The Washington times., 1913-04-15
CHAPTER XIV.
Dr.. Crow Forgets.

EFFREY stopped there. and for Q
while We just sat looking at each
other. The links connected, 1t
seemed to me, Into perfect chain
of unacceptable inferences. Crow, on re-
sewing Jeffrey's note In order to make
sure Of avoiding even a chance meeting
between him and Miss Meredith, had
sent her OF to Beech Hill.
The escapades Of the baby raccoon
made it plain that the occupants of the
stateroom next to Jeffrey's were Miss
Meredith and her companion. 1t was
from that stateroom that the insane
laughter which Mortified Jefrerey had is
sued. and the words: She is dead! 1
killed herr
The nurses action in countermanding
her mistress invitation to lunch made
Il evident enough who the maniac was
that had made that confession. And
then there was the skiff, the unlocked
boathouse. the long painter cut where
the forward end OF 1t had been tied
round a thwart.
would laugh at it But see' how well 1t
htted in Then / recalled the gossip
about the Meredith family that Jeffrey
had extracted from the driver who took
him out to Beech Hill-the brilliant.
highly bred, willful Merediths, with the
streak almost of insanity that cropped
up here and there; of Claire's artist
father and her peasant mother; of the
strange life the girl must have led; Of
the girls disappearance over there in
Paris. and Miss Meredith's return with
the announcement she was dead.
How had the streak cropped I'D in
Claire herself? What il Jeffrey's
theory was right, was the cause of
her appearance in New York under
another name, and of the tragedy that
led to the finding of the body in the
river and the maniacal confession
Jeffrey overheard through the thin
partition between the two state
incidents wove into a pattern that
was plain enough to read and grim
enough, / thought.
glanced around at Jeffrey, who
stood at the window looking out at
the fading, electric-lighted city twi-
light, and the uncanny, almost fear of
him that SO often came over me came
back again. How had he managed,
amid the maze of misleading circum-
stances. to dissentangle the true
threads of the mystery?
Well" said j. catching at Rich
ards phrase, Il don't see how you do
T. but there's no doubt you've done
1t again"
Jeffrey wheeled around. Done
whatT" he asked.
Solved the mystery Of the girl in
the ice
Jeffrey shook his head soberly.
That's just what i haven't done"
said he: Il never was more puzzled
in my life"
Not all the details, I'll admit" said
I; but the main facts of it certainly
What was Richards phrase? You've
got a confession and a motive'-that
is, IL you call a maniacal impulse a
motive. And you've got a mass of
corroborating circumstances"
so had Richards" said Jeffrey
"And yet 1 haven't got the real
answer any more than he had / told
you the truth just now when I saId
] never was more puzzled in my life"
We'll. may be stupid" said /, but
II looks pretty complete tos me-"
pretty complete" echoed Jeffrey
grimIy. That's the secret Of all Rich
ards mistakes. His cases are all pretty
complete. But, Drew, no case is com
plete 30 long as it contains one single
circumstance that contradicts the rest.
II isn't complete urti' everything fits
everything"
"Weil." said I. what is there here
that doesn't fit?"
do you remember what the insane
voice said In the stateroom? I killed