with it my old ardor for
clues. The bed held no gaping, chattering criminal; yet was it not
quite empty. Something lay there, and this something, while
commonplace in itself, was enough out of keeping with the place and
hour to rouse my interest and awaken my conjectures. It was a lady's
wrap so rich in quality and of such a festive appearance that it was
astonishing to find it lying in a neglected state in this crumbling
old house. Though I know little of the cost of women's garments, I
do know the value of lace, and this garment was covered with it.

Interesting as was this find, it was followed by one still more so.
Nestled in the folds of the cloak, lay the withered remains of what
could only have been the bridal bouquet. Unsightly now and
scentless, it was once a beautiful specimen of the florist's art.
As I noted how the main bunch of roses and lilies was connected by
long satin ribbons to the lesser clusters which hung from it, I
recalled with conceivable horror the use to which a similar ribbon
had been put in the room below. In the shudder called up by this
coincidence I forgot to speculate how a bouquet carried by the
bride could have found its way back to this upstairs room when, as
all accounts agree, she had fled from the parlor below without
speaking or staying foot the moment she was told of the catastrophe
which had taken place in the library. That her wrap should be lying
here was not strange, but that the wedding bouquet--

That it really was the wedding bouquet and that this was the room
in which the bride had dressed for the ceremony was apparent to the
most casual observer. But it became an established fact when in my
further course about the room I chanced on a handkerchief with the
name Veronica embroidered in one corner.

This handkerchief had an interest apart from the name on it. It was
of dainty texture and quite in keeping, so far as value went, with
the other belongings of its fastidious owner. But it was not clean.
Indeed it was strangely soiled, and this soil was of a nature I did
not readily understand. A woman would doubtless have comprehended
immediately the cause of the brown streaks I found on it, but it took
me several minutes to realize that this bit of cambric, delicate as
a cobweb, had been used to remove dust. To remove dust! Dust from
what? From the mantel-shelf probably, upon one end of which I found
it. But no! one look along the polished boards convinced m