“Then, in that case, it’s the cleverest kind of an alibi he could invent, for it stamps him innocent at once.”

“Oh, come, now, that’s going pretty far; but I will say, Burroughs, that you haven’t the least shred of proof against Hall, and you know it.  Prejudice and unfounded suspicion and even a strong desire that he should be the villain, are all very well.  But they won’t go far as evidence in a court of law.”

I was forced to admit that Parmalee was right, and that so far I had no proof whatever that Gregory Hall was at all implicated in Mr. Crawford’s death.  To be sure he might have worn a yellow rose, and he might have brought the late newspaper, but there was no evidence to connect him with those clues, and too, there was the gold bag.  It was highly improbable that that should have been brought to the office and left there by a man.

However, I persuaded Parmalee to agree not to carry the matter to Mr. Goodrich until I had had one more interview with Miss Lloyd, and I promised to undertake that the next morning.

After Parmalee had gone, I indulged in some very gloomy reflections.  Everything seemed to point one way.  Every proof, every suspicion and every hint more or less implicated Miss Lloyd.

But the more I realized this, the more I determined to do all I could for her, and as to do this, I must gain her confidence, and even liking, I resolved to approach the subject the next day with the utmost tactfulness and kindliness, hoping by this means to induce the truth from her.

The next morning I started on my mission with renewed hopefulness.  Reaching the Crawford house, I asked for Miss Lloyd, and I was shown into a small parlor to wait for her.  It was a sort of morning room, a pretty little apartment that I had not been in before; and it was so much more cheerful and pleasant than the stately library, I couldn’t help hoping that Miss Lloyd, too, would prove more amenable than she had yet been.

She soon came in, and though I was beginning to get accustomed to the fact that she was a creature of variable moods, I was unprepared for this one.  Her hauteur had disappeared; she was apparently in a sweet and gentle frame of mind.  Her large dark eyes were soft and gentle, and though her red lips quivered, it was not with anger or disdain as they had done the day before.  She wore a plain white morning gown, and a long black necklace of small beads.  The simplicity of this costume suited her well, and threw into relief her own rich coloring and striking beauty.

She greeted me more pleasantly than she had ever done before, and I couldn’t help feeling that the cheerful sunny little room had a better effect on her moods than the darker furnishings of the library.

“I wish,” I began, “that we had not to talk of anything unpleasant this morning.  I wish there were no such thing as untruth or crime in the world, and that I were calling on you, as an acquaintance, as a friend might call.”