“Corroborative, only corroborative, sir?  I am quite aware of that.  But what I have now to add may give it weight.  The stringing of a bow is no easy task for an amateur; nor is the discharge of an arrow, under such dangerous circumstances as marked the delivery of the one we are discussing, one which would be lightly attempted by a person altogether ignorant of archery.  However strong the evidence might be against a man who was not an utter fool, I would never have presumed to lay it out before you if I had not verified the fact that the director, whatever his life now, was once greatly addicted to sports, and thoroughly acquainted with the management of a bow and arrow.  It has taken time.  Many cablegrams were necessary, but I have at last received this copy of a report made sixteen years ago by a club in Lucerne, Switzerland, in which mention is made of a prize given to one Carleton Roberts, an American, for twelve piercings of the bull’s-eye in as many shots, in an archery-contest which included all nationalities.

“Nor is that all.  In a study of himself,—­his home, his life, his secret interests,—­we come upon things which call for closer inspection.  For instance, not a day has passed since that poor child has been in the morgue that he has not been one on the line to see her.  He dreams of her, he says; he cannot get her face out of his mind—­you notice that he has been growing gray.

“But I will stop here.  I do not wonder that you look upon all this as the ravings of a man on the verge of senility.  If I were in your place, I should undoubtedly do the same.  But ungracious as the task has proved, I owed it to myself to rid my mind of its secret burden.  It is for you to say whether, all things considered, I am to drop the matter here or proceed blindly in search of the motive lying back of every premeditated crime.  I can imagine none in this case, as I have frankly stated, save the very weak and improbable one already advanced by young Sweetwater in connection with another party upon whom he had fixed his eye—­that of the irresistible desire of an expert to test his skill with a bow which comes unexpectedly into his hands.”

“That wouldn’t apply to Roberts—­not in the least,” affirmed the Chief with the emphasis of strong conviction.  “Even if we should allow ourselves to regard these stray bits of circumstantial evidence as in any way conclusive of the extraordinary theory you have advanced, he’s much too able and cautious a man to yield to any such fool temptation as that.  But to let that matter pass for the present:  why have you paid such close attention to one end of your string, and quite ignored the other?  Madame Duclos’ hasty flight and continued absence, in face of circumstances which would lead a natural mother to break through every obstacle put in the way of her return, offers a field of inquiry more promising, it appears to me, than the one upon which you have expended your best energies.  You say nothing of her.”