And Fessenden was a good enough reader of character to perceive that she spoke truthfully.

The only construction he could put upon this was that, as he couldn’t help believing, the girl was innocent and therefore feared no incriminating evidence against her.

But in that case what was she afraid of, and why was she running away?

“Miss Dupuy,” he began, starting on a new tack, “please show more confidence in me. Will you answer me more straightforwardly if I assure you of my belief in your own innocence? I will not conceal from you the fact that not everyone is so convinced of that as I am, and so I look to you for help to establish it.”

“Establish what? My innocence?” said Cicely, and now she looked bewildered, rather than afraid. “Does anybody think that I killed Miss Van Norman?”