THEMAN”Youknowtheman?””Ido；orrather，Iknowamanwhoanswerstothisdescription。Hecomeshereonceinawhile。Idonotknowwhetherornothewasinthebuildingto-night，butClausencantellyou；nooneescapesClausen’seye。””Hisname。””Brotherson。Averyuncommonpersoninmanyrespects；quitecapableofsuchaneccentricity，butincapable，Ishouldsay，ofcrime。He’sagiftedtalkerandsowellreadthathecanholdone’sattentionforhours。Ofhistastes，Icanonlysaythattheyappeartobemainlyscientific。Butheisnotaversetosociety，andisalwaysverywelldressed。””Atasteforscienceandforfineclothingdonotoftengotogether。””Thismanisanexceptiontoallrules。TheoneI’mspeakingof，I
mean。Idon’tsaythathe’sthefellowseenpotteringinthesnow。””CallupClausen。”
Themanagersteppedtothetelephone。
Meanwhile，Georgehadadvancedtospeaktoamanwhohadbeckonedtohimfromtheothersideoftheroom，andwithwhominanothermomentIsawhimstepout。Thusdeserted，Isankintoachairnearoneofthewindows。NeverhadIfeltmoreuncomfortable。Toattributeguilttoatotallyunknownperson-apersonwhoislittlemoretoyouthanashadowysilhouetteagainstabackgroundofsnow-iseasyenoughandnotverydisturbingtotheconscience。Buttohearthatpersonnamed；givenpositiveattributes；liftedfromtheindefiniteintoaliving，breathingactuality，withaman’shopes，purposesandresponsibilities，isanentirelydifferentproposition。ThisBrothersonmightbethemostinnocentpersonalive；and，ifso，whathadwedone?Nothingtocongratulateourselvesupon，certainly。AndGeorgewasnotpresenttocomfortandencourageme。Hewas-
Wherewashe?Themanwhohadcarriedhimoffwastheyoungestinthegroup。WhathadhewantedofGeorge?Thosewhoremainedshowednointerestinthematter。Theyhadenoughtosayamongthemselves。ButIwasinterested-naturallyso，and，inmyuneasiness，glancedrestlesslyfromthewindow，theshadeofwhichwasup。Theoutlookwasaverypeacefulone。Thisroomfacedasidestreet，and，asmyeyesfelluponthewhitenedpavements，I
receivedananswertoone，andthatthemostanxious，ofmyqueries。
Thiswasthestreetintowhichwehadturned，inthewakeofthehandsomestrangertheyweretryingatthisverymomenttoidentifywithBrotherson。Georgehadevidentlybeenaskedtopointouttheexactspotwherethemanhadstopped，forIcouldseefrommyvantagepointtwofiguresbendingnearthekerb，andevenpawingatthesnowwhichlaythere。Itgavemeaslightturnwhenoneofthem-IdonotthinkitwasGeorge-begantorubhishandstogetherinmuchthewaytheunknowngentlemanhaddone，and，inmyexcitement，Iprobablyutteredsomesortofanejaculation，forIwassuddenlyconsciousofasilenceintheroom，andwhenI
turnedsawallthemenaboutmelookingmyway。
Iattemptedtosmile，butinstead，shudderedpainfully，asI
raisedmyhandandpointeddownatthestreet。”Theyareimitatingtheman，”Icried；”myhusbandand-andthepersonhewentoutwith。Itlookeddreadfultome；thatisall。”
Oneofthegentlemenimmediatelysaidsomekindwordstome，andanothersmiledinaveryencouragingway。Buttheirattentionwassoondiverted，andsowasminebytheentranceofamaninsemi-uniform，whowasimmediatelyaddressedasClausen。
Iknewhisface。Hewasoneofthedoorkeepers；theoldestemployeeaboutthehotel，andtheonebestliked。Ihadoftenexchangedwordswithhimmyself。
Mr。Slateratonceputhisquestion：”HasMr。Brothersonpassedyourdooratanytimeto-night?”Mr。Brotherson！Idon’tremember，reallyIdon’t，”wastheunexpectedreply。”It’snotoftenIforget。Butsomanypeoplecamerushinginduringthosefewminutes，andallsoexcited-””Beforetheexcitement，Clausen。Alittlewhilebefore，possiblyjustbefore。””Oh，nowIrecallhim！Yes，Mr。Brothersonwentoutofmydoornotmanyminutesbeforethecryupstairs。IforgotbecauseIhadsteppedbackfromthedoortohandaladythemuffshehaddropped，anditwasatthatminutehewentout。Ijustgotaglimpseofhisbackashepassedintothestreet。””Butyouaresureofthatback?””Idon’tknowanotherlikeit，whenhewearsthatbigcoatofhis。
ButJimcantellyou，sir。Hewasinthecaf?uptothatminute，andthat’swhereMr。Brothersonusuallygoesfirst。””Verywell；sendupJim。TellhimIhavesomeorderstogivehim。”
Theoldmanbowedandwentout。
Meanwhile，Mr。Slaterhadexchangedsomewordswiththetwoofficials，andnowapproachedmewithanexpressionofextremeconsideration。Theywereabouttoexcusemefromfurtherparticipationinthisinformalinquiry。ThisIsawbeforehespoke。Ofcoursetheywereright。ButIshouldgreatlyhavepreferredtostaywhereIwastillGeorgecameback。
However，ImethimforaninstantinthehallbeforeItooktheelevator，andlaterIheardinaround-aboutwaywhatJimandsomeothersaboutthehousehadtosayofMr。Brotherson。
Hewasanhabitueofthehotel，totheextentofdiningonceortwiceaweekinthecaf?andsmoking，afterwards，inthepubliclobby。Whenhewasinthemoodfortalk，hewoulddrawanever-enlarginggroupabouthim，butatothertimeshewouldbeseensittingquitealoneandmoroselyindifferenttoallwhoapproachedhim。Therewasnomysteryabouthisbusiness。Hewasaninventor，withoneortwovaluablepatentsalreadyonthemarket。
Butthiswasnothisonlyinterest。Hewasanallroundsortofman，moodybutbrilliantinmanyways-acharacterwhichatonceattractedandrepelled，oddinthatheseemedtosetlittlestorebyhisgoodlooks，yetwasmostcarefultodresshimselfinawaytoshowthemofftoadvantage。Ifhehadmeansbeyondtheordinarynooneknewit，norcouldanymansaythathehadnot。Onallpersonalmattershewasveryclose-mouthed，thoughhewouldtalkaboutothermen’srichesinawaytoshowthathecherishedsomeveryextremeviews。
Thiswasallwhichcouldbelearnedabouthimoff-hand，andatsolateanhour。Iwasgreatlyinterested，ofcourse，andhadplentytothinkoftillIsawGeorgeagainandlearnedtheresultofthelatestinvestigations。
MissChallonerhadbeenshot，notstabbed。Nootherdeductionwaspossiblefromsuchfactsaswerenowknown，thoughthephysicianshadnotyethandedintheirreport，orevenintimatedwhatthatreportwouldbe。Noassailantcouldhaveapproachedorlefther，withoutattractingthenoticeofsomeone，ifnotallofthepersonsseatedatatableinthesameroom。Shecouldonlyhavebeenreachedbyabulletsentfromapointneartheheadofasmallwindingstaircaseconnectingthemezzaninefloorwithacoat-roomadjacenttothefrontdoor。Thishasalreadybeeninsistedon，asyouwillremember，andifyouwillglanceatthediagramwhichGeorgehastilyscrawledforme，youwillseewhy。
A。B。，aswellasC。D。，arehalfcircularopeningsintotheofficelobby。E。F。arewindowsgivinguponBroadway，andG。thepartywall，necessarilyunbrokenbywindow，doororanyotheropening。
=desk
WhereMissCFell-xoAooEo
table
ooBoH
elevator
staircaseX。_C__D
FMusician’sGallery
DiningRoomLevelWithLobbyItfollowsthenthattheonlypossiblemeansofapproachtothisroomliesthroughthearchwayH。，orfromtheelevatordoor。ButtheelevatormadenostopatthemezzanineonornearthetimeoftheattackuponMissChalloner；nordidanyoneleavethetableorpassbyitineitherdirectiontillafterthealarmgivenbyherfall。
Butabulletcallsfornoapproach。AmanatX。mightraiseandfirehispistolwithoutattractinganyattentiontohimself。Themusic，whichallacknowledgewasatitsfullclimaxatthismoment，woulddrownthenoiseoftheexplosion，andthestaircase，outofviewofallbutthevictim，affordthesamemeansofimmediateescape，whichitmusthavegivenofsecretandunseenapproach。
Thecoat-roomintowhichitdescendedcommunicatedwiththelobbyverynearthemainentrance，andifMr。Brothersonweretheman，hissuddenappearancetherewouldthusbeaccountedfor。
Tobesure，thisgentlemanhadnotbeennoticedinthecoatroombythemanthenincharge，butifthelatterhadbeenengagedatthatinstant，asheoftenwas，inhanginguportakingdownacoatfromtherack，apersonmighteasilypassbyhimanddisappearintothelobbywithoutattractinghisattention。Somanypeoplepassedthatwayfromthedining-roombeyond，andsomanyoftheseweretall，fine-lookingandwell-dressed。
Itbegantolookbadforthisman，ifindeedheweretheonewehadseenunderthestreet-lamp；and，asGeorgeandIreviewedthesituation，wefeltourpositiontobeseriousenoughforusseverallytosetdownourimpressionsofthismanbeforewelostourfirstvivididea。IdonotknowwhatGeorgewrote，forhesealedhiswordsupassoonashehadfinishedwriting，butthisiswhatIputonpaperwhilemymemorywasstillfreshandmyexcitementunabated：