”Certainlynot，unless-well，tobedirect，unlessyouhadjustseenMissChallonerandknewherstateofmindandwhatwaslikelytofollowyourabruptdeparture。””IhadnointerviewwithMissChalloner。””Butyousawher?Sawherthateveningandjustbeforetheaccident?”Sweetwater’spapersrattled；itwastheonlysoundtobeheardinthatmomentofsilence。Then-”Whatdoyoumeanbythosewords?”
inquiredMr。Brotherson，withstudiedcomposure。”IhavesaidthatIhadnointerviewwithMissChalloner。Whydoyouaskmethen，ifIsawher?””BecauseIbelievethatyoudid。Fromadistancepossibly，butyetdirectlyandwithnopossibilityofmistake。””Doyouputthatasaquestion?””Ido。Didyouseeherfigureorfacethatnight?””Idid。”
Nothing-noteventherattlingofSweetwater’spapers-disturbedthesilencewhichfollowedthisadmission。”Fromwhere?”Dr。Heathaskedatlast。”Fromapointfarenoughawaytomakeanycommunicationbetweenusimpossible。Idonotthinkyouwillrequiremetorecalltheexactspot。””Ifitwereonewhichmadeitpossibleforhertoseeyouasclearlyasyoucouldseeher，Ithinkitwouldbeveryadvisableforyoutosayso。”
Itwas-such-aspot。’’”ThenIthinkIcanlocateitforyou，ordoyouprefertolocateityourself?””Iwilllocateitmyself。IhadhopednottobecalledupontomentionwhatIcannotbutconsideramostunfortunatecoincidence。
Asagentlemanyouwillunderstandmyreticenceandalsowhyitisamatterofregrettomethatwithanacumenworthyofyourposition，youshouldhavediscoveredafactwhich，whileitcannotexplainMissChalloner’sdeath，willdragourlittleaffairbeforethepublic，andpossiblygiveitaprominenceinsomemindswhichIamsuredoesnotbelongtoit。ImetMissChalloner’seyeforoneinstantfromthetopofthelittlestaircaserunninguptothemezzanine。IhadyieldedthusfartoanimpulseIhadfrequentlycombated，toseekbyanotherinterviewtoretrievethebadeffectwhichmusthavebeenmadeuponherbymyangrynote。Iknewthatshefrequentlywrotelettersinthemezzanineatthishour，andgotasfarasthetopofthestaircaseinmyefforttojoinher。