The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow | Page 8

saw collected below, for the witness who had seen or had
heard some slight thing as yet unrevealed which would throw a
different light upon this matter. For his mind--or shall we say the
almost unerring instinct of this ancient delver into human
hearts?--would not accept without question this theory of sudden
madness in one of Mrs. Taylor's appearance, strange and inexplicable
as her conduct seemed. Though it was quite among the possibilities that
she had struck the fatal blow and in the manner mentioned, it was
equally clear to his mind that she had not done it in an access of frenzy.
He knew a mad eye and he knew a despairing one. Fantastic as her
story certainly was, he found himself more ready to believe it than to
accept any explanation of this crime which ascribed its peculiar
features to the irresponsibilities of lunacy.
However, he kept his impressions to himself and in his anxiety to

pursue his inquiries among the people below, was on the point of
descending thither, when he found his attention arrested, and that of the
Curator's as well, by the sight of a young man hastening toward them
through the northern gallery. (The tragedy, as you will remember, had
occurred in the southern one.) He was dressed in the uniform of the
museum, and moved so quickly and in such an evident flurry of spirits
that the detective instinctively asked:
"Who's that? One of your own men?"
"Yes, that's Correy, our best-informed and most-trusted attendant.
Looks as if he had something to tell us. Well, Correy, what is it?" he
queried as the man emerged upon the landing where they stood.
"Anything new? If there is, speak out plainly. Mr. Gryce is anxious for
all the evidence he can get."
With an ingenuousness rather pleasing than otherwise to the man thus
presented to his notice, the young fellow stopped short and subjected
the famous detective to a keen and close scrutiny before venturing to
give the required information.
Was it because of the importance of what he had to communicate? It
would seem so, from the suppressed excitement of his tone, as after his
brief but exceedingly satisfactory survey, he jerked his finger over his
shoulder in the direction from which he had come, with the short
remark:
"I have something to show you."
Something! Mr. Gryce had been asking for this something only a
moment before. We can imagine, then, the celerity with which he
followed this new guide into the one spot of all others which possessed
for him the greatest interest. For if by any chance the arrow which had
done such deadly work had been sped from a bow instead of having
been used as a dart, then it was from this gallery and from no other
quarter of the building that it had been so sped. Any proof of this could
have but the one effect of exonerating from all blame the woman who
had so impressed him. He had traversed the first section and had

entered the second, when the Curator joined him; together they passed
into the third.
For those who have not visited this museum, a more detailed
description of these galleries may be welcome. Acting as a means of
communication between the row of front rooms and those at the back,
they also serve to exhibit certain choice articles which call for little
space, and are of a nature more or less ornamental. For this purpose
they are each divided into five sections connected by arches narrower
but not less decorative than those which open in a direct row upon the
court. Of these sections the middle one on either side is much larger
than the rest; otherwise they do not differ.
It was in the midst of this larger section that Correy now stood,
awaiting their approach. There had been show-cases filled with rare
exhibits in the two through which they had just passed, but in this one
there was nothing to be seen but a gorgeous hanging, covering very
nearly the whole wall, flanked at either end by a pedestal upholding a
vase of inestimable value and corresponding ugliness. A highly
decorative arrangement, it is true, but in what lay its interest for the
criminal investigator?
Correy was soon to show them. With a significant gesture toward the
tapestry, he eagerly exclaimed:
"You see that? I've run by it several times since the accident sent me
flying all over the building at everybody's call. But only just now, when
I had a moment to myself, did I remember the door hid behind it. It's a
door we no longer use, and I'd no reason for thinking it had anything to
do with the killing of the young lady in the opposite gallery. But for