“That,” said Garlett firmly, “is what I have come here to discover—I mean exactly how the matter stands.”
Dr. Wilson left the room, and when at last, after what seemed a long delay to the waiting man, he did come back, he was accompanied by a younger official. Garlett, perhaps by now morbidly sensitive, noticed that the new man only bowed; he did not shake hands with him, as Dr. Wilson had done.
“I understand that you wish to know exactly how the matter stands with regard to the action we took on the receipt of certain anonymous letters concerning the death of Mrs. Emily Garlett?”
“What I wish to know,” said Garlett coldly, “is not how the matter stands, but how I stand.”
IAs neither of the men opposite him answered his question, he went on deliberately: “Though I believe I was success
