Why, man, Muriel and I were
in the room below. I proposed to her there. And all the time this was
just above us."
"It is horrible; one doesn't like to think of it," Gifford said
reticently.
"I cannot understand it," Kelson went on, with a sharp gesture of
perplexity. "I can imagine some sort of love affair bringing the poor
fellow down to this place; but that he should come up here and do this
thing, even if it went wrong, is more than I can conceive. Taking the man
as we knew him it is out of all reason."
"Yes," Gifford assented. "But we don't know yet that it is a case
of suicide."
"What else?" Kelson returned. "How otherwise could the door have been
locked. Unless--" He glanced sharply at the deep recess, or inner
chamber, formed by the bartizan, hesitated a moment, and then going
quickly to it, looked in.
"No, nothing there," he announced with a breath of relief. "I had for
the moment an idea it might have been a double tragedy," he added with
a shudder.
"So we are forced back to the suicide theory," Gifford remarked. He had
gone to the landing outside the door.
"Yes," Kelson replied as he joined him.
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