obtain possession of these letters,
but he should make a great effort to capture those which might come in
the future. He had taken pains to cultivate the friendship of the clerk
of the hotel, and he was on such good terms with him as to find it
convenient to pass a great deal of time in the office. He had noticed
that when the clerk received the mail, all of Pattmore's letters were
put into a particular box behind the desk, and he hoped to be able to
secure some of them.

I had devoted a large amount of thought to this singular case, and I
finally decided that I would go to Greenville in person. I determined to
see the coroner and find out what kind of a man he was. If possible, I
should induce him to have Mrs. Pattmore's body exhumed and an inquest
held upon it.

I had previously written to Mr. Chapman to obtain further information
about the Captain and his family, and had mentioned his superstitious
belief in the ring. I said that I was not afraid of losing money, as the
Captain offered me more than my usual scale of prices; but the Captain's
story and his great superstition led me to think that he was a "wee bit
daft," and that there was insanity in the family.

Mr. Chapman replied that he had known the Captain's father and mother
intimately, but there had been no sign of insanity in any of their
actions. They had been, however, firm believers in their rings, and had
had the rings which they had worn buried with them. They had been
clear-headed, religious people, and it was surprising that they should
have had such a superstitious faith in the power of those opal rings.
The Captain had always been an honorable, straight-forward man, but he
and his sister were even more superstitious than any of the others.

"Well," I thought, on reading Mr. Chapman's letter, "the whole family
are a strange medley; but I think I can turn their superstitious
credulity to good account, in any efforts to learn whether Pattmore
poisoned his wife."

_CHAPTER IV._

As soon as possible, I started for Greenville, to see the coroner; on my
arrival, I was so fortunate as to meet Mr. Wells, an old friend, who had
formerly been sheriff of the county. He offered to introduce me to his
successor, Mr. Tomlinson, who had once been his deputy. Mr. Wells was
quite wealthy, and had retired from business. Mr. Tomlinson was an
honest, hard working carpenter, who was thoroughly reliable and zealous.
Neither of these gentlemen, however, had