The piece of evidence you mention, Doctor Stewart's story,
is one of those things we have to take cautiously: the doctor has
a patient who wears black and does not raise her veil.
Why, it is the typical mysterious lady! Then the good doctor
comes across Arnold Armstrong, who was a graceless scamp--de
mortuis--what's the rest of it?--and he is quarreling with a
lady in black. Behold, says the doctor, they are one and the
same."
"Why was Mr. Bailey not present at the inquest?"
The detective's expression was peculiar.
"Because his physician testified that he is ill, and unable to
leave his bed."
"Ill!" I exclaimed. "Why, neither Halsey nor Gertrude has told
me that."
"There are more things than that, Miss Innes, that are puzzling.
Bailey gives the impression that he knew nothing of the crash at
the bank until he read it in the paper Monday night, and that he
went back and surrendered himself immediately. I do not believe
it. Jonas, the watchman at the Traders' Bank, tells a different
story. He says that on the Thursday night before, about eight-
thirty, Bailey went back to the bank. Jonas admitted him, and he
says the cashier was in a state almost of collapse. Bailey
worked until midnight, then he closed the vault and went away.
The occurrence was so unusual that the watchman pondered
over it an the rest of the night. What did Bailey do when he
went back to the Knickerbocker apartments that night? He packed
a suit-case ready for instant departure.
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