I am not an inquisitive woman, but when, in the middle of a certain warm night in September, I heard a carriage draw up at the adjoining house and stop, I could not resist the temptation of leaving my...

I am not an inquisitive woman, but when, in the middle of a certain warm night in September, I heard a carriage draw up at the adjoining house and stop, I could not resist the temptation of leaving my...

As I did so, I could catch the murmur of the crowd outside as it seethed forward at the first intimation of the door being opened; but my attention was not so distracted by it, loud as it sounded afte...

There is a small room at the extremity of the Van Burnam mansion. In this I took refuge after my interview with Mr. Gryce. As I picked out the chair which best suited me and settled myself for a comfo...

“However much I may be needed at home, I cannot reconcile it with my sense of duty to leave just yet,” I confided to the reporter, with what I meant to be a proper show of reason and self-restraint; “...

I welcomed the Misses Van Burnam with just enough goodwill to show that I had not been influenced by any unworthy motives in asking them to my house. I gave them my guest-chamber, but I invited them t...

Mr. Van Burnam and his sons had gone through the formality of a supper and were conversing in the haphazard way natural to men filled with a subject they dare not discuss, when the door opened and Mr....

To return to my own observations. I was almost as ignorant of what I wanted to know at ten o’clock on that memorable night as I was at five, but I was determined not to remain so. When the two Misses ...

Late as it was when I retired, I was up betimes in the morning⁠—as soon, in fact, as the papers were distributed. The Tribune lay on the stoop. Eagerly I seized it; eagerly I read it. From its headlin...

Mr. Gryce called about nine o’clock next morning. “Well,” said he, “what about the visitor who came to see me last night?” “Like and unlike,” I answered. “Nothing could induce me to say he is the man ...

Evidently not; for the next words I heard were: “Miss Amelia Butterworth!” I had not expected to be called so soon, and was somewhat flustered by the suddenness of the summons, for I am only human. Bu...

A lady well known in New York society was the next person summoned. She was a friend of the Van Burnam family, and had known Howard from childhood. She had not liked his marriage; indeed, she rather p...

We were all by this time greatly interested in the proceedings; and when another hackman was called we recognized at once that an effort was about to be made to connect this couple with the one who ha...

The gentleman who stepped from the carriage and entered Mr. Van Burnam’s house at twelve o’clock that night produced so little impression upon me that I went to bed satisfied that no result would foll...

I went at once to a restaurant. I ate because it was time to eat, and because any occupation was welcome that would pass away the hours of waiting. I was troubled; and I did not know what to make of m...

A pause of decided duration now followed; an exasperating pause which tried even me, much as I pride myself upon my patience. There seemed to be some hitch in regard to the next witness. The Coroner s...

My cook had prepared for me a most excellent dinner, thinking that I needed all the comfort possible after a day of such trying experiences. But I ate little of it; my thoughts were too busy, my mind ...

My cook had prepared for me a most excellent dinner, thinking that I needed all the comfort possible after a day of such trying experiences. But I ate little of it; my thoughts were too busy, my mind ...

The result of this attention can be best learned from the conversation I held with Mr. Gryce the next morning. He came earlier than usual, but he found me up and stirring. “Well,” he cried, accosting ...

The verdict rendered by the Coroner’s jury showed it to be a more discriminating set of men than I had calculated upon. It was murder inflicted by a hand unknown. I was so gratified by this that I lef...

I felt that I had made an advance. It was a small one, no doubt, but it was an advance. It would not do to rest there, however, or to draw definite conclusions from what I had seen without further fac...

I was so excited when I entered my carriage that I rode all the way home with my bonnet askew and never knew it. When I reached my room and saw myself in the glass, I was shocked, and stole a glance a...

The test of which I speak was as follows: I would advertise for a person dressed as I believed Mrs. Van Burnam to have been when she left the scene of crime. If I received news of such a person, I mig...

The next day at noon Lena brought me up a card on her tray. It was a perfectly blank one. “Miss Van Burnam’s maid said you sent for this,” was her demure announcement. “Miss Van Burnam’s maid is right...

From Mrs. Desberger’s I rode immediately to Miss Althorpe’s, for the purpose of satisfying myself at once as to the presence there of the unhappy fugitive I was tracing. Six o’clock Sunday night is no...

I did not return immediately to my patient. I waited till her supper came up. Then I took the tray, and assured by the face of the girl who brought it that Miss Althorpe had explained my presence in h...

Had Mr. Gryce been present, I would have instantly triumphed over my disappointment, bottled up my chagrin, and been the inscrutable Amelia Butterworth before he could say, “Something has gone wrong w...

At seven o’clock the next morning my patient was resting so quietly that I considered it safe to leave her for a short time. So I informed Miss Althorpe that I was obliged to go downtown on an importa...

I gave a low cry and rushed down the steps. “Don’t go!” I called out to the driver. “I shall want you in ten minutes.” And hurrying back, I ran upstairs in a condition of mind such as I have no reason...

One incident more and this portion of my story is at an end. My poor patient, sicker than she had been the night before, left me but little leisure for thought or action disconnected with my care for ...

“Madam, I hope I see you satisfied?” This was Mr. Gryce’s greeting as he entered my parlor on that memorable morning. “Satisfied?” I repeated, rising and facing him with what he afterwards described a...

“Madam, I hope I see you satisfied?” This was Mr. Gryce’s greeting as he entered my parlor on that memorable morning. “Satisfied?” I repeated, rising and facing him with what he afterwards described a...

I had exhausted my wonder, so I accepted this statement with no more display of surprise than a grim smile. “When you failed to identify Howard Van Burnam as the man who accompanied his wife into the ...

“O perfectly!” I assented, with just the shade of irony necessary to rob the assertion of its mendacity. “But go on, go on. You have not begun to satisfy me yet. You did not stop with finding a motive...

The surprise which this very simple question occasioned, showed itself differently in the two men who heard it. The Inspector, who had never seen me before, simply stared, while Mr. Gryce, with that a...

Mr. Gryce possesses one faculty for which I envy him, and that is his skill in the management of people. He had not been in Miss Althorpe’s house five minutes before he had won her confidence and had ...

“She is more unfortunate than wicked,” was Mr. Gryce’s comment as we stepped into the hall. “Nevertheless, watch her closely, for she is in just the mood to do herself a mischief. In an hour, or at th...

It was a new thing for me to enter into any scheme blindfold. But the past few weeks had taught me many lessons and among them to trust a little in the judgment of others. Accordingly I was on hand wi...

I was as much surprised at this result of Mr. Gryce’s scheme as he was, and possibly I was more chagrined. But I shall not enter into my feelings on the subject, or weary you any further with my conje...

I was as much surprised at this result of Mr. Gryce’s scheme as he was, and possibly I was more chagrined. But I shall not enter into my feelings on the subject, or weary you any further with my conje...

But before she was well in, her countenance changed. “No,” said she, “I want to think first. Give me time to think. I dare not say a word without thinking.” “Truth needs no consideration. If you wish ...

The events just related did not come to my knowledge for some days after they occurred, but I have recorded them at this time that I might in some way prepare you for an interview which shortly after ...

As I parted with Miss Oliver on Mrs. Desberger’s stoop and did not visit her again in that house, I will introduce the report of a person better situated than myself to observe the girl during the nex...

I do not attend weddings in general, but great as my suspense was in reference to Miss Oliver, I felt that I could not miss seeing Miss Althorpe married. I had ordered a new dress for the occasion, an...

It was hours before I found myself able to realize that the scene I had just witnessed had a deeper and much more dreadful significance than appeared to the general eye, and that Ruth Oliver, in her d...

They tell me that Mr. Gryce has never been quite the same man since the clearing up of this mystery; that his confidence in his own powers is shaken, and that he hints, more often than is agreeable to...

Why could he not have said Miss Butterworth? These Van Burnams are proud, most vilely proud as the poet has it. —⁠A. B. ↩ As was asserted by her husband in his sworn examination. ↩ This was so probabl...