ar them within the
time necessary to murder them. No wonder the coroner says it is simply
a case of asphyxiation. No wonder the district attorney is at his wits'
end. You fellows have hounded them with your hypotheses until they can't
see the facts straight. You suggest one solution and before-"

The door-bell sounded insistently, and without waiting for an answer a
tall, spare, loose-jointed individual stalked in and laid a green bag on
the table.

"Good evening, Professor Kennedy," he began brusquely. "I am District
Attorney Whitney, of Westchester. I see you have been reading up on the
case. Quite right."

"Quite wrong," answered Craig. "Let me introduce my friend, Mr. Jameson,
of the Star. Sit down. Jameson knows what I think of the way the
newspapers have handled this case. I was about to tell him as you came
in that I intended to disregard everything that had been printed, to
start out with you as if it were a fresh subject and get the facts at
first hand. Let's get right down to business. First tell us just how it
was that Miss Wainwright and Mr. Templeton were discovered and by whom."

The district attorney loosened the cords of the green bag and drew out a
bundle of documents. "I'll read you the affidavit of the maid who
found them," he said, fingering the documents nervously. "You see, John
Templeton had left his office in New York early that afternoon, telling
his father that he was going to visit Miss Wainwright. He caught
the three-twenty train, reached Williston all right, walked to the
Wainwright house, and, in spite of the bustle of preparation for the
wedding, the next day, he spent the rest of the afternoon with Miss
Wainwright. That's where the mystery begins. They had no visitors. At
least, the maid who answers the bell says they had none. She was busy
with the rest of the family, and I believe the front door was not
locked--we don't lock our doors in Williston, except at night."

He had found the paper and paused to impress these facts on our minds.

"Mrs. Wainwright and Miss Marian Wainwright, the sister, were busy about
the house. Mrs. Wainwright wished to consult Laura about something. She
summoned the maid and asked if Mr. Templeton and Miss Wainwright were
in the house. The maid replied that she would see, and this is her
affidavit. Ahem! I'll skip the legal part: 'I knocked at the library
door twice, but obtaining no answer, I supposed they had gone out for
a walk or perhaps a ride acros