entered upon the scene of her death
without ornaments,--such severe simplicity marked her whole attire.
Her hat, which was as plain and also as elegant as the rest of her
clothing, lay near her on the floor. It had been taken off and
thrown down, manifestly by an impatient hand. That this hand was
her own was evident from a small but very significant fact. The
pin which had held it to her hair had been thrust again into the hat.
No hand but hers would have taken this precaution. A man would have
flung it aside just as he would have flung the hat.

Question:

Did this argue a natural expectation on her part of resuming her
hat? Or was the action the result of an unconscious habit?

Having thus noted all that was possible concerning her without
infringing on the rights of the coroner, I next proceeded to cast
about for clues to the identity of the person whom I considered
responsible for the extinguished candle. But here a great
disappointment awaited me. I could find nothing expressive of a
second person's presence save a pile of cigar ashes scattered
near the legs of a common kitchen chair which stood face to face
with the book shelves in that part of the room where the
candelabrum rested on a small table. But these ashes looked old,
nor could I detect any evidence of tobacco smoke in the general
mustiness pervading the place. Was the man who died here a
fortnight since accountable for these ashes? If so, his unfinished
cigar must be within sight. Should I search for it? No, for this
would take me to the hearth and that was quite too deadly a place
to be heedlessly approached.

Besides, I was not yet finished with the spot where I then stood.
If I could gather nothing satisfactory from the ashes, perhaps I
could from the chair or the shelves before which it had been placed.
Some one with an interest in books had sat there; some one who
expected to spend sufficient time over these old tomes to feel the
need of a chair. Had this interest been a general one or had it
centered in a particular volume? I ran my eye over the shelves
within reach, possibly with an idea of settling this question, and
though my knowledge of books is limited I could see that these were
what one might call rarities. Some of them contained specimens of
black letter, all moldy and smothered in dust; in others I saw
dates of publication which placed them among volumes dear to a
collector's heart. But none of them, so far as I co