"At the moment," replied the French detective, "I am not prepared to say who committed the deed. That is a matter of detail. Now, let us see what we know, and arrive, from that, at what we do not know. The one fact, of which we are assured on the statement of two physicians from Cincinnati, is that Mr. Brenton was poisoned." "Well," said Speed, "there are several other facts, too. Another fact is that Mrs. Brenton is accused of the crime." "Ah! my dear sir," said Lecocq, "that is not pertinent." "No," said Speed, "I agree with you. I call it very impertinent." Brenton frowned, at this, and his old dislike to the flippant Chicago man rose to the surface again. The Frenchman continued marking the points on his long forefinger. "Now, there are two ways by which that result may have been attained. First, Mr. Brenton may have administered to himself the poison; secondly, the poison may have been administered by some one else." "Yes," said Speed; "and, thirdly, the poison may have been administered accidentally--you do not seem to take that into account." "I do not take that into account," calmly replied the Frenchman, "because of its improbability. If there were an accident; if, for instance, the poison was in the sugar, or in some of the viands served, then others than Mr. Brenton would have been poisoned. The fact that one man out of twenty-six was poisoned, and the fact that several people are to benefit by his death, point, it seems to me, to murder; but to be sure of that, I will ask Mr. Brenton one question. My dear sir, did you administer this poison to yourself?" "Certainly not," answered Brenton. "Then we have two facts. First, Mr. Brenton was poisoned; secondly, he was poisoned by some person who had an interest in his death. Now we will proceed. When Mr. Brenton sat down to that dinner he was perfectly well. When he arose from that dinner he was feeling ill. He goes to bed. He sees no one but his wife after he has left the dinner-table, and he takes nothing between the time he leaves the dinner-table and the moment he becomes unconscious. Now, that poison must have been administered to Mr. Brenton at the dinner-table. Am I not right?" "Well, you seem to be," answered Speed. "Seem? Why, it is as plain as day. There cannot be any mistake." "All right," said Speed; "go ahead. What next?" "What next? There were twenty-six people around that table, with two servants to wait on them, making twenty-eight in all. There were twenty-six, I think you said, including Mr. Brenton." "That is correct." "Very well. One of those twenty-seven persons has poisoned Mr. Brenton. Do you follow me?" "We do," answered Speed; "we follow you as closely as you have ever followed a criminal! Go on."