iss Fulton is quieter now," he announced.

"Doctor," requested Greenleaf, "look at this body, will you? What caused
death?"

Braley, a thin, quick-moving little man of thirty-five, bent over the
dead woman, lifted one of her eyelids, and examined her throat as far as
was possible without moving the head.

"She was choked to death," he gave his opinion. "Although the eyes are
closed, you see the effect they produce of almost starting from their
sockets. And the tongue protrudes. Besides, there are the marks on her
throat. You can see them there on the left side."

"How long has she been dead?"

"I can't say definitely. I should guess about eight or ten hours anyway."

That staggered Greenleaf, the idea of this woman dead here in the front
room of a bungalow on Manniston Road for eight or ten hours--and nobody
knew anything about it! His agitation grew. He felt the need of doing
something, starting something.

"How about Miss Fulton?" he asked. "Can I get a statement from her?"

"Not just yet. Give her a little more time to get herself together.
Besides, she told me something about the--er--affair. Most remarkable
statement--most remarkable."

"What was it?"

"She says," related Braley, "that she only discovered the dead body of
her sister a few minutes before she was heard crying for help. Her
sister, Mrs. Withers, went to a dance, one of the regular Monday night
dances at the inn--Maplewood Inn. She went with Mr. Campbell, Douglas
Campbell, the real estate man here. You know him. They left the house at
nine o'clock last night. That was the last time Miss Fulton saw Mrs.
Withers alive.

"In the meantime, Miss Fulton herself, who is under my orders to stay in
bed all the time, was up and dressed so that she might spend the evening
with a friend of hers from Washington. His name is Henry Morley. He left
this house a little after eleven o'clock, and he left Furmville on the
midnight train for Washington.

"Miss Fulton, thoroughly tired out, went to bed and was asleep by
half-past eleven. As she has something which she uses when she wants a
good sleep, she took some of it last night and did not wake up until
after ten this morning. She didn't even hear her sister come in last
night.

"When she awoke this morning, she called her sister. Amazed by receiving
no answer, she got up to investigate. Mrs. Withers' bed had not been
occupied. She then came in here and found the body."

"You mean to say," put in Brist