”Certainlynot，unless-well，tobedirect，unlessyouhadjustseenMissChallonerandknewherstateofmindandwhatwaslikelytofollowyourabruptdeparture。””IhadnointerviewwithMissChalloner。””Butyousawher?Sawherthateveningandjustbeforetheaccident?”Sweetwater’spapersrattled；itwastheonlysoundtobeheardinthatmomentofsilence。Then-”Whatdoyoumeanbythosewords?”
inquiredMr。Brotherson，withstudiedcomposure。”IhavesaidthatIhadnointerviewwithMissChalloner。Whydoyouaskmethen，ifIsawher?””BecauseIbelievethatyoudid。Fromadistancepossibly，butyetdirectlyandwithnopossibilityofmistake。””Doyouputthatasaquestion?””Ido。Didyouseeherfigureorfacethatnight?””Idid。”
Nothing-noteventherattlingofSweetwater’spapers-disturbedthesilencewhichfollowedthisadmission。”Fromwhere?”Dr。Heathaskedatlast。”Fromapointfarenoughawaytomakeanycommunicationbetweenusimpossible。Idonotthinkyouwillrequiremetorecalltheexactspot。””Ifitwereonewhichmadeitpossibleforhertoseeyouasclearlyasyoucouldseeher，Ithinkitwouldbeveryadvisableforyoutosayso。”
Itwas-such-aspot。’’”ThenIthinkIcanlocateitforyou，ordoyouprefertolocateityourself?””Iwilllocateitmyself。IhadhopednottobecalledupontomentionwhatIcannotbutconsideramostunfortunatecoincidence。
Asagentlemanyouwillunderstandmyreticenceandalsowhyitisamatterofregrettomethatwithanacumenworthyofyourposition，youshouldhavediscoveredafactwhich，whileitcannotexplainMissChalloner’sdeath，willdragourlittleaffairbeforethepublic，andpossiblygiveitaprominenceinsomemindswhichIamsuredoesnotbelongtoit。ImetMissChalloner’seyeforoneinstantfromthetopofthelittlestaircaserunninguptothemezzanine。IhadyieldedthusfartoanimpulseIhadfrequentlycombated，toseekbyanotherinterviewtoretrievethebadeffectwhichmusthavebeenmadeuponherbymyangrynote。Iknewthatshefrequentlywrotelettersinthemezzanineatthishour，andgotasfarasthetopofthestaircaseinmyefforttojoinher。
Butgotnofurther。WhenIsawheronherfeet，withherfaceturnedmyway，Irememberedthescornwithwhichshehadreceivedmyformerheart-feltproposalsand，withouttakinganotherstepforward，Iturnedawayfromherandfleddownthestepsandsooutofthebuildingbythemainentrance。Shesawme，forherhandflewupwithastartledgesture，butIcannotthinkthatmypresenceonthesamefloorwithhercouldhavecausedhertostriketheblowwhichterminatedherlife。WhyshouldI?Nowomansacrificesherlifeoutofmereregretforthedisdainshehasshownamanshehastakennopainstounderstand。”
HistoneandhisattitudeseemedtoinvitetheconcurrenceofDr。
Heathinthisstatement。Buttherichnessoftheoneandthegraceoftheothershowedthehandsomespeakerofftosuchadvantagethatthecoronerwasratherinclinedtoconsiderhowawoman，evenofMissChalloner’sfinetasteandcarefulbreeding，mightseeinsuchasituationmuchforregret，ifnotforactivedespairandthesuicidalact。Hegavenoevidenceofhisthought，however，butfolloweduptheoneadmissionmadebyMr。Brothersonwhichheandothersmustnaturallyviewasofthefirstimportance。”YousawMissChallonerliftherhand，yousay。Whichhand，andwhatwasinit?Anything?””Sheliftedherrighthand，butitwouldbeimpossibleformetotellyouwhethertherewasanythinginitornot。IsimplysawthemovementbeforeIturnedaway。Itlookedlikeoneofalarmtome。Ifeltthatshehadsomereasonforthis。ShecouldnotknowthatitwasinrepentanceIcameratherthaninfulfilmentofmythreat。”
Asighfromtheadjoiningroom。Mr。Brothersonrose，asheheardit，andindoingsometthecleareyeofSweetwaterfixeduponhisown。Itslanguagewas，nodoubt，peculiaranditseemedtofascinatehimforamoment，forhestartedasiftoapproachthedetective，butforsookthisintentionalmostimmediately，andaddressingthecoroner，gravelyremarked：”Herdeathfollowingsoquicklyuponthisabortiveattemptofmineataninterviewstartledmebyitscoincidenceasmuchasitdoesyou。Ifintheweaknessofherwoman’snature，itwasmorethanthis-ifthescornshehadpreviouslyshownmewasacloaksheinstinctivelyassumedtohidewhatshewasnotreadytodisclose，myremorsewillbeasgreatasanyoneherecouldwish。Buttheproofofallthiswillhavetobeveryconvincingbeforemypresentconvictionswillyieldtoit。Someotherandmorepoignantsourcewillhavetobefoundforthatinstant’simpulsiveactthanissuppliedbythisstoryofmyunfortunateattachment。
Dr。Heathwasconvinced，buthewaswillingtoconcedesomethingtothesecretdemandmadeuponhimbySweetwater，whowasbundlinguphispaperswithmuchclatter。
Lookingupwithasmilewhichhadelementsinithewashardlyconsciousofperhapshimself，heaskedinanoff-handway：”Thenwhydidyoutakesuchpainstowashyourhandsoftheaffairthemomentyouhadleftthehotel?””Idonotunderstand。””Youpassedaroundthecornerinto-street，didyounot?””Verylikely。Icouldgothatwayaswellasanother。””Andstoppedatthefirstlamp-post?””Oh，Isee。Someonesawthatchildishactionofmine。””Whatdidyoumeanbyit?””Justwhatyouhavesuggested。IdidgothroughthepantomimeofwashingmyhandsofanaffairIconsidereddefinitelyended。IhadresistedanirrepressibleimpulsetoseeandtalkwithMissChalloneragain，andwaspleasedwithmyfirmness。Unawareofthetragicblowwhichhadjustfallen，Iwasfullofself-congratulationsatmyescapefromthecharmwhichhadluredmebacktothishotelagainandagaininspiteofmybetterjudgment，andIwishedtosymbolisemyreliefbyanactofwhichIwas，inanothermoment，ashamed。
Strangethatthereshouldhavebeenawitnesstoit。HerehestolealookatSweetwater。Strangerstill，thatcircumstancesbythemostextraordinaryofcoincidences，shouldhavegivensounforeseenapointtoit。”Youareright，Mr。Brotherson。Thewholeoccurrenceisstartlingandmoststrange。Butlifeismadeupoftheunexpected，asnoneknowbetterthanwephysicians，whetherourpracticebeofapublicorprivatecharacter。”
AsMr。Brothersonlefttheroom，thecuriositytowhichhehadyieldedoncebefore，ledhimtocastaglanceofpenetratinginquirybehindhimfullatSweetwater，andifeitherfeltembarrassment，itwasnotthehuntedbutthehunter。
Butthefeelingdidnotlast。”I’vesimplymetthestrongestmanI’veeverencountered，”wasSweetwater’sencouragingcommenttohimself。”AllthemoregloryifIcanfindajointinhisarmourorahiddenpassagetohiscold，secretiveheart。”
XI
ALIKEINESSENTIALS”Mr。Gryce，Iameitherafoolortheluckiestfellowgoing。Youmustdecidewhich。”
Theageddetective，thusaddressed，laiddownhiseveningpaperandendeavouredtomakeoutthedimformhecouldjustfaintlydiscernstandingbetweenhimandthelibrarydoor。”Sweetwater，isthatyou?””Nooneelse。Sweetwater，thefool，orSweetwater，muchtoowiseforhisowngood。Idon’tknowwhich。Perhapsyoucanfindoutandtellme。”
Agruntfromtheregionofthelibrarytable，thenthesarcasticremark：”I’mjustinthemoodtosettlethatquestion。Thislastfailuretomyaccountoughttomakemeanexcellentjudgeofanother’sfolly。
I’vemeddledwiththeoldbusinessforthelasttime，Sweetwater。
You’llhavetogoitlonefromnowon。TheDepartmenthasnomoreworkforEbenezarGryce，orratherEbenezarGrycewillmakenomorefoolattemptstopleasethem。Strangethatamandon’tknowwhenhistimehascometoquit。IrememberlowIoncescoredYeardsleyforhangingonafterhehadlosthisgrip；andhereamIdoingthesamething。Butwhat’sthematterwithyou?Speakout，myboy。
Somethingnewinthewind?””No，Mr。Gryce；nothingnew。It’sthesameoldbusiness。But，ifwhatIsuspectistrue，thissameoldbusinessoffersopportunitiesforsomeveryinterestingandunusualeffort。You’renotsatisfiedwiththecoroner’sverdictintheChallonercase?”No。I’msatisfiedwithnothingthatleavesallendsdangling。
Suicidewasnotproved。Itseemedtheonlypresumptionpossible，butitwasnotproved。Therewasnoblood-stainonthatcutter-point。””Noranyevidencethatithadeverbeenthere。””No。I’mnotproudofthechainwhichlacksalinkwhereitshouldbestrongest。”