"I must have been on my way there when the crime was discovered; I was returning home perhaps a little after eleven when I met a man who stopped me to tell me of the murder--" "You were with Mr.McBride Thanksgiving afternoon, were you not ?" Moxlow now asked.
"Yes." "What was the hour, can you state ?" "About half past four, I should say; certainly no later than that.

I went there on a matter of business, to dispose of some bonds Mr.
McBride had agreed to take off my hands; I was with him, maybe twenty minutes." "What were those bonds ?" "Local gas bonds." "How many were there in the lot you sold ?" "Five." "He paid you the money for them ?" "Yes, a thousand dollars." "Do you know, we haven't unearthed those bonds yet ?" said the doctor.
Moxlow frowned slightly.
"I suppose they were taken," said North.
"But it will be a dangerous thing, to attempt to realize on them," snapped Moxlow.
"Decidedly," agreed North.
"You left McBride's store at, say, five o'clock ?" said Moxlow.
"Not later than that--see here, Moxlow, what are you driving at ?" demanded North, with some show of temper.
For an instant Moxlow hesitated, then he said: "The truth is, North, there is not a clue to go on, and we are thrashing this thing over in the hope that we may sooner or later hit on something that will be of service to us." "Oh, all right," said North, with a return of good nature.
"During your interview with McBride you were not interrupted, no one came into the store ?" "No one; we were alone the entire time." "And you saw no one hanging about the place as you left it ?" "Not that I can remember; if I did it made no impression on me." "But didn't you see Shrimplin ?" asked Moxlow quickly.
"Oh, come, Moxlow, you can't play the sleuth,--that was afterward, you know it was!" "Afterward--" "Yes, just as I was starting for the general's place, fully an hour later." "In the meantime you had been where--" "From McBride's store I went to my rooms.

I remained there until it was time to start for the Herberts', and as I intended to walk out I started earlier than I otherwise should have done." "Then you were coming from your rooms when you met Shrimplin ?" "Yes, it was just six o'clock when I stopped to speak to him." "Shrimplin was the only person you met as you crossed the Square ?" "As far as I can remember now, I saw no one but Shrimp." "And just where did you meet him, North ?" asked Moxlow.
"On the corner, near McBride's store." "Do you know whether he had just driven into the Square or not ?" "No, I, don't know that; it was snowing hard and I came upon him suddenly." "You continued on your way out of town after speaking with him, North ?" "Yes." "And later, at eleven o'clock, as you were returning to town you met a stranger, probably a countryman, you say, who told you that McBride had been murdered ?" "Yes, you have that all straight." "On your return to town you went where ?" "To my rooms again and finished packing." "Did that take you two hours ?" "No, but I had a lot of things to see to there." "What ?" asked Moxlow.
"Oh, papers to destroy, and things of that sort that kept me pretty busy until train-time." "You walked to the depot ?" "Yes, I was too late for the hotel bus; in fact, I barely caught the train.

I just had time to jump aboard as it pulled out." "Excuse me a moment, North!" said Moxlow as he rose from his chair.
He quitted the room and North heard him pass down the hall.
"It's a bad business," said Taylor.
"And you haven't a suspicion as to the guilty man ?" "No, as Moxlow says, we haven't a clue to go on.

It's incredible though, isn't it, that a crime like that could have been committed here almost in broad daylight, and its perpetrator get away without leaving a trace behind ?" "It _is_ incredible," agreed North, and they lapsed into silence.
North thought of Elizabeth.