herself,[B] she would have been found with her feet pointing towards the
wall where the cabinet had stood. But her feet were towards the door and
her head under the cabinet.

2. The precise arrangement of the clothing about her feet, which
precluded any theory involving accident.

_My reason for not thinking it a suicide._

She could not have been found in the position observed without having
lain down on the floor while living, and then pulled the shelves down
upon herself. (A theory obviously too improbable to be considered.)

_My reason for not thinking it murder._

She would need to have been held down on the floor while the cabinet was
being pulled over on her, a thing which the quiet aspect of the hands
and feet make appear impossible. (Very good, but we know now that she
was dead when the shelves fell over, so that my one excuse for not
thinking it a murder is rendered null.)

_My reasons for thinking it a murder._

----But I will not repeat these. My reasons for not thinking it an
accident or a suicide remained as good as when they were written, and if
her death had not been due to either of these causes, then it must have
been due to some murderous hand. Was that hand the hand of her husband?
I have already given it as my opinion that it was not.

Now, how to make that opinion good, and reconcile me again to myself;
for I am not accustomed to have my instincts at war with my judgment. Is
there any reason for my thinking as I do? Yes, the manliness of man. He
only looked well when he was repelling the suspicion he saw in the
surrounding faces. But that might have been assumed, just as his
careless manner was assumed during the early part of the inquiry. I must
have some stronger reason than this for my belief. The two hats? Well,
he had explained how there came to be two hats on the scene of crime,
but his explanation had not been very satisfactory. _I_ had seen no hat
in her hand when she crossed the pavement to her father's house. But
then she might have carried it under her cape without my seeing
it--perhaps. The discovery of two hats and of two pairs of gloves in Mr.
Van Burnam's parlors was a fact worth further investigation, and
mentally I made a note of it, though at the moment I saw no prospect of
engaging in this matter further than my duties as a witness required.

And now what other clue was offered me, save the one I have already
mentioned as being given by the clock? None that I could seize