scarcely a minute
before she was with him again, a newspaper in her hand. In connection
with the Cunningham murder mystery several pictures were shown. Among
them were photographs of his uncle and two cousins.

"This is the man whose marriage to Miss Harriman I witnessed," she said.

Her finger was pointing to the likeness of his cousin James Cunningham.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE FINGER OF SUSPICION POINTS

The words of the preacher's little wife were like a bolt from a sunny
heaven. Kirby could not accept them without reiteration. Never in the
wildest dreams of the too vivid imagination of which his cousin had
accused him had this possibility occurred to him.

"Do you mean that this man--the younger one--is the husband of Phyllis
Harriman?" His finger touched the reproduction of his cousin's
photograph.

"Yes. He's the man my husband married her to on the twenty-first of
July."

"You're quite sure of that?"

"I ought to be," she answered rather dryly. "I was a witness."

A young woman came up the walk from the street. She was a younger and
more modern replica of Mrs. Rankin. The older lady introduced her.

"Daughter, this is Mr. Lane, the gentleman who called on Father the
other day while we were away. Mr. Lane, my daughter Ellen." Briskly
she continued, showing her daughter the picture of James Cunningham,
Junior. "Did you ever see this man, dear?"

Ellen took one glance at it. "He's the man Father married the other
day."

"When?" the mother asked.

"It was--let me see--about the last week in July. Why?"

"Married to who?" asked Mrs. Rankin colloquially.

"To that lovely Miss Harriman, of course."

The old lady wheeled on Kirby triumphantly. "Are you satisfied now
that I'm in my right mind?" she demanded smilingly.

"Have to ask your pardon if I was rude," he said, meeting her smile.
"But the fact is it was such a surprise I couldn't take it in."

"This gentleman is the nephew of the Mr. Cunningham who was killed. He
thought it was his uncle who had married Miss Harriman," the mother
explained to Ellen.

The girl turned to Kirby. "You know I've wondered about that myself.
The society columns of the papers said it was the older Mr. Cunningham
that was going to marry her. And I've seen, since your uncle's death,
notices in the paper about his engagement to Miss Harriman. But I
thought it must have been a mistake, since it was the younger Mr.
Cunningham she did marry. Maybe