ounty. He answered my questions politely, but as briefly as possible,
and I saw that my presence, apparently, bored him, and interfered with
his duties. As I was about to go, I asked him to write the name and
address of some reliable cotton factor in my note-book, and he complied
very willingly. I then returned to the hotel, and patiently waited until
eight o'clock.

_CHAPTER III._

On going to the bank I found the three gentlemen awaiting me most
anxiously. After the usual greeting we seated ourselves at the table. I
arranged my notes for convenient reference, and began to state my
conclusions:

"Gentlemen, I have approached this case with a great deal of care, and
have given it much thought. Aside from the importance of the interests
involved, there are other reasons which render me cautious in forming
and stating an opinion; other detectives of ability and experience have
been baffled; several months have elapsed since the crimes were
committed; and, lastly, the theory upon which I have reasoned has led me
in such a direction that nothing but the strongest conviction in my own
mind would warrant me in making the statement which I am now about to
give you. Let me first, then, review the case, and show the chain of
evidence as it appears to me:

"George Gordon appears to have been a young man of more than average
ability as a bank officer; he was cautious in his habits, and at this
particular time he had recently been specially cautioned by Mr.
McGregor; consequently it is likely that he would have been unusually
careful to admit only those with whom he was very well acquainted.
Again, the position of the furniture and the appearance of the
blood-marks, show that George was standing at his desk, and that he was
struck from behind. Now, he had finished his work on the books and put
them away. What, then, was he doing? There is but one thing which throws
any light upon this subject--the bank bill which you found in his hand.
From its presence I infer that he was engaged in handling money; indeed,
I may say that he must have been either receiving it or paying it out.
That he was receiving it is not likely, for the murderer was probably
short of funds; hence I conclude that he was paying it out. It is also
clear that the amount must have been large, as shown by the denomination
of the bill--one hundred dollars.

"These facts and inferences lead me to believe that the murderer was a
personal friend of George,