complications--I recognized that at once, and that is
why--but I won't waste another moment in apologies. You have a right to
any little fact I may have picked up in my unfortunate visit, and there
is one which I failed to find included in any account of the murder. Mr.
Adams had other visitors besides myself in those few fatal minutes
preceding his death. A young man and woman were with him. I saw them
come out of the house. It was at the moment I was passing----"

"Tell your story more simply, Miss Butterworth. What first drew your
attention to the house?"

"There! That is the second time you have had to remind me to be more
direct. You will not have to do so again, Mr. Gryce. To begin, then, I
noticed the house, because I always notice it. I never pass it without
giving a thought to its ancient history and indulging in more or less
speculation as to its present inmates. When, therefore, I found myself
in front of it yesterday afternoon on my way to the art exhibition, I
naturally looked up, and--whether by an act of providence or not, I
cannot say--it was precisely at that instant the inner door of the
vestibule burst open, and a young man appeared in the hall, carrying a
young woman in his arms. He seemed to be in a state of intense
excitement, and she in a dead faint; but before they had attracted the
attention of the crowd, he had placed her on her feet, and, taking her
on his arm, dragged her down the stoop and into the crowd of passers-by,
among whom they presently disappeared. I, as you may believe, stood
rooted to the ground in my astonishment, and not only endeavored to see
in what direction they went, but lingered long enough to take a peep
into the time-honored interior of this old house, which had been left
open to view by the young man's forgetting to close the front door
behind him. As I did so, I heard a cry from within. It was muffled and
remote, but unmistakably one of terror and anguish: and, led by an
impulse I may live to regret, as it seems likely to plunge me into much
unpleasantness, I rushed up the stoop and went in, shutting the door
behind me, lest others should be induced to follow.

"So far, I had acted solely from instinct; but once in that semi-dark
hall, I paused and asked what business I had there, and what excuse I
should give for my intrusion if I encountered one or more of the
occupants of the house. But a repetition of the cry, coming as I am
ready to swear from the farthest room