"Oh, papers to destroy, and things of that sort that kept me pretty busy
until train-time."

"You walked to the depot?"

"Yes, I was too late for the hotel bus; in fact, I barely caught the
train. I just had time to jump aboard as it pulled out."

"Excuse me a moment, North!" said Moxlow as he rose from his chair.

He quitted the room and North heard him pass down the hall.

"It's a bad business," said Taylor.

"And you haven't a suspicion as to the guilty man?"

"No, as Moxlow says, we haven't a clue to go on. It's incredible though,
isn't it, that a crime like that could have been committed here almost
in broad daylight, and its perpetrator get away without leaving a trace
behind?"

"It _is_ incredible," agreed North, and they lapsed into silence.

North thought of Elizabeth. He would slip out to Idle Hour that
afternoon or evening; he couldn't leave Mount Hope without seeing her.
The coroner drummed on his desk; he wondered what had taken Moxlow from
the room in such haste. The prosecuting attorney's brisk step sounded in
the hall again, and he reëntered the room and resumed his chair.

"Just one or two more questions, North, and then I guess we'll have to