a few moments ago I supposed."
I became still more exasperated.
"It is your theory that from the moment Walters entered the store, every occurrence she has narrated was
designed to give this Madame Mandilip possession of her soul, a design that was consummated by
Walters' death?"
He hesitated, and then said: "In essence-yes."
"A soul!" I mused, sardonically. "But I have never seen a soul. I know of no one whose evidence I would
credit who has seen a soul. What is a soul-if it exists? It is ponderable? Material? If your theory is
correct it must be. How could one gain possession of something which is both imponderables and
nonmaterial? How would one know one had it if it could not be seen nor weighed, felt nor measured, nor