her, and who now, by the sudden death of that brother's
daughter, had come again into his inheritance. Uncle David, and
he only, was the puzzled inquirer whose self-communings I had just
read. This fact raised a new problem far me to work upon, and I
could but ask when these lines were written--before or after Mr.
Pfeiffer's death and whether he had ever succeeded in solving the
riddle he had suggested, or whether it was still a baffling
mystery to him. I was so moved by the suggestion conveyed in his
final and half-finished sentence, that I soon lost sight of these
lesser inquiries in the more important one connected with the
filigree ball. For I had seen this filigree ball. I had even
handled it. From the description given I was very certain that
it had been one of the many trinkets I had observed lying on the
dressing table when I made my first hasty examination of the room
on the evening of Mrs. Jeffrey's death. Why had no premonition
of its importance as a connecting link between these tragedies and
their mysterious cause come to me at the time when it was within
reach of my hand? It was too late now. It had been swept away with
the other loose objects littering the place, and my opportunity for
pursuing this very promising investigation was gone for the night.

Yet it was with a decided feeling of triumph that I finally locked
the door of this old mansion behind me. Certainly I had taken a
step forward since my entrance there, to which I had but to add
another of equal importance to merit the attention of the
superintendent himself.

XXI

THE HEART OF THE PUZZLE.

The next morning I swallowed my pride and sought out Durbin. He
had superintended the removal of Mrs. Jeffrey's effects from the
southwest chamber, and should know, if any one, where this filigree
ball was now to be found. Doubtless it had been returned with the
other things to Mr. Jeffrey, and yet, who knows? Durbin is sly and
some inkling of its value as a clue may have entered his mind. If
so, it would be anywhere but in Mr. Jeffrey's or Miss Tuttle's
possession.

To test my rival's knowledge of and interest in this seemingly
trivial object, I stooped to what I can but consider a pardonable
subterfuge. Greeting him in the offhand way least likely to develop
his suspicion, I told him that I had a great idea in connection
with the Jeffrey case and that the clue to it lay in a little gold
ball which Mrs. Jeffrey sometimes wo