VIII + 

But and If + 

Fitzstephan and I ate one of Mrs.┬аSchindlerтАЩs good dinners that evening in her low-ceilinged basement, and drank her husbandтАЩs good beer. The novelist in Fitzstephan was busy trying to find what he called Mrs.┬аLeggettтАЩs psychological basis. + 

тАЬThe killing of her sister is plain enough, knowing her character as we now do,тАЭ he said, тАЬand so are the killing of her husband, her attempt to ruin her nieceтАЩs life when she was exposed, and even her determination to kill herself on the stairs rather than be caught. But the quiet years in betweenтБатАФwhere do they fit in?тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩs LeggettтАЩs murder that doesnтАЩt fit in,тАЭ I argued. тАЬThe rest is all one piece. She wanted him. She killed her sisterтБатАФor had her killedтБатАФin a way to tie him to her; but the law pulled them apart. There was nothing she could do about that, except wait and hope for the chance that always existed, that he would be freed some day. We donтАЩt know of anything else she wanted then. Why shouldnтАЩt she be quiet, holding Gabrielle as her hostage against the chance she hoped for, living comfortably enough, no doubt, on his money? When she heard of his escape, she came to America and set about finding him. When her detectives located him here she came to him. He was willing to marry her. She had what she wanted. Why should she be anything but quiet? She wasnтАЩt a troublemaker for the fun of itтБатАФone of these people who act out of pure mischief. She was simply a woman who wanted what she wanted and was willing to go to any length to get it. Look how patiently, and for how many years, she hid her hatred from the girl. And her wants werenтАЩt even very extravagant. You wonтАЩt find the key to her in any complicated derangements. She was simple as an animal, with an animalтАЩs simple ignorance of right and wrong, dislike for being thwarted, and spitefulness when trapped.тАЭ + 

Fitzstephan drank beer and asked: + 

тАЬYouтАЩd reduce the Dain curse, then, to a primitive strain in the blood?тАЭ + 

тАЬTo less than that, to words in an angry womanтАЩs mouth.тАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩs fellows like you that take all the color out of life.тАЭ He sighed behind cigarette smoke. тАЬDoesnтАЩt GabrielleтАЩs being made the tool of her motherтАЩs murder convince you of the necessityтБатАФat least the poetic necessityтБатАФof the curse?тАЭ + 

тАЬNot even if she was the tool, and thatтАЩs something I wouldnтАЩt bet on. Apparently Leggett didnтАЩt doubt it. He stuffed his letter with those ancient details to keep her covered up. But weтАЩve only got Mrs.┬аLeggettтАЩs word that he actually saw the child kill her mother. On the other hand, Mrs.┬аLeggett said, in front of Gabrielle, that Gabrielle had been brought up to believe her father the murdererтБатАФso we can believe that. And it isnтАЩt likelyтБатАФthough itтАЩs possibleтБатАФthat he would have gone that far except to save her from knowledge of her own guilt. But, from that point on, one guess at the truth is about as good as another. Mrs.┬аLeggett wanted him and she got him. Then why in hell did she kill him?тАЭ + 

тАЬYou jump around so,тАЭ Fitzstephan complained. тАЬYou answered that back in the laboratory. Why donтАЩt you stick to your answer? You said she killed him because the letter sounded enough like a pre-suicide statement to pass, and she thought it and his death would ensure her safety.тАЭ + 

тАЬThat was good enough to say then,тАЭ I admitted; тАЬbut not now, in cold blood, with more facts to fit in. She had worked and waited for years to get him. He must have had some value to her.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut she didnтАЩt love him, or there is no reason to suppose she did. He hadnтАЩt that value to her. He was to her no more than a trophy of the hunt; and thatтАЩs a value not affected by deathтБатАФone has the head embalmed and nailed on the wall.тАЭ + 

тАЬThen why did she keep Upton away from him? Why did she kill Ruppert? Why should she have carried the load for him there? It was his danger. Why did she make it hers if he had no value to her? Why did she risk all that to keep him from learning that the past had come to life again?тАЭ + 

тАЬI think I see what youтАЩre getting at,тАЭ Fitzstephan said slowly. тАЬYou thinkтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬWaitтБатАФhereтАЩs another thing. I talked to Leggett and his wife together a couple of times. Neither of them addressed a word to the other either time, though the woman did a lot of acting to make me think she would have told me something about her daughterтАЩs disappearance if it had not been for him.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhere did you find Gabrielle?тАЭ + 

тАЬAfter seeing Ruppert murdered, she beat it to the HaldornsтАЩ with what money she had and her jewelry, turning the jewelry over to Minnie Hershey to raise money on. Minnie bought a couple of pieces for herselfтБатАФher man had picked himself up a lot of dough in a crap game a night or two before: the police checked thatтБатАФand sent the man out to peddle the rest. He was picked up in a hock-shop, just on general suspicion.тАЭ + 

тАЬGabrielle was leaving home for good?тАЭ he asked. + 

тАЬYou canтАЩt blame herтБатАФthinking her father a murderer, and now catching her stepmother in the act. WhoтАЩd want to live in a home like that?тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd you think Leggett and his wife were on bad terms? That may be: I hadnтАЩt seen much of them lately, and wasnтАЩt intimate enough with them to have been let in on a condition of that sort if it had existed. Do you think he had perhaps learned somethingтБатАФsome of the truth about her?тАЭ + 

тАЬMaybe, but not enough to keep him from taking the fall for her on RuppertтАЩs murder; and what he had learned wasnтАЩt connected with this recent affair, because the first time I saw him he really believed in the burglary. But thenтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬAw, shut up! YouтАЩre never satisfied until youтАЩve got two buts and an if attached to everything. I donтАЩt see any reason for doubting Mrs.┬аLeggettтАЩs story. She told us the whole thing quite gratuitously. Why should we suppose that sheтАЩd lie to implicate herself?тАЭ + 

тАЬYou mean in her sisterтАЩs murder? SheтАЩd been acquitted of that, and I suppose the French systemтАЩs like ours in that she couldnтАЩt be tried again for it, no matter what she confessed. She didnтАЩt give anything away, brother.тАЭ + 

тАЬAlways belittling,тАЭ he said. тАЬYou need more beer to expand your soul.тАЭ + 

At the Leggett-Ruppert inquests I saw Gabrielle Leggett again, but was not sure that she even recognized me. She was with Madison Andrews, who had been LeggettтАЩs attorney and was now his estateтАЩs executor. Eric Collinson was there, but, peculiarly, apparently not with Gabrielle. He gave me nods and nothing else. + 

The newspapers got hold of what Mrs.┬аLeggett had said happened in Paris in 1913, and made a couple-day fuss over it. The recovery of Halstead and BeauchampтАЩs diamonds let the Continental Detective Agency out: we wrote тАЬDiscontinuedтАЭ at the bottom of the Leggett record. I went up in the mountains to snoop around for a goldmine-owner who thought his employees were gypping him. + 

I expected to be in the mountains for at least a month: inside jobs of that sort take time. On the evening of my tenth day there I had a long-distance call from the Old Man, my boss. + 

тАЬIтАЩm sending Foley up to relieve you,тАЭ he said. тАЬDonтАЩt wait for him. Catch tonightтАЩs train back. The Leggett matter is active again.тАЭ + 