"And, on top of all this, I found that letter to Walter Lord, and knew--yes, I was absolutely certain, that the two signatures at the bank had been made by the same hand.... Well, I thought to myself, what in the world does that mean? "Then I went carefully over the facts we'd turned up in New York.... Mary Blake was a brilliant, successful actress, but she knew no one, personally, so far as we could find out, except Mr. Morris and, to quote the Italian janitor, 'a fine, grand lady' who sometimes came to the apartment. There was, too, her present manager, Frederick Jones. But he didn't appear to know her, except professionally.... From him I found out that she associated with none of the members of the company--and something else, which came back to me later--the curious fact that she always rehearsed in costume--with a full make-up.... She went out only in the daytime when it was absolutely necessary, was always heavily veiled, and always took a cab.... "But, on the other hand, Anne was well known to the janitor, to various tradesmen in the neighbourhood, and to the people at the bank. They all described her to me, and the descriptions were practically identical. "I remember that no one had ever spoken of the two sisters as if they had been seen at the same time.... That only one of them, Anne, had left the least trace when (as we all thought at the time) both of them disappeared.... That there were many of Mary's clothes left in the apartment and practically none of Anne's.... "And always, and everywhere, I heard of Anne's fearful handicap.... I thought of it this way and that.... And there was only one theory that would exactly fit all the facts. It seemed absurd to me when it first flashed into my mind--and that was at the time when I realized that only one person had signed at the bank. You will remember, Mr. Morris, that I had seen part of a letter to you signed 'Mary', but the writing was identical with that of Walter Lord's letter from 'Anne'--and then it came back to me that I had noticed a remarkable similarity in the two signatures at the bank, and I was sure--sure!" "It seemed impossible, but I figured it all out that day, on my way from Hobart Falls to Fennimore Park.... And when I heard Mrs. Rutherford's voice, downstairs, there at your sister's house, Mr. Morris, you remember--and realized that it was the same voice that had called Anne Blake on the morning of our discovery in Waverly Place--and that the name was the same as that of the lady who had taken Anne Curwood away from Fennimore Park--well, you can imagine my feelings!" "And it was only on guess-work, young man, that you made me disclose a secret I'd kept for years!" said Kate Rutherford, severely. "If I'd known that----" "No you wouldn't, Mrs. Rutherford," Peter interposed, eagerly. "You wouldn't have kept it to yourself. You know you were too much alarmed by Mr. Morris's appearance to keep the matter secret any longer."