The young man's eye did not waver. He appeared to take a secret resolve.
"Has it not struck you," he insinuated, "that Mr. Orcutt might have other reasons for not wishing to give any expression of opinion in regard to it?"
The surprise in the coroner's eye was his best answer.
"No," he rejoined.
Mr. Byrd at once resumed all his old nonchalance.
"The young lady who was here appeared to show such agitated interest in this horrible crime, I thought that, in kindness to her, he might wish to keep out of the affair as much as possible."
"Miss Dare? Bless your heart, she would not restrict him in any way. Her interest in the matter is purely one of curiosity. It has been carried, perhaps, to a somewhat unusual length for a woman of her position and breeding. But that is all, I assure you. Miss Dare's eccentricities are well known in this town."
"Then the diamond ring was really hers?" Mr. Byrd was about to inquire, but stopped; something in his memory of this beautiful woman made it impossible for him to disturb the confidence of the coroner in her behalf, at least while his own doubts were so vague and shadowy.
The coroner, however, observed the young detective's hesitation, and smiled.
"Are you thinking of Miss Dare as having any thing to do with this shocking affair?" he asked.