"What is it? Show it to me." "All in good time, Steel. I must first know what you think of the matter." "I think that this woman is guilty." "Oh, you do, do you. Humph! And I thought you clever. How easily one can be deceived! However, you can sit down and tell me your grounds for this preposterous belief." Steel hesitated. In all his career--and it had been a varied one--he had never met before with anyone like this determined old dame. She took possession of him in the calmest way, and was evidently bent upon pumping him dry before he left the house. As a rule Steel was not a man to be pumped, but after some reflection he concluded that it was just as well to use a sprat to catch a mackerel. In plain English, he determined, with reservations, to gratify Mrs. Parry's curiosity, so that he might get a sight of what she had to show him. If he were reticent, she would show him nothing; whereas if he told her all about the evidence at the inquest--and that was public property--she would certainly open her mind to him. Moreover, Steel knew the value of having a gossip like Mrs. Parry to aid him in gaining knowledge of the neighborhood. Finally, he saw that she was a shrewd, matter-of-fact old person, and for the sake of making his work easy it would be as well to conciliate her. He therefore sat down with a cheerful air, and prepared himself for an interesting conversation. "I shall be perfectly candid with you," said he, taking out his notes. "These are the memoranda I made at the inquest." "Humph! You have a bad memory I see. I," said Mrs. Parry, with emphasis, "I carry all I know in my head. Go on." Steel detailed the facts of the case. He related the threat of Anne against Daisy overheard by Mrs. Morley; read out a copy of the anonymous letter; emphasized the presence of Anne in the library for the few minutes Morley was absent, when she would have had time to secure the stiletto; and explained how Morley had found the very weapon near the scene of the crime. Then he continued to relate what took place in church during the midnight service. "Martha James," said he, "was sitting not far from Miss Kent. The corner was rather dark----" "The whole church is badly lighted," interrupted Mrs. Parry. "I never could bear smelly kerosene lamps." "The corner was dark," resumed Steel patiently, "and Martha, as she says, having a headache, was rather inattentive to the sermon. She saw a man near the door--a tall man, with a great-coat and a white scarf. She couldn't see his face plainly. He slipped along the wall during the sermon, when the attention of everyone was fixed on the preacher, and--as Martha saw--slipped a scrap of paper into the hand of Miss Kent. She started, and bending towards a near lamp, read the paper." "Did anyone else see her read it?" "No. She placed the paper in her prayer-book, and so contrived to read it without exciting suspicion. Martha saw the action, because she was well placed for observation."