I confess I was horrified, too, as I grasped the methods by which Weathered had drawn this harmless little creature into his toils.
“I couldn’t sleep for thinking of all the dreadful things that my subconscience might be planning and plotting behind my back. I felt I must know the worst, so as to be on my guard against it. I went to consult Dr. Weathered at his house, and it was a dreadful experience. He found out that I had a murderous propensity. And he told me that the only way for me to rid myself of it was to write letters to him telling him every evil thought that came into my mind.”
My chief and I looked at each other. There was no need of words to express the idea we had in common. There could be little doubt as to Weathered’s line of action. He had found himself dealing with a credulous weak-minded simpleton, and he had proceeded to use the power of suggestion. He had simply put into the poor woman’s mind the thoughts he pretended to be driving out. The only question that remained was whether he had gone so far as to instigate her to the commission of a crime.
“I wrote him letter after letter,” Mrs. Baker continued. “Every time I felt angry with one of the maids I had to let him know. Sometimes he answered the letters, and sometimes he didn’t. When he did write he generally asked me questions about how I was tempted to commit the murder. That was how he found out about the poison.”
Even I had seen this coming. Tarleton no doubt had seen it some time before, and worked up to it deliberately; but he let no sign of satisfaction appear.
“Did he ever ask you to let him have it?” he asked. The answer surprised me.
“No, never. He told me to be very careful never to part with it.”
“Ah, I understand. He told you to take the greatest care of it, and you told him exactly where you kept it?”
“Yes, yes.” The explorer’s sister gazed at him in admiration. “How did you guess that?”
“I think it is quite plain, ma’am. He didn’t want you or anyone else to be in a position to say that he had obtained the poison from you. With the information you gave him he could walk into the house at any time, and take it—secretly.”