”Weshallneversupplythatlink。””Iquiteagreewithyou。””Thatchainwemustthrowaway。””Andforgeanother?”Sweetwaterapproachedandsatdown。”Yes；Ibelievewecandoit；yetIhaveonlyoneindisputablefactforastarter。ThatiswhyIwantyoutotellmewhetherI’mgrowingdaftorsimplyadventurous。Mr。Gryce，Idon’ttrustBrotherson。HehaspulledthewooloverDr。Heath’seyesandalmostoverthoseofMr。Challoner。Buthecan’tpullitovermine。
Thoughheshouldtellastorytentimesmoreplausiblethantheonewithwhichhehassatisfiedthecoroner’sjury，Iwouldstilllistentohimwithmoremisgivingthanconfidence。YetIhavecaughthiminnomisstatement，andhiseyeissteadierthanmyown。
Perhapsitissimplyadeeplyrootedantipathyonmypart，ortherageonefeelsatfindinghehasplacedhisfingeronthewrongman。
Againitmaybe-””What，Sweetwater?””Awell-foundeddistrust。Mr。Gryce，I’mgoingtoaskyouaquestion。””Askaway。Askfiftyifyouwantto。””No；theonemayinvolvefifty，butitisbigenoughinitselftoholdourattentionforawhile。Didyoueverhearofacasebefore，thatinsomeofitsdetailswassimilartothis?”No，itstandsalone。That’swhyitissopuzzling。””Youforget。Thewealth，beautyandsocialconsequenceofthepresentvictimhasblindedyoutothestrongresemblancewhichhercasebearstooneyouknow，inwhichthesuffererhadnoneoftheworldlyadvantagesofMissChalloner。Ialludeto-””Wait！thewasherwomaninHicksStreet！Sweetwater，whathaveyougotupyoursleeve?YoudomeanthatBrooklynwasherwoman，don’tyou?””Thesame。TheDepartmentmayhaveforgottenit，butIhaven’t。
Mr。Gryce，there’sastartlingsimilarityinthetwocasesifyoustudytheessentialfeaturesonly。Startling，Iassureyou。””Yes，youarerightthere。Butwhatifthereis?Wewerenomoresuccessfulinsolvingthatcasethanwehavebeeninsolvingthis。
Yetyoulookandactlikeahoundwhichhasstruckahotscent。
Theyoungmansmoothedhisfeatureswithanembarrassedlaugh。”Ishallneverlearn，”saidhe，”nottogivetonguetillthehuntisfairlystarted。Ifyouwillexcusemewe’llfirstmakesureofthesimilarityIhavementioned。ThenI’llexplainmyself。Ihavesomenoteshere，madeatthetimeitwasdecidedtodroptheHicksStreetcaseasawhollyinexplicableone。Asyouknow，Inevercanbeartosay’die，’andIsometimeskeepsuchnotesasapossiblehelpincaseanysuchunfinishedmattershouldcomeupagain。ShallIreadthem?””Do。Twentyyearsagoitwouldnothavebeennecessary。Ishouldhaverememberedeverydetailofanaffairsopuzzling。Butmymemoryisnolongerentirelyreliable。Sofireaway，myboy，thoughIhardlyseeyourpurposeorwhatrealbearingtheaffairinHicksStreethasupontheClermontone。ApoorwasherwomanandthewealthyMissChalloner！True，theywerenotunlikeintheirend。””Theconnectionwillcomelater，”smiledtheyoungdetective，withthatstrangesofteningofhisfeatureswhichmadeoneattimesforgethisextremeplainness。”I’msureyouwillnotconsiderthetimelostifIaskyoutoconsiderthecomparisonIamabouttomake，ifonlyasacuriosityincriminalannals。”
Andheread：”’OntheafternoonofDecemberFourth，1910，thestrongandpersistentscreamingofayoungchildinoneoftheroomsofareartenementinHicksStreet，Brooklyn，drewtheattentionofsomeoftheinmatesandledthem，afterseveralineffectualeffortstogainanentrance，tothebreakinginofthedoorwhichhadbeenfastenedontheinsidebyanold-fashioneddoor-button。”’Thetenantwhomallknewforanhonest，hard-workingwoman，hadnotinfrequentlyfastenedherdoorinthismanner，inordertosafeguardherchildwhowasabnormallyactiveandhadawayofrattlingthedooropenwhenitwasnotthussecured。Butshehadneverrefusedtoopenbefore，andthechild’scrieswerepitiful。”’Thiswasnolongeramatterofwonder，when，thedoorhavingbeenwrenchedfromitshinges，theyallrushedin。Acrossatubofsteamingclotheslifteduponabenchintheopenwindow，theysawthebodyofthisgoodwoman，lyinginertandseeminglydead；thefrightenedchildtuggingatherskirts。Shewasofarobustmake，fleshyandfair，andhadalwaysbeenconsideredamodelofhealthandenergy，butatthesightofherhelplessfigure，thusstrickenwhileatwork，theonecrywas’Astroke！tillshehadbeenliftedoffandlaiduponthefloor。Thensomediscolorationinthewateratthebottomofthetubledtoacloserexaminationofherbody，andthediscoveryofabullet-holeinherbreastdirectlyovertheheart。”’Asshehadbeenstandingwithfacetowardsthewindow，allcrowdedthatwaytoseewheretheshothadcomefrom。Astheywereonthefourthstoreyitcouldnothavecomefromthecourtuponwhichtheroomlooked。Itcouldonlyhavecomefromthefronttenement，toweringupbeforethemsometwentyfeetaway。Asinglewindowoftheinnumerableonesconfrontingthemstoodopen，andthiswastheonedirectlyopposite。”’Nobodywastobeseenthereorintheroombeyond，butduringtheexcitement，onemanranofftocallthepoliceandanothertohuntupthejanitorandaskwhooccupiedthisroom。”’Hisreplythrewthemallintoconfusion。Thetenantofthatroomwasthebest，thequietestandmostrespectablemanineitherbuilding。”’Thenhemustbesimplycarelessandtheshotanaccidentalone。
Arushwasmadeforthestairsandsoonthewholebuildingwasinanuproar。Butwhenthisespecialroomwasreached，itwasfoundlockedandonthedoorapaperpinnedup，onwhichthesewordswerewritten：GonetoNewYork。Willbebackat6：30！Wordsthatrecalledacircumstancetothejanitor。Hehadseenthegentlemangooutanhourbefore。Thisterminatedallinquiryinthisdirection，thoughsomefewoftheexcitedthrongwereforbatteringdownthisdoorjustastheyhadtheotherone。Buttheywereoverruledbythejanitor，whosawnouseinsuchwholesaledestruction，andpresentlythearrivalofthepolicerestoredorderandlimitedtheinquirytotherearbuilding，whereitundoubtedlybelonged。’
Mr。Gryce，”hereSweetwaterlaidbyhisnotesthathemightaddresstheoldgentlemanmoredirectly，”Iwaswiththeboyswhentheymadetheirfirstofficialinvestigation。Thisiswhyyoucanrelyuponthefactsasheregiven。Ifollowedtheinvestigationcloselyandmissednothingwhichcouldinanywaythrowlightonthecase。Itwasamysteriousonefromthefirst，andlostnothingbyfurtherinquiryintothedetails。”Thefirstfacttostartleusaswemadeourwayupthroughthecrowdwhichblockedhallsandstaircaseswasthis：-Adoctorhadbeenfoundand，thoughhehadbeenforbiddentomakemorethanacursoryexaminationofthebodytillthecoronercame，hehadnothesitatedtodeclareafterhisfirstlook，thatthewoundhadnotbeenmadebyabulletbutbysomesharpandslenderweaponthrusthomebyapowerfulhand。Youmarkthat，Mr。Gryce。Asthisseemedimpossibleinfaceofthefactthatthedoorhadbeenfoundbuttonedontheinside，wedidnotgivemuchcredittohisopinionandbeganourworkundertheobvioustheoryofanaccidentaldischargeofsomegunfromoneofthewindowsacrossthecourt。
Butthedoctorwasnearerrightthanwesupposed。Whenthecoronercametolookintothematter，hediscoveredthatthewoundwasnotonlytoosmalltohavebeenmadebytheordinarybullet，butthattherewasnobullettobefoundinthewoman’sbodyoranywhereelse。Herhearthadbeenreachedbyathrustandnotbyashotfromagun。Mr。Gryce，haveyounotheardastartlingrepetitionofthisreportinacasenearerathand?”Buttogoback。Thisdiscovery，soimportantiftrue，wasasyet-thatis，atthetimeofourenteringtheroom，-limitedtotheoff-handdeclarationofanirresponsiblephysician，butthepossibilityitinvolvedwasofsoastonishinganaturethatitinfluencedusunconsciouslyinourinvestigationandledusalmostimmediatelyintoaconsiderationofthedifficultiesattendinganentranceinto，aswellasanescapefrom，aroomsituatedasthiswas。”Upthreeflightsfromthecourt，withnocommunicationwiththeadjoiningroomssavethroughadoorguardedonbothsidesbyheavypiecesoffurniturenoonepersoncouldhandle，thehalldoorbuttonedontheinside，andthefire-escapesomefifteenfeettotheleft，thisroomofdeathappearedtobeasremovedfromtheapproachofamurderousoutsiderasthespotinthewriting-roomoftheClermontwhereMissChallonerfell。”Otherwise，theplacepresentedthegreatestcontrastpossibletothatsceneofsplendourandcomfort。IhadnotenteredtheClermontatthattime，andno，suchcomparisoncouldhavestruckmymind。ButIhavethoughtofitsince，andyou，withyourexperience，willnotfinditdifficulttopicturetheroomwherethispoorwomanlivedandworked。Barewalls，withjustanewspaperillustrationpinneduphereandthere，abed-tragicallyoccupiedatthismoment-akitchenstoveonwhichaboiler，half-filledwithsteamingclothesstillbubbledandfoamed，-anoldbureau，-alargepinewardrobeagainstaninnerdoorwhichwelaterfoundtohavebeenlockedformonths，andthekeylost，-somechairs-andmostpronouncedofall，becauseofitspositiondirectlybeforethewindow，apinebenchsupportingawash-tuboftheoldsort。”Asitwasherethewomanfell，thistubnaturallyreceivedtheclosestexamination。Aboardprojectedfromitsfurtherside，whitherithadevidentlybeenpushedbytheweightofherfallingbody；andfromitstophungawetcloth，markingwithitslugubriousdripontheboardsbeneaththefirstheavymomentsofsilencewhichisthenaturalaccompanimentofsoseriousasurvey。Onthefloortotherightlayahalf-usedcakeofsoapjustasithadslippedfromherhand。Thewindowwasclosed，forthetemperaturewasatthefreezing-point，butithadbeenfoundup，anditwasputupnowtoshowtheheightatwhichithadthenstood。Aswealltookourlookatthehousewallopposite，asoundofshoutingcameupfrombelow。Adozenchildrenwereslidingonbarrelstavesdownaslopeofheaped-upsnow。Theyhadbeenengagedinthissportalltheafternoonandwereourwitnesseslaterthatnoonehadmadeahazardousescapebymeansoftheladderofthefire-escape，running，asIhavesaid，atanalmostunattainabledistancetowardstheleft。