"Pardon--it is wrong. I did not let fall the feather. I place him there for my reason."

"Place him where?" asked Mexton, adopting her grammatical error in his bewilderment.

"On the breast--oh, no--on the back of that dead lady."

"You saw the corpse?"

"Yes; I saw him."

"Then you know who killed the girl?"

"No; that I know not."

"Did Mr. Herne shoot Miss Lester?" asked Paul, determined to get a direct answer.

"I cannot say truly. I did not see."

"Did you fire the shot yourself."