either of us."

Of course, this was significant, but in no way decisive. Granting that
Miss Lloyd could have been the criminal, it would have been possible
for her secretly to procure a revolver, and secretly to dispose of it
afterward. Then, too, a small revolver had been used. To be sure,
this did not necessarily imply that a woman had used it, but, taken in
connection with the bag and the rose petals, it gave food for thought.

But the coroner seemed to think Mrs. Pierce's assertions greatly in
Miss Lloyd's favor, and, being at the end of his list of witnesses, he
inquired if any one else in the room knew of anything that could throw
light on the matter.

No one responded to this invitation, and the coroner then directed the
jury to retire to find a verdict. The six men passed into another room,
and I think no one who awaited their return apprehended any other result
than the somewhat unsatisfactory one of "person or persons unknown."

And this was what the foreman announced when the jury returned after
their short collocation.

Then, as a jury, they were dismissed, but from that moment the mystery
of Joseph Crawford's death became the absorbing thought of all West
Sedgwick.

"The murderer of my brother shall be found and brought to justice!"
declared Philip Crawford, and all present seemed to echo his vow.

Then and there, Mr. Crawford retained Lawyer Randolph to help him
in running down the villain, and, turning to me, asked to engage my
services also.

To this, I readily agreed, for I greatly desired to go on with the
matter, and cared little whether I worked for an individual or for the
State.

Of course Mr. Crawford's determination to find the murderer proved anew
his conviction that Florence Lloyd was above all suspicion, but in the
face of certain details of the evidence so far, I could not feel so
absolutely certain of this.

However, it was my business to follow up every clue, or apparent clue,
and every bit of evidence, and this I made up my mind to do, regardless
of consequences.

I confess it was difficult for me to feel regardless of consequences,
for I had a haunting fear that the future was going to look dark for
Florence Lloyd. And if it should be proved that she was in any way
responsible for or accessory to this crime, I knew I should wish I had
had nothing to do with discovering that fact. But back of this was an
undefined but insistent conviction that the girl was innocent, and
that