"In there, sir!" he sobbed. "In there!" and clung to the wall as I
opened the door and stepped inside.
The room was ablaze with light, and for an instant my eyes were so
dazzled that I could distinguish nothing. Dimly I saw Godfrey spring
forward and drop to his knees.
Then my eyes cleared, and I saw, on the very spot where d'Aurelle had
died, another body--or was it the same, brought back that the
tragedy of the afternoon might, in some mysterious way, be re-enacted?
I remember bending over and peering into the face--
It was the face of Philip Vantine.
A minute must have passed as I stood there dazed and shaken. I was
conscious, in a way, that Godfrey was examining him. Then I heard his
voice.
"He's dead," he said.
Then there was an instant's silence.
"Lester, look here!" cried Godfrey's voice, sharp, insistent. "For
God's sake, look here!"
Godfrey was kneeling there holding something toward me.
"Look here!" he cried again.
It was the dead man's hand he was holding; the right hand; a swollen
and discoloured hand. And on the back of it, just above the knuckles,
were two tiny wounds, from which a few drops of blood had trickled.
And as I stared at this ghastly sight, scarce able to believe my
eyes, I heard a choking voice behind me, saying over and over again:
"It was that woman done it! It was that woman done it! Damn her! It
was that woman done it!"
CHAPTER V
GRADY TAKES A HAND
I have no very clear remembrance of what happened after that.
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