in a
time of such suspense if it had had nothing to do with the crime then
occupying everybody's attention--a good coat too, almost new, as you will
observe?"

The Chief, possibly with a shade less of irony in his manner, answered
this direct question with one equally direct:

"And what connection have you succeeded in establishing between this
abominable crime and the coat with or without a loop worn by the museum's
le