ion to Mr.
Orcutt? To a man acquainted with the extraordinary coincidence that
marked the discovery of Mrs. Clemmens' murder, the mystery must be that
Mr. Orcutt has gone unsuspected for so long." And assuming an
argumentative air, he asked:

"Were either of you two gentlemen present at the conversation I have
mentioned as taking place on the court-house steps the morning Mrs.
Clemmens was murdered?"

"I was," said the District Attorney.

"You remember, then, the hunchback who was so free with his views?"

"Most certainly."

"And know, perhaps, who that hunchback was?"

"Yes."

"You will not be surprised, then, if I recall to you the special
incidents of that hour. A group of lawyers, among them Mr. Orcutt, are
amusing themselves with an off-hand chat concerning criminals and the
clumsy way in which, as a rule, they plan and execute their crimes. All
seem to agree that a murder is usually followed by detection, when
suddenly a stranger speaks and tells them that the true way to make a
success of the crime is to choose a thoroughfare for the scene of
tragedy, and employ a weapon that has been picked up on the spot. What
happens? Within five minutes after this piece of gratuitous information,
or as soon as Mr. Orcutt can cross the street, Mrs. Clemmens is found
lying in her blood, struck down by a stick of wood picked up from her
own hearth-stone. Is this chance? If so, 'tis a very curious one."

"I don't deny it," said Doctor Tredwell.

"I believe you never did deny it," quickly retorted the detective. "Am I
not right in saying that it struck you so forcibly at the time as to
lead you into supposing some collusion between the hunchback and the
murderer?"

"It certainly did," admitted the coroner.

"Very well," proceeded Mr. Gryce. "Now as there could have been no
collusion between these parties, the hunchback being no other person
than myself, what are we to think of this murder? That it was a
coincidence, or an actual result of the hunchback's words?"

Dr. Tredwell and Mr. Ferris were both silent.

"Sirs," continued Mr. Gryce, feeling, perhaps, that perfect openness was
necessary in order to win entire confidence, "I am not given to boasting
or to a too-free expression of my opinion, but if I had been ignorant of
this affair, and one of my men had come to me and said: 'A mysterious
murder has just taken place, marked by this extraordinary feature, that
it is a precise reproduction of a supposable case o