Integrity
Mr. Gryce’s fears were only too well founded. Though Mr. McElroy was kind enough to point out the exact spot where he saw Miss Watkins stoop, no trace of blood was found upon the rug which had lain there, nor had anything of the kind been washed up by the very careful man who scrubbed the lobby floor in the early morning. This was disappointing, as its presence would have settled the whole question. When, these efforts all exhausted1, the two detectives faced each other again in the small room given up to their use, Mr. Gryce showed his discouragement. To be certain of a fact you cannot prove has not the same alluring2 quality for the old that it has for the young. Sweetwater watched him in some concern, then with the persistence3 which was one of his strong points, ventured finally to remark:
“I have but one idea left on the subject.”
“And what is that?” Old as he was, Mr. Gryce was alert in a moment.
“The girl wore a red cloak. If I mistake not, the lining4 was also red. A spot on it might not show to the casual observer. Yet it would mean much to us.”
“Sweetwater!”
A faint blush rose to the old man’s cheek.
“Shall I request the privilege of looking that garment over?
“Yes.”
The young fellow ducked and left the room. When he returned, it was with a downcast air.
“Nothing doing,” said he.
And then there was silence.
“We only need to find out now that this cutter was not even Miss Challoner’s property,” remarked Mr. Gryce, at last, with a gesture towards the object named, lying openly on the table before him.
“That should be easy. Shall I take it to their rooms and show it to her maid?”
“If you can do so without disturbing the old gentleman.”
But here they were themselves disturbed. A knock at the door was followed by the immediate5 entrance of the very person just mentioned. Mr. Challoner had come in search of the inspector6, and showed some surprise to find his place occupied by an unknown old man.
But Mr. Gryce, who discerned tidings in the bereaved7 father’s face, was all alacrity8 in an instant. Greeting his visitor with a smile which few could see without trusting the man, he explained the inspector’s absence and introduced himself in his own capacity.
Mr. Challoner had heard of him. Nevertheless, he did not seem inclined to speak.
Mr. Gryce motioned Sweetwater from the room. With a woeful look the young detective withdrew, his last glance cast at the cutter still lying in full view on the table.
Mr. Gryce, not unmindful himself of this object, took it up, then laid it down again, with an air of seeming abstraction.
The father’s attention was caught.
“What is that?” he cried, advancing a step and bestowing9 more than an ordinary glance at the object thus brought casually10, as it were, to his notice. “I surely recognise this cutter. Does it belong here or —”
Mr. Gryce, observing the other’s, emotion, motioned him to a chair. As his visitor sank into it, he remarked, with all the consideration exacted by the situation:
“It is unknown property, Mr. Challoner. But we have some reason to think it belonged to your daughter. Are we correct in this surmise11?
“I have seen it, or one like it, often in her hand.” Here his eyes suddenly dilated12 and the hand stretched forth13 to grasp it quickly drew back. “Where — where was it found?” he hoarsely14 demanded. “O God! am I to be crushed to the very earth by sorrow!”
Mr. Gryce hastened to give him such relief as was consistent with the truth.
“It was picked up — last night — from the lobby floor. There is seemingly nothing to connect it with her death. Yet —”
The pause was eloquent15. Mr. Challoner gave the detective an agonised look and turned white to the lips. Then gradually, as the silence continued, his head fell forward, and he muttered almost unintelligibly16:
“I honestly believe her the victim of some heartless stranger. I do now; but — but I cannot mislead the police. At any cost I must retract17 a statement I made under false impressions and with no desire to deceive. I said that I knew all of the gentlemen who admired her and aspired18 to her hand, and that they were all reputable men and above committing a crime of this or any other kind. But it seems that I did not know her secret heart as thoroughly19 as I had supposed. Among her effects I have just come upon a batch20 of letters — love letters I am forced to acknowledge — signed by initials totally strange to me. The letters are manly21 in tone — most of them — but one —”
“What about the one?”
“Shows that the writer was displeased22. It may mean nothing, but I could not let the matter go without setting myself right with the authorities. If it might be allowed to rest here — if those letters can remain sacred, it would save me the additional pang23 of seeing her inmost concerns — the secret and holiest recesses24 of a woman’s heart, laid open to the public. For, from the tenor25 of most of these letters, she — she was not averse26 to the writer.”
Mr. Gryce moved a little restlessly in his chair and stared hard at the cutter so conveniently placed under his eye. Then his manner softened27 and he remarked:
“We will do what we can. But you must understand that the matter is not a simple one. That, in fact, it contains mysteries which demand police investigation28. We do not dare to trifle with any of the facts. The inspector, and, if not he, the coroner, will have to be told about these letters and will probably ask to see them.”
“They are the letters of a gentleman.”
“With the one exception.”
“Yes, that is understood.” Then in a sudden heat and with an almost sublime29 trust in his daughter notwithstanding the duplicity he had just discovered:
“Nothing — not the story told by these letters, or the sight of that sturdy paper-cutter with its long and very slender blade, will make me believe that she willingly took her own life. You do not know, cannot know, the rare delicacy30 of her nature. She was a lady through and through. If she had meditated31 death — if the breach32 suggested by the one letter I have mentioned, should have so preyed33 upon her spirits as to lead her to break her old father’s heart and outrage34 the feelings of all who knew her, she could not, being the woman she was, choose a public place for such an act — an hotel writing-room — in face of a lobby full of hurrying men. It was out of nature. Every one who knows her will tell you so. The deed was an accident — incredible — but still an accident.”
Mr. Gryce had respect for this outburst. Making no attempt to answer it, he suggested, with some hesitation35, that Miss Challoner had been seen writing a letter previous to taking those fatal steps from the desk which ended so tragically37. Was this letter to one of her lady friends, as reported, and was it as far from suggesting the awful tragedy which followed, as he had been told?
“It was a cheerful letter. Such a one as she often wrote to her little protegees here and there. I judge that this was written to some girl like that, for the person addressed was not known to her maid, any more than she was to me. It expressed an affectionate interest, and it breathed encouragement — encouragement! and she meditating38 her own death at the moment! Impossible! That letter should exonerate39 her if nothing else does.”
Mr. Gryce recalled the incongruities40, the inconsistencies and even the surprising contradictions which had often marked the conduct of men and women, in his lengthy41 experience with the strange, the sudden, and the tragic36 things of life, and slightly shook his head. He pitied Mr. Challoner, and admired even more his courage in face of the appalling42 grief which had overwhelmed him, but he dared not encourage a false hope. The girl had killed herself and with this weapon. They might not be able to prove it absolutely, but it was nevertheless true, and this broken old man would some day be obliged to acknowledge it. But the detective said nothing of this, and was very patient with the further arguments the other advanced to prove his point and the lofty character of the girl to whom, misled by appearance, the police seemed inclined to attribute the awful sin of self-destruction.
But when, this topic exhausted, Mr. Challoner rose to leave the room, Mr. Gryce showed where his own thoughts still centred, by asking him the date of the correspondence discovered between his daughter and her unknown admirer.
“Some of the letters were dated last summer, some this fall. The one you are most anxious to hear about only a month back,” he added, with unconquerable devotion to what he considered his duty.
Mr. Gryce would like to have carried his inquiries43 further, but desisted. His heart was full of compassion44 for this childless old man, doomed45 to have his choicest memories disturbed by cruel doubts which possibly would never be removed to his own complete satisfaction.
But when he was gone, and Sweetwater had returned, Mr. Gryce made it his first duty to communicate to his superiors the hitherto unsuspected fact of a secret romance in Miss Challoner’s seemingly calm and well-guarded life. She had loved and been loved by one of whom her family knew nothing. And the two had quarrelled, as certain letters lately found could be made to show.
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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bereaved
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| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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unintelligibly
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| 难以理解地 | |
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retract
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| vt.缩回，撤回收回，取消 | |
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aspired
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| v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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batch
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| n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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preyed
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| v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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tragically
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| adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地 | |
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meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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exonerate
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| v.免除责任，确定无罪 | |
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incongruities
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| n.不协调( incongruity的名词复数 )；不一致；不适合；不协调的东西 | |
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lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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