utiful woman
of thirty, reserved and self-possessed to a remarkable degree, very
different from the tragic and distracted figure I had pictured. It is
true that her face was pale and drawn, like that of one who has endured
a great shock; but her manner was composed, and the finely moulded hand
which she rested upon the edge of the table was as steady as my own.
Her sad, appealing eyes travelled from one to the other of us with a
curiously inquisitive expression. That questioning gaze transformed
itself suddenly into abrupt speech.

"Have you found anything out yet?" she asked.

Was it my imagination that there was an undertone of fear rather than of
hope in the question?

"We have taken every possible step, Mrs. Douglas," said the inspector.
"You may rest assured that nothing will be neglected."

"Spare no money," she said in a dead, even tone. "It is my desire that
every possible effort should be made."

"Perhaps you can tell us something which may throw some light upon the
matter."

"I fear not; but all I know is at your service."

"We have heard from Mr. Cecil Barker that you did not actually see--that
you were never in the room where the tragedy occurred?"

"No, he turned me back upon the stairs. He begged me to return to my
room."

"Quite so. You had heard the shot, and you had at once come down."

"I put on my dressing gown and then came down."

"How long was it after hearing the shot that you were stopped on the
stair by Mr. Barker?"

"It may have been a couple of minutes. It is so hard to reckon time at
such a moment. He implored me not to go on. He assured me that I could
do nothing. Then Mrs. Allen, the housekeeper, led me upstairs again. It
was all like some dreadful dream."

"Can you give us any idea how long your husband had been downstairs
before you heard the shot?"

"No, I cannot say. He went from his dressing room, and I did not hear
him go. He did the round of the house every night, for he was nervous of
fire. It is the only thing that I have ever known him nervous of."

"That is just the point which I want to come to, Mrs. Douglas. You have
known your husband only in England, have you not?"

"Yes, we have been married five years."

"Have you heard him speak of anything which occurred in America and
might bring some danger upon him?"

Mrs. Douglas thought earnestly before she answered. "Yes," she said at
last, "I have always felt that there was a danger hanging over him. He
refu