was very dictatorial, and besides she loved her own children better
than Mr. Langmore's."

"Let me ask, was the daughter on good terms with her father?"

"Yes, excepting on one point. He wished her to obey her stepmother and
that she was not always willing to do. This brought on a run of petty
quarrels which fairly made Margaret sick."

"And this is the reason why the police think Miss Langmore the guilty
person?"

"It is. Their theory is that she first quarrelled with her stepmother
and murdered her, and then struck down her father to cover her guilt,
he having discovered what she was doing."

"How old is Miss Langmore?"

"She has just passed her twenty-third birthday."

"Humph! Rather young to commit such a cold-blooded crime as this."

"She never did do it--I'll wager my life on it! Oh, it's
absurd--insulting! But what are you going to do with a lot of
pig-headed country police--"

"How did they come to suspect her? Was there nothing else?"

"Yes, there was. Mrs. Bardon, the woman who lives next door, is a
great gossip and one who is continually poking her nose into other