Max was not without hope that the answer might give him a clue to
something more.

"I couldn't bear it any longer. She has been different lately. She has
left me alone for days together, and besides--besides--she has been
changed, unkind, since Christmas."

Now Max remembered that it was on Christmas Eve that he had met Mrs.
Higgs in the barn at The Beeches; and he wondered whether that amiable
lady had visited upon Carrie her displeasure on finding that he had
escaped alive from the wharf by the docks.

"I believe," said he, suddenly, "that it was your precious Mrs. Higgs
that murdered the man. I'm quite sure she's capable of it, or of any
other villainy."

Carrie leaned forward and looked at him earnestly.

"But what should he want to shelter Mrs. Higgs for, if _she_ had
done it?"

And to this Max could find no answer.

"And why, if he had nothing to do with the murder, should he be so much
afraid of Mrs. Higgs that he steals away by himself to see her when she
sends him a message?"

Max sprang up.