When Redway found the dead girl collapsed in her chair on his return from the unsuccessful attempt to see his wife in Woodford’s office, he became convinced that Evelyn had fired the deadly shot.
The position of the body, and the nature of the wound, confirmed him in his belief.
He examined his pistol, which he found in the drawer where he had placed it that morning when Miss Langdon returned it to him. She gave it to him with one chamber empty, and he had found it with one chamber empty. So he naturally concluded it had not been discharged since the night before.
He did not know that in his absence that forenoon Miss Langdon must have put a cartridge in the empty cylinder.
When Redway “planted” the pistol beneath the dead girl’s hand he supposed the empty chamber was the same from which she had discharged the shot at the cat.
It turned out that Gay secured Miss Langdon her position with Bridgely & Byke; also that Redway at once recognized her as his wife’s cousin, but to keep his own identity a secret, did not let her know of his relationship to her, after having tested her with a suppositional story of a client, which was really his wife’s story.
Miss Langdon had recognized her cousin when the latter left Redway’s office that afternoon. For some reason she associated Mrs. Lock’s visit with Gay, because she had heard her give Redway her address, which she knew was Gay’s boarding-place. She was in[{62}]sanely jealous of Gay, and suspected him of treachery.
In that loud interview with Redway, after he returned from seeing Mrs. Lock to the elevated station, Estelle admitted that she had borrowed his pistol—which had formerly been a present from Redway to his wife, “E. L.”—to kill Gay the night before, and then herself, if he refused to absolve from her oath, not to betray their relationship by word or act till he gave his consent.
He had failed to meet her, however, at their secret tryst, and had avoided her next day.
Nick believes she had sent for him to have Gay’s footsteps dogged.