"I can't. It's the sort of head that gets 'em!"
"Well, I wish you'd draw the line at Bates! Why, I've known him all my life!"
"There is always some one to say that about any criminal. Always some one to say it isn't possible. The awful thing is, it is possible."
"But—Bates! How could any one associate the idea of murder with that gentle, harmless old man? Ridiculous!"
"He was devoted to your father because Mr. Copley stood by him when he didn't know where to turn. He had been in trouble. Did you know that?"
"Vaguely—from Bates himself. Why? What trouble was it?"
"Starvation. He had difficulty finding work because no one wished to employ a man who had just been pardoned out of a penitentiary where he was serving a life sentence for murder."
There was a brief silence.
"It can't be!" she whispered at length. "Not Bates! It can't be true!"
"He was married in those days, and the other man was guilty of breaking up the home. Extenuating circumstances, you see. He was lucky enough to have a lawyer who didn't lose interest when the prison swallowed him, and he brought the matter to the attention of a new Governor who pardoned Bates after he had served five years. Your father happened on him when he was near the end of his rope, gave him sanctuary and helped him bury the past. That is his story."