itesimal fraction of a
second, but which had left its indelible mark upon the face, otherwise
so placid and so still."

"The body of the deceased was conveyed to the mortuary. So far, of
course, not a soul had been able to identify her, or to throw the
slightest light upon the mystery which hung around her death.

"Against that, quite a crowd of idlers--genuinely interested or
not--obtained admission to view the body, on the pretext of having lost
or mislaid a relative or a friend. At about 8.30 p.m. a young man, very
well dressed, drove up to the station in a hansom, and sent in his card
to the superintendent. It was Mr. Hazeldene, shipping agent, of 11,
Crown Lane, E.C., and No. 19, Addison Row, Kensington.

"The young man looked in a pitiable state of mental distress; his hand
clutched nervously a copy of the _St. James's Gazette_, which contained
the fatal news. He said very little to the superintendent except that a
person who was very dear to him had not returned home that evening.

"He had not felt really anxious until half an hour ago, when suddenly he
thought of looking at his paper. The description of the deceased lady,
though vague, had terribly alarmed him. He had jumped into a hansom, and
now begged permission to view the body, in order that his worst fears
might be allayed.

"You know what followed, of course," continued the man in the corner,
"the grief of the young man was truly pitiable. In the woman lying there
in a public mortuary before him, Mr. Hazeldene had recognized his wife.

"I am waxing melodramatic," said the man in the corner, who looked up at
Polly with a mild and gentle smile, while his nervous fingers vainly
endeavoured to add another knot on the scrappy bit of string with which
he was continually playing, "and I fear that the whole story savours of
the penny novelette, but you must admit, and no doubt you remember, that
it was an intensely pathetic and truly dramatic moment.

"The unfortunate young husband of the deceased lady was not much worried
with questions that night. As a matter of fact, he was not in a fit
condition to make any coherent statement. It was at the coroner's
inquest on the following day that certain facts came to light, which for
the time being seemed to clear up the mystery surrounding Mrs.
Hazeldene's death, only to plunge that same mystery, later on, into
denser gloom than before.

"The first witness at the inquest was, of course, Mr. Hazeldene himself.
I