consequence of a mistaken act."

"And yet we have the strongest testimony that he has tried to
conceal a murder--whether committed by himself, or somebody else, we
cannot yet say."

"I only hope and pray, for all our sakes, that you will find him,"
she replied, "but if, indeed, he has been betrayed into such an
awful crime, I do not think you will find him."

"Why not, Miss Reed? But I think I know. What is in your mind has
already passed through my own. The thought of suicide."

She nodded and put her handkerchief to her eyes.

"Yes; if poor Bob lost himself and then found himself and discovered
that he had killed an innocent man in a moment of passion, he would,
if I know him, do one of two things--either give himself up
instantly and explain all that had happened, or else destroy himself
as quickly as he could."

"Motive is not always adequate," Brendon told them. "A swift,
passing storm of temper has often destroyed a life with no more evil
intent than a flash of lightning. In this case, only such a storm
seems to be the explanation. But how a man of the Pendean type could
have provoked such a storm I have yet to learn. So far the testimony
of Mrs. Pendean and the assurances of Inspector Halfyard at
Princetown indicate an amiable and quiet person, slow to anger.
Inspector Halfyard knew him quite well at the Moss Depôt, where he
worked through two years of the war. He was apparently not a man to