re that shot was fired. Some one else--some one
whose breath still lingered in the air about me--had extinguished
this candle-flame after she fell, and the death I looked down upon
was not a suicide, but a murder.

The excitement which this discovery caused to tingle through my
every nerve had its birth in the ambitious feeling referred to in
the opening paragraph of this narrative. I believed that my
long-sought-for opportunity had come; that with the start given me
by the conviction just stated, I should be enabled to collect such
clues and establish such facts as would lead to the acceptance of
this new theory instead of the apparent one of suicide embraced by
Hibbard and about to be promulgated at police headquarters. If so,
what a triumph would be mine; and what a debt I should owe to the
crabbed old gentleman whose seemingly fantastic fears had first
drawn me to this place!

Realizing the value of the opportunity afforded me by the few
minutes I was likely to spend alone on this scene of crime, I
proceeded to my task with that directness and method which I had
always promised myself should characterize my first success in
detective work.

First, then, for another look at the fair young victim herself!
What a line of misery on the brow! What dark hollows disfiguring
cheeks otherwise as delicate as the petals of a rose! An interesting,
if not absolutely beautiful face, it told me something I could hardly
put into words; so that it was like leaving a fascinating but
unsolved mystery when I finally turned from it to study the hands,
each of which presented a separate problem. That offered by the
right wrist you already know--the long white ribbon connecting it
with the discharged pistol. But the secret concealed by the left,
while less startling, was perhaps fully as significant. All the
rings were gone, even the wedding ring which had been placed there
such a short time before. Had she been robbed? There were no signs
of violence visible nor even such disturbances as usually follow
despoliation by a criminal's hand. The boa of delicate black net
which encircled her neck rose fresh and intact to her chin; nor did
the heavy folds of her rich broadcloth gown betray that any
disturbance had taken place in her figure after its fall. If a jewel
had flashed at her throat, or earrings adorned her ears, they had
been removed by a careful, if not a loving, hand. But I was rather
inclined to think that she had