ipment, he had a long black cigar in his mouth.

"It isn't insensibility to this terrible tragedy," he explained. "My
nerves have been shattered, Mr. Policeman, and I can only repair the
mischief in this way. Be pleased to excuse and feel for me."

The Inspector questioned this witness sharply and closely. He was not
a man to be misled by appearances; but I could see that he was far from
liking, or even trusting, Mr. Deluc. Nothing came of the examination,
except what Mrs. Crosscapel had in substance already mentioned to me.
Mr. Deluc returned to his room.

"How long has he been lodging with you?" the Inspector asked, as soon as
his back was turned.

"Nearly a year," the landlady answered.

"Did he give you a reference?"

"As good a reference as I could wish for." Thereupon, she mentioned the
names of a well-known firm of cigar merchants in the city. The Inspector
noted the information in his pocketbook.

I would rather not relate in detail what happened next: it is too
distressing to be dwelt on. Let me only say that the poor demented woman
was taken away in a cab to the station-house. The Inspector possessed
himself of the knife, and of a book found on the floor, called "The
World of Sleep." The portmanteau containing the luggage was locked--and
then the door of the room was secured, the keys in both cases being left
in my charge. My instructions were to remain in the house, and allow
nobody to leave it, until I heard again shortly from the Inspector.

III.

THE coroner's inquest was adjourned; and the examination before the
magistrate ended in a remand--Mrs. Zebedee being in no condition to
understand the proceedings in either case. The surgeon reported her to
be completely prostrated by a terrible nervous shock. When he was asked
if he considered her to have been a sane woman before the murder took
place, he refused to answer positively at that time.

A week passed. The murdered man was buried; his old father attending the
funeral. I occasionally saw Mrs. Crosscapel, and the two servants,
for the purpose of getting such further information as was thought
desirable. Both the cook and the housemaid had given their month's
notice to quit; declining, in the interest of their characters, to
remain in a house which had been the scene of a murder. Mr. Deluc's
nerves led also to his removal; his rest was now disturbed by frightful
dreams. He paid the necessary forfeit-money, and left without notice.
The first-fl