THEMAN”Youknowtheman?””Ido；orrather，Iknowamanwhoanswerstothisdescription。Hecomeshereonceinawhile。Idonotknowwhetherornothewasinthebuildingto-night，butClausencantellyou；nooneescapesClausen’seye。””Hisname。””Brotherson。Averyuncommonpersoninmanyrespects；quitecapableofsuchaneccentricity，butincapable，Ishouldsay，ofcrime。He’sagiftedtalkerandsowellreadthathecanholdone’sattentionforhours。Ofhistastes，Icanonlysaythattheyappeartobemainlyscientific。Butheisnotaversetosociety，andisalwaysverywelldressed。””Atasteforscienceandforfineclothingdonotoftengotogether。””Thismanisanexceptiontoallrules。TheoneI’mspeakingof，I
　　mean。Idon’tsaythathe’sthefellowseenpotteringinthesnow。””CallupClausen。”
　　Themanagersteppedtothetelephone。
　　Meanwhile，Georgehadadvancedtospeaktoamanwhohadbeckonedtohimfromtheothersideoftheroom，andwithwhominanothermomentIsawhimstepout。Thusdeserted，Isankintoachairnearoneofthewindows。NeverhadIfeltmoreuncomfortable。Toattributeguilttoatotallyunknownperson-apersonwhoislittlemoretoyouthanashadowysilhouetteagainstabackgroundofsnow-iseasyenoughandnotverydisturbingtotheconscience。Buttohearthatpersonnamed；givenpositiveattributes；liftedfromtheindefiniteintoaliving，breathingactuality，withaman’shopes，purposesandresponsibilities，isanentirelydifferentproposition。ThisBrothersonmightbethemostinnocentpersonalive；and，ifso，whathadwedone?Nothingtocongratulateourselvesupon，certainly。AndGeorgewasnotpresenttocomfortandencourageme。Hewas-
　　Wherewashe?Themanwhohadcarriedhimoffwastheyoungestinthegroup。WhathadhewantedofGeorge?Thosewhoremainedshowednointerestinthematter。Theyhadenoughtosayamongthemselves。ButIwasinterested-naturallyso，and，inmyuneasiness，glancedrestlesslyfromthewindow，theshadeofwhichwasup。Theoutlookwasaverypeacefulone。Thisroomfacedasidestreet，and，asmyeyesfelluponthewhitenedpavements，I
　　receivedananswertoone，andthatthemostanxious，ofmyqueries。
　　Thiswasthestreetintowhichwehadturned，inthewakeofthehandsomestrangertheyweretryingatthisverymomenttoidentifywithBrotherson。Georgehadevidentlybeenaskedtopointouttheexactspotwherethemanhadstopped，forIcouldseefrommyvantagepointtwofiguresbendingnearthekerb，andevenpawingatthesnowwhichlaythere。Itgavemeaslightturnwhenoneofthem-IdonotthinkitwasGeorge-begantorubhishandstogetherinmuchthewaytheunknowngentlemanhaddone，and，inmyexcitement，Iprobablyutteredsomesortofanejaculation，forIwassuddenlyconsciousofasilenceintheroom，andwhenI
　　turnedsawallthemenaboutmelookingmyway。
　　Iattemptedtosmile，butinstead，shudderedpainfully，asI
　　raisedmyhandandpointeddownatthestreet。”Theyareimitatingtheman，”Icried；”myhusbandand-andthepersonhewentoutwith。Itlookeddreadfultome；thatisall。”
　　Oneofthegentlemenimmediatelysaidsomekindwordstome，andanothersmiledinaveryencouragingway。Buttheirattentionwassoondiverted，andsowasminebytheentranceofamaninsemi-uniform，whowasimmediatelyaddressedasClausen。
　　Iknewhisface。Hewasoneofthedoorkeepers；theoldestemployeeaboutthehotel，andtheonebestliked。Ihadoftenexchangedwordswithhimmyself。
　　Mr。Slateratonceputhisquestion：”HasMr。Brothersonpassedyourdooratanytimeto-night?”Mr。Brotherson！Idon’tremember，reallyIdon’t，”wastheunexpectedreply。”It’snotoftenIforget。Butsomanypeoplecamerushinginduringthosefewminutes，andallsoexcited-””Beforetheexcitement，Clausen。Alittlewhilebefore，possiblyjustbefore。””Oh，nowIrecallhim！Yes，Mr。Brothersonwentoutofmydoornotmanyminutesbeforethecryupstairs。IforgotbecauseIhadsteppedbackfromthedoortohandaladythemuffshehaddropped，anditwasatthatminutehewentout。Ijustgotaglimpseofhisbackashepassedintothestreet。””Butyouaresureofthatback?””Idon’tknowanotherlikeit，whenhewearsthatbigcoatofhis。
　　ButJimcantellyou，sir。Hewasinthecaf?uptothatminute，andthat’swhereMr。Brothersonusuallygoesfirst。””Verywell；sendupJim。TellhimIhavesomeorderstogivehim。”
　　Theoldmanbowedandwentout。
　　Meanwhile，Mr。Slaterhadexchangedsomewordswiththetwoofficials，andnowapproachedmewithanexpressionofextremeconsideration。Theywereabouttoexcusemefromfurtherparticipationinthisinformalinquiry。ThisIsawbeforehespoke。Ofcoursetheywereright。ButIshouldgreatlyhavepreferredtostaywhereIwastillGeorgecameback。
　　However，ImethimforaninstantinthehallbeforeItooktheelevator，andlaterIheardinaround-aboutwaywhatJimandsomeothersaboutthehousehadtosayofMr。Brotherson。
　　Hewasanhabitueofthehotel，totheextentofdiningonceortwiceaweekinthecaf?andsmoking，afterwards，inthepubliclobby。Whenhewasinthemoodfortalk，hewoulddrawanever-enlarginggroupabouthim，butatothertimeshewouldbeseensittingquitealoneandmoroselyindifferenttoallwhoapproachedhim。Therewasnomysteryabouthisbusiness。Hewasaninventor，withoneortwovaluablepatentsalreadyonthemarket。
　　Butthiswasnothisonlyinterest。Hewasanallroundsortofman，moodybutbrilliantinmanyways-acharacterwhichatonceattractedandrepelled，oddinthatheseemedtosetlittlestorebyhisgoodlooks，yetwasmostcarefultodresshimselfinawaytoshowthemofftoadvantage。Ifhehadmeansbeyondtheordinarynooneknewit，norcouldanymansaythathehadnot。Onallpersonalmattershewasveryclose-mouthed，thoughhewouldtalkaboutothermen’srichesinawaytoshowthathecherishedsomeveryextremeviews。
　　Thiswasallwhichcouldbelearnedabouthimoff-hand，andatsolateanhour。Iwasgreatlyinterested，ofcourse，andhadplentytothinkoftillIsawGeorgeagainandlearnedtheresultofthelatestinvestigations。
　　MissChallonerhadbeenshot，notstabbed。Nootherdeductionwaspossiblefromsuchfactsaswerenowknown，thoughthephysicianshadnotyethandedintheirreport，orevenintimatedwhatthatreportwouldbe。Noassailantcouldhaveapproachedorlefther，withoutattractingthenoticeofsomeone，ifnotallofthepersonsseatedatatableinthesameroom。Shecouldonlyhavebeenreachedbyabulletsentfromapointneartheheadofasmallwindingstaircaseconnectingthemezzaninefloorwithacoat-roomadjacenttothefrontdoor。Thishasalreadybeeninsistedon，asyouwillremember，andifyouwillglanceatthediagramwhichGeorgehastilyscrawledforme，youwillseewhy。
　　A。B。，aswellasC。D。，arehalfcircularopeningsintotheofficelobby。E。F。arewindowsgivinguponBroadway，andG。thepartywall，necessarilyunbrokenbywindow，doororanyotheropening。
　　=desk
　　WhereMissCFell-xoAooEo
　　table
　　ooBoH
　　elevator
　　staircaseX。_C__D
　　FMusician’sGallery
　　DiningRoomLevelWithLobbyItfollowsthenthattheonlypossiblemeansofapproachtothisroomliesthroughthearchwayH。，orfromtheelevatordoor。ButtheelevatormadenostopatthemezzanineonornearthetimeoftheattackuponMissChalloner；nordidanyoneleavethetableorpassbyitineitherdirectiontillafterthealarmgivenbyherfall。
　　Butabulletcallsfornoapproach。AmanatX。mightraiseandfirehispistolwithoutattractinganyattentiontohimself。Themusic，whichallacknowledgewasatitsfullclimaxatthismoment，woulddrownthenoiseoftheexplosion，andthestaircase，outofviewofallbutthevictim，affordthesamemeansofimmediateescape，whichitmusthavegivenofsecretandunseenapproach。
　　Thecoat-roomintowhichitdescendedcommunicatedwiththelobbyverynearthemainentrance，andifMr。Brothersonweretheman，hissuddenappearancetherewouldthusbeaccountedfor。
　　Tobesure，thisgentlemanhadnotbeennoticedinthecoatroombythemanthenincharge，butifthelatterhadbeenengagedatthatinstant，asheoftenwas，inhanginguportakingdownacoatfromtherack，apersonmighteasilypassbyhimanddisappearintothelobbywithoutattractinghisattention。Somanypeoplepassedthatwayfromthedining-roombeyond，andsomanyoftheseweretall，fine-lookingandwell-dressed。
　　Itbegantolookbadforthisman，ifindeedheweretheonewehadseenunderthestreet-lamp；and，asGeorgeandIreviewedthesituation，wefeltourpositiontobeseriousenoughforusseverallytosetdownourimpressionsofthismanbeforewelostourfirstvivididea。IdonotknowwhatGeorgewrote，forhesealedhiswordsupassoonashehadfinishedwriting，butthisiswhatIputonpaperwhilemymemorywasstillfreshandmyexcitementunabated：