第22章 BOOK II:AS SEEN BY DETECTIVE SWEETWATER(1)

XA DIFFERENCE OF OPINION

At an early hour the next morning,Sweetwater stood before the coroner's desk,urging a plea he feared to hear refused.He wished to be present at the interview soon to be held with Mr.Brotherson,and he had no good reason to advance why such a privilege should be allotted him.

It's not curiosity,"said he."There's a question I hope to see settled.I can't communicate it -you would laugh at me;but it's an important one,a very important one,and I beg that you will let me sit in one of the corners and hear what he says.I won't bother and I'll be very still,so still that he'll hardly notice me.Do grant me this favour,sir.

The coroner,who had had some little experience with this man,surveyed him with a smile less forbidding than the poor fellow expected.

"You seem to lay great store by it,"said he;"if you want to sort those papers over there,you may.""Thank you.I don't understand the job,but I promise you not to increase the confusion.If I do;if I rattle the leaves too loudly,it will mean,'Press him further on this exact point,'but I doubt if I rattle them,sir.No such luck."The last three words were uttered sotto voce,but the coroner heard him,and followed his ungainly figure with a glance of some curiosity,as he settled himself at the desk on the other side of the room.

"Is the man -"he began,but at this moment the man entered,and Dr.

Heath forgot the young detective,in his interest in the new arrival.

Neither dressed with the elegance known to the habitues of the Clermont,nor yet in the workman's outfit in which he had thought best to appear before the Associated Brotherhood,the newcomer advanced,with an aspect of open respect which could not fail to make a favourable impression upon the critical eye of the official awaiting him.So favourable,indeed,was this impression that that gentleman half rose,infusing a little more consideration into his greeting than he was accustomed to show to his prospective witnesses.

Such a fearless eye he had seldom encountered,nor was it often his pleasure to confront so conspicuous a specimen of physical and intellectual manhood.

"Mr.Brotherson,I believe,"said he,as he motioned his visitor to sit.

"That is my name,sir."

"Orlando Brotherson?"

"The same,sir."

"I'm glad we have made no mistake,"smiled the doctor."Mr.

Brotherson,I have sent for you under the supposition that you were a friend of the unhappy lady lately dead at the Hotel Clermont.""Miss Challoner?"

"Certainly;Miss Challoner."

"I knew the lady.But -"here the speaker's eye took on a look as questioning as that of his interlocutor -"but in a way so devoid of all publicity that I cannot but feel surprised that the fact should be known."At this,the listening Sweetwater hoped that Dr.Heath would ignore the suggestion thus conveyed and decline the explanation it apparently demanded.But the impression made by the gentleman's good looks had been too strong for this coroner's proverbial caution,and,handing over the slip of a note which had been found among Miss Challoner's effects by her father,he quietly asked:

"Do you recognise the signature?"

"Yes,it is mine."

"Then you acknowledge yourself the author of these lines?""Most certainly.Have I not said that this is my signature?""Do you remember the words of this note,Mr.Brotherson?""Hardly.I recollect its tenor,but not the exact words.""Read them."

"Excuse me,I had rather not.I am aware that they were bitter and should be the cause of great regret.I was angry when I wrote them.""That is evident.But the cause of your anger is not so clear,Mr.

Brotherson.Miss Challoner was a woman of lofty character,or such was the universal opinion of her friends.What could she have done to a gentleman like yourself to draw forth such a tirade?""You ask that?"

"I am obliged to.There is mystery surrounding her death;-the kind of mystery which demands perfect frankness on the part of all who were near her on that evening,or whose relations to her were in any way peculiar.You acknowledge that your friendship was of such a guarded nature that it surprised you greatly to hear it recognised.

Yet you could write her a letter of this nature.Why?""Because -"the word came glibly;but the next one was long in following."Because,"he repeated,letting the fire of some strong feeling disturb for a moment his dignified reserve,"I offered myself to Miss Challoner,and she dismissed me with great disdain.""Ah!and so you thought a threat was due her?""A threat?"

"These words contain a threat,do they not?"

"They may.I was hardly master of myself at the time.I may have expressed myself in an unfortunate manner.""Read the words,Mr.Brotherson.I really must insist that you do so."There was no hesitancy now.Rising,he leaned over the table and read the few words the other had spread out for his perusal.Then he slowly rose to his full height,as he answered,with some slight display of compunction:

"I remember it perfectly now.It is not a letter to be proud of.

I hope -"

"Pray finish,Mr.Brotherson."

"That you are not seeking to establish a connection between this letter and her violent death?""Letters of this sort are often very mischievous,Mr.Brotherson.

The harshness with which this is written might easily rouse emotions of a most unhappy nature in the breast of a woman as sensitive as Miss Challoner.""Pardon me,Dr.Heath;I cannot flatter myself so far.You overrate my influence with the lady you name.""You believe,then,that she was sincere in her rejection of your addresses?

A start,too slight to be noted by any one but the watchful Sweetwater,showed that this question had gone home.But the self-poise and mental control of this man were perfect,and in an instant he was facing the coroner again,with a dignity.which gave no clew to the disturbance into which his thoughts had just been thrown.Nor was this disturbance apparent in his tones when he made his reply: