"He died this
afternoon; and a paragraph announcing his death appears in the newspaper
which we found in the victim's fur coat!"
"But how--"
"It was the only paragraph on the half-page folded outwards which was in
any sense PERSONAL. I am greatly indebted to you, Miss Cumberly; every
hour wasted on a case like this means a fresh plait in the rope around
the neck of the wrong man!"
Helen Cumberly grew slowly quite pallid.
"Good night," she said; and bowing to the detective and to the surgeon,
she prepared to depart.
Mr. Hilton touched Dr. Cumberly's arm, as he, too, was about to retire.
"May I hope," he whispered, "that you will return and give me the
benefit of your opinion in making out my report?"
Dr. Cumberly glanced at his daughter; and seeing her to be perfectly
composed:--"For the moment, I have formed no opinion, Mr. Hilton,"
he said, quietly, "not having had an opportunity to conduct a proper
examination."
Hilton bent and whispered, confidentially, in the other's ear:--
"She was drugged!"
The innuendo underlying the words struck Dr. Cumberly forcibly, and he
started back with his brows drawn together in a frown.
"Do you mean that she was addicted to the use of drugs?" he asked,
sharply; "or that the drugging took place to-night.
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