“‘You are right, Mr. Dabbs, and I was wrong,’ said Harry, as he leaned his head down on the window-sill and sighed sadly. ‘Tell us the worst at once.’
“‘Well this dose of strychnine was found in Miss Bramlett’s room, concealed in the pocket of a blue silk dress which belonged to her.’
“Mr. Dabbs paused, and looked at Tadpoddle. Tadpoddle put the big eye on duty, while the little one made a precipitate retreat. Harry groaned like one whose heart was crushed. I wanted to commit some kind of mischief, but did not exactly know what it was. At length Dabbs spoke again, after he had sufficiently enjoyed the misery inflicted on us by the first revelation:
“‘The mere naked fact that Miss Bramlett had a dose of strychnine in one of her dress pockets does not signify much, but when viewed in connection with other circumstances, the case is different. To sum up the ideas, we must be very cautious to sift things so as to separate the wheat from the chaff; however, we don’t always find it prudent even to throw away the chaff; because it will sometimes show us which way the wind blows. Now in this case I think we can see which way the wind is blowing without the use of the chaff. The fact is, the breeze seems to be all the time blowing in the same direction. We found three small scraps of blue paper; two upon chemical examination were found to contain small quantities of quinine, while the other one contained unmistakable evidence of having been filled with strychnine. We found a little package of quinine in the fire-place; now it is very plain that this was emptied out of one of the papers left by Doctor Dodson, and that the strychnine was put in the same paper instead of the quinine. That goes to show beyond doubt that the poison was administered intentionally; but by whom? you would of course be inclined to ask. Very good; let us proceed to make the inquiry further.’
“‘Now,’ said Tadpoddle, ‘I think is the time to tell Mr. Wallingford what valuable evidence has been discovered by my remarkable sister.’
“Mr. Tadpoddle’s little eye then went back to its hole, and the big one came to the front.
“‘No, not yet, Mr. Tadpoddle,’ said Dabbs, as he bit the corner off of a plug of tobacco and began to chew it with great energy; ‘there are other matters to be mentioned before we disclose your sister’s evidence. There is the secret gate, you must remember; that will furnish a very strong link in our chain--a link which I consider of great importance. So far, so good. Now, Mr. Tadpoddle, allow me to call your attention to a certain letter or note--some people, I believe, would call it a billet-doux; no matter what they call it--nothing in a name, you know; at least, Mr. Shakespeare so testified in favor of that idea. Be so kind as to hand me that billet-doux, Mr. Tadpoddle. I believe I gave it to you?’