Page:Chipperfield--Unseen Hands.djvu/111

Rh "It is impossible," she said quietly. "The silk is far too coarse for this needle. Wait." She had spied the packet upon the table, and opening it she selected another needle and threaded it triumphantly. "See. This is the proper needle for this silk; it is at least three sizes larger than the one you gave me first."

"Thank you." The detective's face gave no sign of the excitement which was surging within him. "You have decided a very nice little point for me."

When Miss Wardell had departed the physician bent over the table and demanded: "What does this all mean?"

"It means, Doctor, that I have obtained the last proof I required to convince me that my theory was based on fact. This needle which was given to you was not the one with which Mrs. Lorne pricked her finger; it had been substituted for the original, placed in the embroidery work on which the unfortunate lady had been engaged; and only the haste with which the substitution was made and the carelessness shown in selecting a needle at random from this packet without regard to its size has revealed the truth. Mrs. Lorne was murdered!"