CONTENTS
I I GO TO PITTSBURG
II A TORN TELEGRAM
III ACROSS THE AISLE
IV NUMBERS SEVEN AND NINE
V THE WOMAN IN THE NEXT CAR
VI THE GIRL IN BLUE
VII A FINE GOLD CHAIN
VIII THE SECOND SECTION
IX THE HALCYON BREAKFAST
X MISS WEST'S REQUEST
XI THE NAME WAS SULLIVAN
XII THE GOLD BAG
XIII FADED ROSES
XIV THE TRAP-DOOR
XV THE CINEMATOGRAPH
XVI THE SHADOW OF A GIRL
XVII AT THE FARM-HOUSE AGAIN
XVIII A NEW WORLD
XIX AT THE TABLE NEXT
XX THE NOTES AND A BARGAIN
XXI MCKNIGHT'S THEORY
XXII AT THE BOARDING-HOUSE
XXIII A NIGHT AT THE LAURELS
XXIV HIS WIFE'S FATHER
XXV AT THE STATION
XXVI ON TO RICHMOND
XXVII THE SEA, THE SAND, THE STARS
XXVIII ALISON'S STORY
XXIX IN THE DINING-ROOM
XXX FINER DETAILS
XXXI AND ONLY ONE ARM
THE MAN IN LOWER TEN
CHAPTER I. I GO TO PITTSBURG
McKnight is gradually taking over the criminal end of the business. I
never liked it, and since the strange case of the man in lower ten, I
have been a bit squeamish. Given a case like that, where you can
build up a network of clues that absolutely incriminate three entirely
different people, only one of whom can be guilty, and your faith in
circumstantial evidence dies of overcrowding. I never see a shivering,
white-faced wretch in the prisoners' dock that I do not hark back with
shuddering horror to the strange events on the Pullman car Ontario,
between Washington and Pittsburg, on the night of September ninth, last.
McKnight could tell the story a great deal better than I, although
he can not spell three consecutive words correctly. But, while he has
imagination and humor, he is lazy.
"It didn't happen to me, anyhow," he protested, when I put it up to
him. "And nobody cares for second-hand thrills. Besides, you want the
unvarnished and ungarnished truth, and I'm no hand for that. I'm a
lawyer."
So am I, although there have been times when my assumption in that
particular has been disputed. I am unmarried, and just old enough to
dance with the grown-up little sisters of the girls I used to know. I
am fond of outdoors, prefer horses to the aforesaid grown-up little
sisters, am without sentiment (am crossed out and was substituted.-Ed.)
and completely ruled and frequently routed by my housekeeper, an elderly
widow.
