The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow | Page 7

come to strike her as it did?"
"From the opposite balcony."
"Did you see anyone there?"
"No."
"But you heard the arrow?"
"Heard?"
"An arrow shot from a bow makes a whizzing sound as it flies. Didn't
you hear that?"
"I don't know." She looked troubled and uncertain. "I don't remember. I
was expecting no such thing--I was not prepared. The sight of an
arrow--a killing arrow--in that innocent breast overcame me with
inexpressible grief and horror. If the vision of my husband had not
followed, I might remember more. As it is, I have told all I can. Won't
you excuse me? I should like to go. I am not fit to remain. I want to
return home--to hear from my husband--to learn by letter or telegram
whether he is indeed dead."
Mr. Gryce had let her finish. An inquiry so unofficial might easily
await the moods of such a witness. Not till the last word had been
followed by what some there afterward called a hungry silence, did he
make use of his prerogative to say:
"I shall be pleased to release you and will do so just as soon as I can.
But I must put one or two more questions. Were you interested in the
Indian relics you had come among? Did you handle any of them in
passing?"
"No. I had no interest. I like glass, bronzes, china--I hate weapons. I
shall hate them eternally after this." And she began to shudder.

The detective, with a quick bend of his head, approached her ear with
the whispered remark:
"I am told that when your attention was drawn to these weapons, you
fell on your knees and murmured something into the dead girl's ears.
How do you explain that?"
"I was giving her messages to my husband. I felt--strange as it may
seem to you--that they had fled the earth together--and I wanted him to
know that I would be constant, and other foolish things you will not
wish me to repeat here. Is that all you wish to know?"
Mr. Gryce bowed, and cast a quizzical glance in the direction of the
Curator. Certainly for oddity this case transcended any he had had in
years. With this woman eliminated from the situation, what explanation
was there of the curious death he was there to investigate? As he was
meditating how he could best convey to her the necessity of detaining
her further, he heard a muttered exclamation from the young woman
standing near her, and following the direction of her pointing finger,
saw that the strange silence which had fallen upon the room had a cause.
Mrs. Taylor had fainted away in her chair.

III
"I HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU"
Mr. Gryce took advantage of the momentary disturbance to slip from
the room. He was followed by the Curator, who seemed more than ever
anxious to talk.
"You see! Mad as a March hare!" was his hurried exclamation as the
door closed behind them. "I declare I do not know which I pity more,
her victim or herself. The one is freed from all her troubles; the
other--Do you think we ought to have a doctor to look after her? Shall I
telephone?"
"Not yet. We have much to learn before taking any decided steps."

Then as he caught the look of amazement with which this unexpected
suggestion of difficulties was met, he paused on his way to the
stair-head to ask in a tentative way peculiarly his own: "Then you still
think the girl died from a thrust given by this woman?"
"Of course. What else is there to think? You saw where the arrow came
from. You saw that the only bow the place contained was hanging high
and unstrung upon the wall, and you are witness to this woman's
irresponsible condition of mind. The sight of those arrows well within
her reach evidently aroused the homicidal mania often latent in one of
her highly emotional nature; and when this fresh young girl came by,
the natural result followed. I only hope I shall not be called upon to
face the poor child's parents. What can I say to them? What can
anybody say? Yet I do not see how we can be held responsible for so
unprecedented an attack as this, do you?"
Mr. Gryce made no answer. He had turned his back toward the
stair-head and was wondering if this easy explanation of a tragedy so
peculiar as to have no prototype in all of the hundreds of cases he had
been called upon to investigate in a long life of detective activity would
satisfy all the other persons then in the building. It was his present
business to find out--to search and probe among the dozen or two
people he