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The senator greeted I us gravely, and I could not but take it as a good omen when, in his pride of wealth and family and tradition, he laid bare everything to us, for the sake of Alma Willard. It was clear that in this family there was one word that stood above all others, “Duty.”

As we were about to leave after an interview barren of new facts, a young man was announced, Mr. Halsey Post. He bowed politely to us, but it was evident why he had called, as his eye followed Alma about the room.

“The son of the late Halsey Post, of Post & Vance, silversmiths, who have the large factory in town, which you perhaps noticed,” explained the senator. “My daughter has known him all her life. A very fine young man.”

Later, we learned that the senator had bent every effort toward securing Halsey Post as a son-in-law, but his daughter had had views of her own on the subject.

Post waited until Alma had withdrawn before he disclosed the real object of his visit. In almost a whisper, lest she should still be listening, he said, “There is a story about town that Vera Lytton’s former husband – an artist named Thurston – was here just before her death.”

Senator Willard leaned forward as if expecting to hear Dixon immediately acquitted. None of us was prepared for the next remark.

“And the story goes on to say that he threatened to make a scene over a wrong he says he has suffered from Dixon. I don’t know anything more about it, and I tell you only because I think you ought to know what Danbridge is saying under its breath.”

We shook off the last of the reporters who affixed themselves to us, and for a moment Kennedy dropped in at the little bungalow to see Mrs. Boncour. She was much better, though she had suffered much. She had taken only a pinhead of the poison, but it had proved very nearly fatal.

“Had Miss Lytton any enemies whom you think of, people who were jealous of her professionally or personally?” asked Craig.

“I should not even have said Dr. Dixon was an enemy,” she replied evasively.

“But this Mr. Thurston,” put in Kennedy quickly. “One is not usually visited in perfect friendship by a husband who has been divorced.”

She regarded him keenly for a moment. “Halsey Post told you that,” she said. “No one else knew he was here. But Halsey Post was an old friend of both Vera and Mr. Thurston before they separated. By chance he happened to drop in the day Mr. Thurston was here, and later in the day I gave him a letter to forward to Mr. Thurston, which had come after the artist left. I’m sure no one else knew the artist. He was here the morning of the day she died, and – and – that’s every bit I’m going to tell you about him, so there. I don’t know why he came or where he went.”

“That’s a thing we must follow up later,” remarked Kennedy as we made our adieus. “Just now I want to get the facts in hand. The next thing on my programme is to see this Dr. Waterworth.”

We found the doctor still in bed; in fact, a wreck as the result of his adventure. He had little to correct in the facts of the story which had been published so far. But there were many other details of the poisoning he was quite willing to discuss frankly.

“It was true about the jar of ammonia?” asked Kennedy.

“Yes,” he answered. “It was standing on her dressing-table with the note crumpled up in it, just as the papers said.”

“And you have no idea why it was there?”

“I didn’t say that. I can guess. Fumes of ammonia are one of the antidotes for poisoning of this kind.”