The groping she had done had been in this direction.

She was searching for this hat and coat (a man's hat,--a derby, as I had been careful to assure myself at the first handling) and, in them, she had gone home as she had probably come, and there was no man in the case, or if there were-- The doubt drove me to the staircase.

Making no further effort to unravel the puzzle which only beclouded my faculties, I began my wary ascent.

I had not the slightest fear, I was too full of cold rage for that.
The arrangement of rooms on the second floor was well known to me.

I understood every nook and corner and could find my way about the whole place without a light.