”Weshallneversupplythatlink。””Iquiteagreewithyou。””Thatchainwemustthrowaway。””Andforgeanother?”Sweetwaterapproachedandsatdown。”Yes；Ibelievewecandoit；yetIhaveonlyoneindisputablefactforastarter。ThatiswhyIwantyoutotellmewhetherI’mgrowingdaftorsimplyadventurous。Mr。Gryce，Idon’ttrustBrotherson。HehaspulledthewooloverDr。Heath’seyesandalmostoverthoseofMr。Challoner。Buthecan’tpullitovermine。
Thoughheshouldtellastorytentimesmoreplausiblethantheonewithwhichhehassatisfiedthecoroner’sjury，Iwouldstilllistentohimwithmoremisgivingthanconfidence。YetIhavecaughthiminnomisstatement，andhiseyeissteadierthanmyown。
Perhapsitissimplyadeeplyrootedantipathyonmypart，ortherageonefeelsatfindinghehasplacedhisfingeronthewrongman。
Againitmaybe-””What，Sweetwater?””Awell-foundeddistrust。Mr。Gryce，I’mgoingtoaskyouaquestion。””Askaway。Askfiftyifyouwantto。””No；theonemayinvolvefifty，butitisbigenoughinitselftoholdourattentionforawhile。Didyoueverhearofacasebefore，thatinsomeofitsdetailswassimilartothis?”No，itstandsalone。That’swhyitissopuzzling。””Youforget。Thewealth，beautyandsocialconsequenceofthepresentvictimhasblindedyoutothestrongresemblancewhichhercasebearstooneyouknow，inwhichthesuffererhadnoneoftheworldlyadvantagesofMissChalloner。Ialludeto-””Wait！thewasherwomaninHicksStreet！Sweetwater，whathaveyougotupyoursleeve?YoudomeanthatBrooklynwasherwoman，don’tyou?””Thesame。TheDepartmentmayhaveforgottenit，butIhaven’t。
Mr。Gryce，there’sastartlingsimilarityinthetwocasesifyoustudytheessentialfeaturesonly。Startling，Iassureyou。””Yes，youarerightthere。Butwhatifthereis?Wewerenomoresuccessfulinsolvingthatcasethanwehavebeeninsolvingthis。