”Ican’t。Ihatethefellow。Ihateanyonewhomakesmelookridiculous。He-well,well,ifyou’llhaveit,sir,Iwillsaythismuch。Ifitweren’tforthatblastedcoincidenceofthetwodeathsequallymysterious,equallyunderhiseye,I’dstakemylifeonhishonesty。Butthatcoincidencestumpsmeand-andasortoffeelingIhavehere。”Itistobehopedthattheslaphegavehisbreast,atthispoint,carriedoffsomeofhissuperfluousemotion。”Youcan’taccountforafeeling,Mr。Gryce。Themanhasnoheart。He’sashardasrocks。””Anotuncommonlackwheretheheadplayssobigapart。Wecan’thanghimonanysuchargumentasthat。You’vefoundnoevidenceagainsthim?””N-no。”ThehesitatingadmissionwasonlyaproofofSweetwater’sobstinacy。”Thenlistentothis。Thetestwiththelettersfailed,becausewhathesaidaboutthemwastrue。Theywerenotmeantforhim。
MissChallonerhadanotherlover。””Onlyanother?Ithoughttherewereahalf-dozen,atleast。””Anotherwhomshefavoured。Thelettersfoundinherpossession-nottheonesshewroteherself,butthosewhichwerewrittentoheroverthesignature0。B。werenotallfromthesamehand。
Expertshavebeenbusywiththemforaweek,andtheirreportsareunanimous。The0。B。whowrotethethreateninglinesacknowledgedtobyOrlandoBrotherson,wasnotthe0。B。whopennedallofthoseloveletters。Thesimilarityinthewritingmisledusatfirst,butoncethedoubtwasraisedbyMr。Challoner’sdiscoveryofanallusioninoneofthemwhichpointedtoanotherwriterthanMr。
Brotherson,andexpertshadnodifficultyinreachingthedecisionIhavementioned。””Two0。B。s!Isn’tthatincredible,Mr。Gryce?”
Yes,itisincredible;buttheincredibleisnottheimpossible。
Themanyou’vebeenshadowingdeniesthattheseexpressiveeffusionsofMissChallonerweremeantforhim。Letussee,then,ifwecanfindthemantheyweremeantfor。””Thesecond0。B。?”
Yes。”
Sweetwater’sfaceinstantlylitup。”DoyoumeanthatI-aftermyegregiousfailure-amnottobekeptonthedunce’sseat?Thatyouwillgivemethisnewjob?””Yes。Wedon’tknowofabetterman。Itisn’tyourfault,yousaidityourself,thatwatercouldn’tbesqueezedoutofamillstone。””TheSuperintendent-howdoeshefeelaboutit?””Hewasthefirstonetomentionyou。””AndtheInspector?””Isgladtoseeusonanewtack。”
Apause,duringwhichtheeagerlightintheyoungdetective’seyecloudedover。Presentlyheremarked:”Howwillthefindingofanother0。B。alterMr。Brotherson’sposition?Hestillwillbetheonepersononthespot,knowntohavecherishedagrievanceagainstthevictimofthismysteriouskilling。Tomymind,thisdiscoveryofamorefavouredrival,bringsinanelementofmotivewhichmayrobourself-reliantfriendofsomeofhiscomplacency。Wemayfurther,ratherthandestroy,ourcaseagainstBrothersonbylocatingasecond0。B。”
Mr。Gryce’seyestwinkled。”Thatwon’tmakeyourtaskanymoreirksome,”hesmiled。”TheloopwethusthrowoutisaslikelytocatchBrothersonashisrival。Italldependsuponthesortofmanwefindinthissecond0。B。;andwhether,insomewayunknowntous,hegavehercauseforthesuddenandoverwhelmingrushofdespairwhichalonesupportsthisgeneraltheoryofsuicide。””Theprospectgrowspleasing。WhereamItolookformyman?””YourticketisboughttoDerby,Pennsylvania。Ifheisnotemployedinthegreatfactoriesthere,wedonotknowwheretofindhim。Wehavenootherclew。””Isee。It’sashortjourneyIhavebeforeme。””It’llbringthecolourtoyourcheeks。””Oh,I’mnotkicking。””Youwillstartto-morrow。””Wishitwereto-day。””Andyouwillfirstinquire,notfor0。B。,that’stooindefinite;
butforayounggirlbythenameofDorisScott。Sheholdstheclew;orrathersheistheclewtothissecond0。B。””Anotherwoman!””No,achild;-well,Iwon’tsaychildexactly;shemustbesixteen。””DorisScott。””ShelivesinDerby。Derbyisasmallplace。Youwillhavenotroubleinfindingthischild。ItwastoherMissChalloner’slastletterwasaddressed。Theone-””Ibegintosee。””No,youdon’t,Sweetwater。Theaffairisasblindasyourhat;
nobodysees。We’rejustfeelingalongathread。O。B。’sletters-therealO。B。,Imean,arethemanliesteffusionspossible。
He’snomoreofamilksopthanthisBrotherson;andunlikeyourindomitablefriendheseemstohavesomeheart。Ionlywishhe’dgivenussomefacts;theywouldhavebeenserviceable。ButthelettersrevealnothingexceptthatheknewDoris。Hewritesinoneofthem:’Dorisislearningtoembroider。It’slikeafairyweavingacobweb!’Dorisisn’taverycommonname。ShemustbethesamelittlegirltowhomMissChallonerwrotefromtimetotime。””WasthislettersignedO。B。?””Yes;theyallare。TheonlydifferencebetweenhislettersandBrotherson’sisthis:Brotherson’sretainthedateandaddress;
thesecondO。B。’sdonot。””Hownot?Tornoff,doyoumean?””Yes,orrather,neatlycutaway;andasnoneoftheenvelopeswerekept,theonlymeansbywhichwecanlocatethewriteristhroughthisgirlDoris。””IfIrememberrightlyMissChalloner’slettertothischildwasfreefromallmystery。””Quiteso。Itisasopenastheday。ThatiswhyithasbeenmentionedasshowingthefreedomofMissChalloner’smindfiveminutesbeforethatfatalthrust。”
SweetwatertookupthesheetMr。Grycepushedtowardshimandre-readtheselines:”DearLittleDoris:”Itisasnowynight,butitisallbrightinsideandIfeelnochillinmindorbody。IhopeitissointhelittlecottageinDerby;thatmylittlefriendisashappywithharshwindsblowingfromthemountainsasshewasonthesummerdayshecametoseemeatthishotel。Iliketothinkofherascheerfulandbeaming,rejoicingintaskswhichmakehersowomanlyandsweet。Sheisoften,ofteninmymind。”Affectionatelyyourfriend,”EDITHA。CHALLONER。””Thattoachildofsixteen!””Justso。””D-o-r-i-sspellssomethingbesidesDoris。””YetthereisaDoris。RememberthatO。B。saysinoneofhisletters,’Dorisislearningtoembroider。’”Yes,Irememberthat。””SoyoumustfirstfindDoris。””Verygood,sir。””AndasMissChalloner’sletterwasdirectedtoDerby,Pennsylvania,youwillgotoDerby。””Yes,sir。””Anythingmore?””I’vebeenreadingthisletteragain。””It’sworthit。””Thelastsentenceexpressesahope。””Thathasbeennoted。”
Sweetwater’seyesslowlyrosetilltheyrestedonMr。Gryce’sface:”I’llclingtothethreadyou’vegivenme。I’llworkmyselfthroughthelabyrinthbeforeustillIreachHIM。”
Mr。Grycesmiled;buttherewasmoreage,wisdomandsympathyforyouthfulenthusiasminthatsmilethantherewasconfidenceorhope。
BOOKIII
THEHEARTOFMAN