"Everybody's doing it," said Mr. Howell idly.

"The Shuberts were to star him in this," I put in. "He said that the
climax at the end of the second act--"

Mr. Holcombe shut his note-book with a snap. "After we have finished
gossiping," he said, "I'll go on."

"'Employing his leisure time in writing a play--'" quoted Mr. Howell.

"Exactly. 'The husband and wife were not on good terms. They quarreled
frequently. On Sunday they fought all day, and Mrs. Ladley told Mrs.
Pitman she was married to a fiend. At four o'clock Sunday afternoon,
Philip Ladley went out, returning about five. Mrs. Pitman carried
their supper to them at six, and both ate heartily. She did not see
Mrs. Ladley at the time, but heard her in the next room. They were
apparently reconciled: Mrs. Pitman reports Mr. Ladley in high good
humor. If the quarrel recommenced during the night, the other boarder,
named Reynolds, in the next room, heard nothing. Mrs. Pitman was up
and down until one o'clock, when she dozed off. She heard no unusual
sound.

"'At approximately two o'clock in the morning, however, this Reynolds
came to the room, and said he had heard some one in a boat in the
lower hall. He and Mrs. Pitman investigated. The boat which Mrs.
Pitman uses during a flood, and which she had tied to the stair-rail,
was gone, having been cut loose, not untied. Everything else was
quiet, except that Mrs. Ladley's dog had been shut in a third-story
room.