"We have evidence that he held in his hands the instrument with which murder was probably done. But that is not proof that he did the deed. He may have wrested it from the real murderer. Madame Ree was there, on the evidence of the brooch. She is a strong woman, a regular Amazon. I believe she would commit murder to obtain even a much less sum than twenty thousand dollars. She may have murderously assaulted Dashwood. She may have dealt the fatal blow, have prepared to deal another, to find her hand arrested by Leonard, just come upon the scene. Then what would likely follow? I am not maintaining that I am giving you a theory which I look upon as convincing; I am only putting a case that seems to me more reasonable than the one you have outlined. "Let me assume for the moment that Madame Ree did kill John Dashwood, and that Gabriel Leonard witnessed the deed. Would he feel like giving her into custody? I don't think so. There was not only the chance that he would be deeply involved--perhaps the woman might prefer a countercharge, accuse him, in fact, of the murder--but there was also the fact that Dashwood was dead, and that no proceedings could bring him to life. Let us suppose, further, that Leonard, accepting the situation thus forced upon him, allowed the woman to keep fifteen out of the twenty thousand dollars taken from the dead man's person, on the promise of immediately leaving town never to return. "Now let us suppose that, although the locality was out of the way and is not patrolled by the police, they feared, in their excitement, to return to town in the usual way. The boat was in plain sight. They took it, rowed down the river some distance, went ashore, and turned the boat adrift. The murder must have been committed not far from ten o'clock, probably an hour before I arrived on the wharf and half an hour before Filbon got there. Leonard reached home after three o'clock, so he must have had a three or four hours' walk. He could have covered ten or twelve miles in that time. "As to Leonard's absence, or flight, that may be explained in this way: This morning he arose, after a few hours' sleep, if he slept at all, with his daughter occupying all his thoughts. She must come home, and to have her arrive by the first train leaving Chicago he must wire her at once. Filled with this idea, he hurried down-town, not thinking of the evidence he had left behind. If he thought of it while in town, he may have considered it wholly unlikely that he would be suspected, for who could possibly know of his dealings with Madame Ree? But the conversation I had with him in his office this forenoon may have excited his fears. Just before I left him he said he was going home for lunch. He did not do so. I think he was afraid to go home. But he stayed for the inquest.