"Gentlemen," said he, "do you forget that Mr. Orcutt was on the scene of murder some minutes before the rest of you arrived? Let the attention of people once be directed toward him as a suspicious party, and they will be likely to remember this fact." Astounded, both men drew back. "What do you mean by that remark?" they asked. "I mean," said Mr. Gryce, "that Mr. Orcutt's visit to Mrs. Clemmens' house on the morning of the murder will be apt to be recalled by persons of a suspicious tendency as having given him an opportunity to commit the crime." "People are not such fools," cried Dr. Tredwell; while Mr. Ferris, in a tone of mingled incredulity and anger, exclaimed: "And do you, a reputable detective, and, as I have been told, a man of excellent judgment, presume to say that there could be found any one in this town, or even in this country, who could let his suspicions carry him so far as to hint that Mr. Orcutt struck this woman with his own hand in the minute or two that elapsed between his going into her house and his coming out again with tidings of her death?" "Those who remember that he had been a participator in the lengthy discussion which had just taken place on the court-house steps as to how a man might commit a crime without laying himself open to the risk of detection, might--yes, sir." Mr. Ferris and the coroner, who, whatever their doubts or fears, had never for an instant seriously believed the dying words of Mr. Orcutt to be those of confession, gazed in consternation at the detective, and finally inquired: "Do you realize what you are saying?" Mr. Gryce drew a deep breath, and shifted his gaze to the next stud in Mr. Ferris' shirt-front. "I have never been accused of speaking lightly," he remarked. Then, with quiet insistence, asked: "Where was Mrs. Clemmens believed to get the money she lived on?" "It is not known," rejoined the District Attorney. "Yet she left a nice little sum behind her?" "Five thousand dollars," declared the coroner. "Strange that, in a town like this, no one should know where it came from?" suggested the detective. The two gentlemen were silent. "It was a good deal to come from Mr. Orcutt in payment of a single meal a day!" continued Mr. Gryce. "No one has ever supposed it did come from Mr. Orcutt," remarked Mr. Ferris, with some severity. "But does any one know it did not?" ventured the detective. Dr. Tredwell and the District Attorney looked at each other, but did not reply.