"Killed!" exclaimed young Atkins. "How dreadful! how did it happen?" But without waiting for an answer he pulled out his watch, which he consulted anxiously. "Pardon me, gentlemen, but I have a most important engagement down town which it is impossible for me to postpone. My wife is not up yet, and I really can't wait for her to get ready; but I can go with you now, and take a look at the poor fellow on my way out. In the meantime, Mrs. Atkins will dress as quickly as possible, and follow with the two girls as soon as she is ready." "All right," said Mr. Merritt; "that will do nicely. Dr. Fortescue," with a wave of his hand in my direction, "will stay here, and escort Mrs. Atkins down-stairs. Ladies sometimes are overcome by the sight of death." "Yes, yes; and my wife is very excitable," rejoined the young man. "I am glad Dr. Fortescue will wait and go down with her--if it isn't troubling you too much," he added, turning towards me. "Not at all," I replied, politely but firmly, with my eyes on Mr. Merritt. "I shall be delighted to _return_ for Mrs. Atkins in a quarter of an hour and escort her down-stairs." I watched the detective keenly to see how he would take this disregarding of his orders, but he only smiled amiably, almost triumphantly, I thought. Mr. Atkins now left us, and I could hear him dashing up-stairs several steps at a time. How I longed to pierce the ceiling, and hear how he broke the news to his wife, and above all to observe how she took it. He returned in a few minutes, and, snatching his hat from the hall-table, prepared to follow us. On the way down he inquired with great interest about the accident, but Merritt put him off with evasive replies. When confronted with the dead body, he gazed at it calmly, but with a good deal of curiosity. "Did you know the deceased?" the Coroner asked him. The young man shook his head. "Never saw him before." Then, looking at the corpse more closely he exclaimed: "Why, he is a gentleman; can't you find out who he is?" "We haven't been able to, so far," replied the Coroner. "How did the accident occur?" "He was murdered." The young man started back in horror.--"Murdered, and in this house--How, when?" "Presumably the night before last." Was it my imagination, or did Mr. Atkins turn slightly pale? "Tuesday night," he muttered. After a brief silence he turned to us, and withdrawing his eyes from the corpse with obvious difficulty, said, in a hearty, matter-of-fact voice: "Gentlemen, I regret that I have to leave you. I should like to hear some more of this affair, but I suppose if you do discover anything you will keep it pretty close?" "You bet we'll try to," the Coroner assured him. After shaking us all most cordially by the hand, Mr. Atkins departed, and was escorted down-stairs by the detective, whose excessive politeness seemed to me very suspicious. "Was he going to put a sleuth on the young man's tracks?" I wondered.