?"

"And yet who is the only one against whom positive testimony of any kind
can be brought."

I could but acknowledge that.

"Mr. Raymond," he remarked very gravely; "the public is becoming
clamorous; something must be done to satisfy it, if only for the moment.
Eleanore has laid herself open to the suspicion of the police, and
must take the consequences of her action. I am sorry; she is a noble
creature; I admire her; but justice is justice, and though I think her
innocent, I shall be forced to put her under arrest unless----"

"But I cannot be reconciled to it. It is doing an irretrievable injury
to one whose only fault is an undue and mistaken devotion to an unworthy
cousin. If Mary is the----."

"Unless something occurs between now and tomorrow morning," Mr. Gryce
went on, as if I had not spoken.

"To-morrow morning?"

"Yes."

I tried to realize it; tried to face the fact that all my efforts had
been for nothing, and failed.

"Will you not grant me one more day?" I asked in my desperation.

"What to do?"

Alas, I did not know. "To confront Mr. Clavering, and force from him the
truth."

"To make a mess of the whole affair!" he growled. "No, sir; the die is
cast. Eleanore Leavenworth knows the one point which fixes this
crime upon her cousin, and she must tell us that point or suffer the
consequences of her refusal."

I made one more effort.

"But why to-morrow? Having exhausted so much time already in our
inquiries, why not take a little more; especially as the trail is
constantly growing warmer? A little more moleing----"

"A little more folderol!" exclaimed Mr. Gryce, losing his temper. "No,
sir; the hour for moleing has passed; something decisive has got to be
done now; though, to be sure, if I could find the one missing link I
want----"

"Missing link? What is that?"

"The immediate motive of the tragedy; a bit of proof that Mr.
Leavenworth threatened his niece with his displeasure, or Mr. Clavering
with his revenge, would place me on the vantage-point at once; no
arresting of Eleanore then! No, my lady! I would walk right into your
own gilded parlors, and when you asked me if I had found the murderer
yet, say 'yes,' and show you a bit of paper which would surprise you!
But missing links are not so easily found. This has been moled for, and
moled for, as you are pleased to call our system of investigation, and
totally without result. Nothing but the confession of some one of these
severa