"No, sir."
"Was the door closed?"
"Yes, sir."
"That of itself would probably prevent your
hearing anything. Mrs. Brown, at what hour
did you leave the house?"
"At ten minutes of twelve."
"It is now five minutes of one. The deed
must have been committed just after you left
the house. Had you noticed anything out of
the way in your--husband's manner?"
"No, sir, not much. He was always a silent man."
"Had anything happened to disturb him?"
"He got a letter this morning. I don't know
what was in it."
"We had better search for it."
The body was taken down and laid on the
bed. Dr. Park searched the pockets, and
found a half sheet of note paper, on which
these lines were written:
"Maria:--I have made up my mind I can
ive no longer. I have made a terrible
discovery. When I married you, I thought my
first wife, who deserted me four years ago,
dead. I learn by a letter received this morning
that she is still living in a town of Illinois.
The only thing I can do is to free you
both from my presence. When you come back
from the store you will find me cold and dead.
The little that I leave behind I give to you. If
my first wife should come here, as she threatens,
you can tell her so. Good-by.
"William."
The reading of this letter made a sensation.
Mrs. Brown went into hysterics, and there was
a scene of confusion.
"Do you think I can go?" Carl asked Dr. Park.
"Yes. There is nothing to connect you with the sad event."
Carl gladly left the cottage, and it was only
when he was a mile on his way that he remembered
that he had not paid for his dinner, after all.
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