第9章

ButMr。Gryce，whodiscernedtidingsinthebereavedfather’sface，wasallalacrityinaninstant。Greetinghisvisitorwithasmilewhichfewcouldseewithouttrustingtheman，heexplainedtheinspector’sabsenceandintroducedhimselfinhisowncapacity。

Mr。Challonerhadheardofhim。Nevertheless，hedidnotseeminclinedtospeak。

Mr。GrycemotionedSweetwaterfromtheroom。Withawoefullooktheyoungdetectivewithdrew，hislastglancecastatthecutterstilllyinginfullviewonthetable。

Mr。Gryce，notunmindfulhimselfofthisobject，tookitup，thenlaiditdownagain，withanairofseemingabstraction。

Thefather’sattentionwascaught。”Whatisthat?”hecried，advancingastepandbestowingmorethananordinaryglanceattheobjectthusbroughtcasually，asitwere，tohisnotice。”Isurelyrecognisethiscutter。Doesitbelonghereor-”

Mr。Gryce，observingtheother’s，emotion，motionedhimtoachair。

Ashisvisitorsankintoit，heremarked，withalltheconsiderationexactedbythesituation：”Itisunknownproperty，Mr。Challoner。Butwehavesomereasontothinkitbelongedtoyourdaughter。Arewecorrectinthissurmise?”Ihaveseenit，oronelikeit，ofteninherhand。”Herehiseyessuddenlydilatedandthehandstretchedforthtograspitquicklydrewback。”Where-wherewasitfound?”hehoarselydemanded。”0

God！amItobecrushedtotheveryearthbysorrow！”

Mr。Grycehastenedtogivehimsuchreliefaswasconsistentwiththetruth。”Itwaspickedup-lastnight-fromthelobbyfloor。Thereisseeminglynothingtoconnectitwithherdeath。Yet-”

Thepausewaseloquent。Mr。Challonergavethedetectiveanagonisedlookandturnedwhitetothelips。Thengradually，asthesilencecontinued，hisheadfellforward，andhemutteredalmostunintelligibly：”Ihonestlybelieveherthevictimofsomeheartlessstranger。I

donow；but-butIcannotmisleadthepolice。AtanycostImustretractastatementImadeunderfalseimpressionsandwithnodesiretodeceive。IsaidthatIknewallofthegentlemenwhoadmiredherandaspiredtoherhand，andthattheywereallreputablemenandabovecommittingacrimeofthisoranyotherkind。ButitseemsthatIdidnotknowhersecretheartasthoroughlyasIhadsupposed。AmonghereffectsIhavejustcomeuponabatchofletters-lovelettersIamforcedtoacknowledge-signedbyinitialstotallystrangetome。Thelettersaremanlyintone-mostofthem-butone-””Whatabouttheone?””Showsthatthewriterwasdispleased。Itmaymeannothing，butI

couldnotletthemattergowithoutsettingmyselfrightwiththeauthorities。Ifitmightbeallowedtoresthere-ifthoseletterscanremainsacred，itwouldsavemetheadditionalpangofseeingherinmostconcerns-thesecretandholiestrecessesofawoman’sheart，laidopentothepublic。For，fromthetenorofmostoftheseletters，she-shewasnotaversetothewriter。”

Mr。Grycemovedalittlerestlesslyinhischairandstaredhardatthecuttersoconvenientlyplacedunderhiseye。Thenhismannersoftenedandheremarked：”Wewilldowhatwecan。Butyoumustunderstandthatthematterisnotasimpleone。That，infact，itcontainsmysterieswhichdemandpoliceinvestigation。Wedonotdaretotriflewithanyofthefacts。

Theinspector，and，ifnothe，thecoroner，willhavetobetoldabouttheselettersandwillprobablyasktoseethem。””Theyarethelettersofagentleman。””Withtheoneexception。””Yes，thatisunderstood。”Theninasuddenheatandwithanalmostsublimetrustinhisdaughternotwithstandingtheduplicityhehadjustdiscovered：”Nothing-notthestorytoldbytheseletters，orthesightofthatsturdypaper-cutterwithitslongandveryslenderblade，willmakemebelievethatshewillinglytookherownlife。Youdonotknow，cannotknow，theraredelicacyofhernature。Shewasaladythroughandthrough。Ifshehadmeditateddeath-ifthebreachsuggestedbytheoneletterIhavementioned，shouldhavesopreyeduponherspiritsastoleadhertobreakheroldfather’sheartandoutragethefeelingsofallwhoknewher，shecouldnot，beingthewomanshewas，chooseapublicplaceforsuchanact-anhotelwriting-room-infaceofalobbyfullofhurryingmen。Itwasoutofnature。Everyonewhoknowsherwilltellyouso。Thedeedwasanaccident-incredible-butstillanaccident。”

Mr。Grycehadrespectforthisoutburst。Makingnoattempttoanswerit，hesuggested，withsomehesitation，thatMissChallonerhadbeenseenwritingaletterprevioustotakingthosefatalstepsfromthedeskwhichendedsotragically。Wasthislettertooneofherladyfriends，asreported，andwasitasfarfromsuggestingtheawfultragedywhichfollowed，ashehadbeentold?”Itwasacheerfulletter。Suchaoneassheoftenwrotetoherlittleprotogeeshereandthere。Ijudgethatthiswaswrittentosomegirllikethat，forthepersonaddressedwasnotknowntohermaid，anymorethanshewastome。Itexpressedanaffectionateinterest，anditbreathedencouragement-encouragement！andshemeditatingherowndeathatthemoment！Impossible！Thatlettershouldexonerateherifnothingelsedoes。”

Mr。Grycerecalledtheincongruities，theinconsistenciesandeventhesurprisingcontradictionswhichhadoftenmarkedtheconductofmenandwomen，inhislengthyexperiencewiththestrange，thesudden，andthetragicthingsoflife，andslightlyshookhishead。

HepitiedMr。Challoner，andadmiredevenmorehiscourageinfaceoftheappallinggriefwhichhadoverwhelmedhim，buthedarednotencourageafalsehope。Thegirlhadkilledherselfandwiththisweapon。Theymightnotbeabletoproveitabsolutely，butitwasneverthelesstrue，andthisbrokenoldmanwouldsomedaybeobligedtoacknowledgeit。Butthedetectivesaidnothingofthis，andwasverypatientwiththefurtherargumentstheotheradvancedtoprovehispointandtheloftycharacterofthegirltowhom，misledbyappearance，thepoliceseemedinclinedtoattributetheawfulsinofself-destruction。

Butwhen，thistopicexhausted，Mr。Challonerrosetoleavetheroom，Mr。Gryceshowedwherehisownthoughtsstillcentred，byaskinghimthedateofthecorrespondencediscoveredbetweenhisdaughterandherunknownadmirer。”Someofthelettersweredatedlastsummer，somethisfall。Theoneyouaremostanxioustohearaboutonlyamonthback，”headded，withunconquerabledevotiontowhatheconsideredhisduty。

Mr。Grycewouldliketohavecarriedhisinquiriesfurther，butdesisted。Hisheartwasfullofcompassionforthischildlessoldman，doomedtohavehischoicestmemoriesdisturbedbycrueldoubtswhichpossiblywouldneverberemovedtohisowncompletesatisfaction。

Butwhenhewasgone，andSweetwaterhadreturned，Mr。GrycemadeithisfirstdutytocommunicatetohissuperiorsthehithertounsuspectedfactofasecretromanceinMissChalloner’sseeminglycalmandwell-guardedlife。Shehadlovedandbeenlovedbyoneofwhomherfamilyknewnothing。Andthetwohadquarrelled，ascertainletterslatelyfoundcouldbemadetoshow。