In the searching light of day Mrs. Presk was more uncomely than ever. Tall, gaunt, angular, and dressed in the worst possible taste, she presented few of the alluring graces of her sex. To have woo'd, and won, and lived with this strident Amazon, the late Mr. Presk must have been a suitor of no ordinary courage. However, she made an excellent witness, as her brain was clear, her courage high, and she had not a morsel of imagination. Moreover, her hysteria of the previous night had disappeared. She answered Gebb's leading questions in a cut-and-dried fashion, without discursive rambling after her own private opinions: but with all this, the examination, and the details obtainable therefrom, proved to be anything but satisfactory. Considering the business-like instincts of detective and widow, a more meagre result can scarcely be conceived. "For how long has Miss Ligram been lodging with you?" was Gebb's first question, put in a form which appeared to assume that the victim was still in existence. "For three months," replied Mrs. Presk, referring to a dingy little book with which she had furnished herself, in anticipation of the ordeal. "She came to me on the first of May last; she left here--for heaven, I hope--on the twenty-fourth day of July; so, as you can see for yourself, Mr. Gebb, she has been with me two months and twenty-four days, neither more nor less; and there ain't no Court of Law as I'd swear different in." "She came in answer to an advertisement, I suppose?" "No, she didn't," contradicted the widow. "I don't advertise: it's low. I put a card in the window, and it was that card which made Miss Ligram apply here for board and lodging. She applied," continued Mrs. Presk, consulting her book, "on the twenty-ninth of April, and I agreed to take her on the thirtieth; so that she entered my house on the first of May." "Why two days' delay?" "Because I couldn't make up my mind about taking her in." "She offered you too little?" "On the contrary, Mr. Gebb, she offered me too much." "No wonder you thought her eccentric," said the detective, with irony; "but kindly explain the position more fully." "I asked her three pound a week for parlour, bedroom, fire, and light, which is little enough, I'm sure, as everything in my house is of the best To my surprise. Miss Ligram offered to pay me six--just double--on condition that I allowed her to dismantle the front room, and refurnish it herself." "Did she give any reason for this singular request?" "She said she liked her own goods and chattels about her," replied Mrs. Presk; "and though at first I did not fancy the idea of clearing out the parlour--which was most handsomely furnished--yet, on thinking over the matter, I decided that double the money I asked was not to be despised. I therefore agreed to Miss Ligram's terms, and on the last day of April I dismantled the parlour. On the first of May Miss Ligram came in a van and----"